Utah Jazz: Shelvin Mack Adds To Versatile Point Guard Position

With his return from injury, the Utah Jazz now have the services of point guard Shelvin Mack available. What does he add to their deep roster?

Prior to this season, the point guard position had been a spot of continued grief for the Utah Jazz. Not since Deron Williams‘ last year with the team in 2010-11 had the Jazz had a consistent and reliable starter at the position.

After trading away Williams for pieces that included Derrick Favors, the Jazz spent a number of years drafting and otherwise acquiring point guards that never quite worked out at the helm.

This included Trey Burke, who spent time as the starting point guard between the 2013-14 and 2014-15 seasons before being moved to the Washington Wizards last summer for next to nothing.

Raul Neto and Dante Exum were then drafted in consecutive years, 2013 and 2014 respectively.

Exum would split time as the starter with Burke in 2014-15, while Neto took on the position at the beginning of last season.

Finally, Shelvin Mack was acquired via trade at the deadline last season from the Atlanta Hawks, reuniting him with former Butler teammate Gordon Hayward.

Prior to coming to Utah, Mack had spent time with three teams over five seasons.

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However, the Jazz front office made a major deal last summer by trading their first-round draft pick in a three-team deal to receive George Hill from the Indiana Pacers.

Hill has proven this move to be a masterstroke in his first season in Utah, providing the exact type of point guard that works well with players like Rudy Gobert and Hayward.

This leaves the Jazz with a multitude of options behind Hill, what with Neto, Exum and Mack all available. Hill has missed 30 games this season with varying injuries, which has given Quin Snyder an opportunity to see exactly what he’s working with off the bench.

Against the New Orleans Pelicans on March 27 In his first game back from an ankle sprain, Mack played just three minutes in garbage time. However, the next contest, two days later against the Sacramento Kings, would be when he made his mark.

Mack played 28 minutes in a blowout, shooting 5-for-8 and scoring 14 points, also finishing plus-31 on the night. Against the Wizards, he posted 15 points, again on efficient 5-for-9 shooting.

Down the stretch, Mack was largely responsible for the Jazz offense, scoring seven of the team’s last eight points.

Mack was most effective driving to the basket, where his stocky 203-pound frame allowed him to finish through contact:

Last season, Mack shot 67 percent from within three feet of the hoop, a mark that would be tops among Jazz guards this season. He also has the ability at times to finish tough in-between floaters and short jumpers, an area where many guards struggle:

These shots are inconsistent; generally, only elite scorers can rely on them, but having the ability to create looks out of nothing bodes well for a Jazz offense that can at times become stagnant.

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As far as shooting goes, Mack rates less than satisfactory. A career 32 percent three-point shooter, he won’t consistently make defenses respect him on the perimeter, although he did shoot 36 percent from behind the arc last year with Utah.

Defensively, Mack isn’t blessed with supreme quickness, which leads to an increase in fouling. According to Synergy, he grades out in the 22nd percentile defending isolations.

This was evident against the San Antonio Spurs, as although Mack finished with 13 points, he and Exum allowed a 35-year-old Tony Parker to put up 21.

Of course, this shortcoming is more tolerable in the long run given the presence of Gobert, who may deter opponents from entering the paint despite any advantage they have over their defender.

Once the Jazz are fully healthy at point guard, rotations among the three backups will likely to continue to be fluid, a fact well-known by Snyder.

"“The revolving door is more of a challenge for our players and they’ve continued to answer that challenge,” said the coach, in a quote obtained by Mike Sorenson of Deseret News."

Come playoff time, Snyder will have a wealth of options and combinations to be used, over the course of the whole roster but especially at the point guard position. One would expect the minutes for end-of-the-bench role players to tighten as the stakes rise.

Likely, each player will be used as they’re best implemented. For Mack, this means his experience and occasionally, scoring punch, will be called on in short bursts.

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For the Jazz, Mack means yet another cog in an adaptable offense that can be tailored to best fit the weaknesses of whatever opponent or situation the team may find themselves in the postseason.