The Utah Jazz could have a brand new backcourt this season and how it works together will play a huge factor in Utah’s success.
With the Golden State Warriors acquiring Kevin Durant, they all but sealed their spot as the top seed in the Western Conference. The Los Angeles Clippers and San Antonio Spurs, who are coached by two of the NBA’s best, will likely be vying for the second seed.
Everything from that looks to be up for grabs. Any one of a handful playoff contenders can leap up and take that fourth spot.
One very common pick for that spot seems to be the Utah Jazz, who have built a team filled with good young talent. The immediate future looks really bright for the Jazz.
They have found a good leader in Gordon Hayward, who led the team in points per game with 19.7, and have created a solid cast around him.
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Rodney Hood is showing that he can find his own shot and his nearly six points per game increase last season and 1.5 increase in Value Over Replacement Player (VORP) are signs he is ready to step into a big role with the Jazz.
Rudy Gobert and Derrick Favors have proven to be a good duo, with the first being a rim protector and the latter being a more proven low-post scorer.
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is slowly coming along as a versatile big man and
Joe Johnson, who was added this offseason, will give Utah a veteran presence in the locker room. Something that the Jazz desperately needs. But there is one duo that will be a for sure X-factor for Utah this season.
That duo could be a starting backcourt of George Hill and Dante Exum.
Both Hill and Exum are viewed as additions this offseason despite Exum being on the roster last year. Hill was acquired in a three-team trade from the Indiana Pacers.
Exum was slated to be the starting point guard and make a big leap after a decent rookie season. But then he was sidelined with a torn ACL he suffered the summer before the season started. After rehabbing for about a year, it looks like Exum is all set to take a significant role again.
Last season the two point guards for the Jazz that played the most minutes were Raul Neto and Trey Burke. The two shooting guards with the most minutes were Hood and Alec Burks. That is likely to change this season with the Jazz given Hill’s arrival and Exum’s return.
If they were to experiment with an Exum-Hill backcourt, it could work.
The combination of Hill and Exum will give Utah’s backcourt some good length on the defensive end. They could cause a lot of problems on the defensive end.
Hill is a great defensive guard who is able to use his length to stay in front of defenders on drives and he is also an exceptional rebounding point guard. Hill averaged four rebounds a game during the regular season last year, good enough to be in the top 10 among point guards.
For a Utah Jazz team that finished 18th in rebounds per game in the regular season, Hill could help on the boards and get some of those 50-50 rebounds that can swing momentum or even change games.
Exum is also a very solid defender as we saw in his last full season in 2014. When the Jazz started him midway through the season, their defense improved by leaps and bounds. In 2014, when Exum was on the court, the Offensive Rating of the Jazz’s opponents was 102.2.
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When he came off the court the rating shot up to 107.6, a significant 5.4-point difference. Putting Hill and Exum together could create a monster scary backcourt.
The offense could be a bit of a problem as both Hill and Exum are not the best at creating their own shots. Exum only averaged 4.8 points his rookie season and while Hill can certainly score–he averaged 12.1 points last season–in this offense he might not have to.
But if Quin Snyder puts this duo out on the court together, he really isn’t looking for offense. But it will give the Utah Jazz two quality ball-handlers on the court.
Putting the two in the backcourt might have to sacrifice Hood some playing time while going with Hayward, Favors and Gobert to fill out the rest of the lineup. This doesn’t even have to be a starting lineup or even a closing one.
But this could be a lineup that Snyder uses when he wants to make life tough for opposing backcourts that struggle with length and when his team needs a big stop. It all starts with the backcourt and Snyder has a lot of options to go with.
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No matter which one he chooses, he should always keep the Hill-Exum option in his back pocket.