The Utah Jazz were a playoff team last year but need to tweak their roster. Here are five moves they must make this offseason.
The Utah Jazz signed Mike Conley, Bojan Bogdanovic and Emmanuel Mudiay in the free agency period prior to the 2019-20 season. Conley cost the Jazz Grayson Allen, Darius Bazley, Jae Crowder and Kyle Korver. Bogdanovic and Mudiay signed on as free agents.
Then the Jazz made a midseason trade where they sent Dante Exum to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for Jordan Clarkson. The scoring impetus that Clarkson provided was certainly welcome considering that Joe Ingles struggled with his bench role for the season.
Despite the roster turnover, the Jazz managed to finish sixth in the Western Conference. Prior to the hiatus they were in fourth and while they finished on the same record as both the Houston Rockets and the OKC Thunder, tiebreakers dropped them to sixth.
The stats tell the story of a Utah Jazz team re-working out their identity.
The Jazz offensive numbers told a story last season. They were first in the entire league in 3-point percentage, shooting the ball as a team at 38.0 percent from deep. They were fifth in the league in two point percentage as well, shooting the ball at 53.5 percent from inside the arc.
They had a middle ranked offense all season, averaging 111.3 points per game as a franchise. This was good enough for 18th in the league. The Jazz took the right shots at the right time. Fortunately they were able to hold their opponents to 108.8 points, good for ninth in the league.
They did this through great team defense, by being disruptive in the passing lanes and not allowing easy shots. They held their opposition to just 21,5 assists per game which was the best in the league.
The Jazz have just under $118 million in committed salary next season. They also have the 23rd pick in the 2020 NBA draft. With all of this in mind, it is time to take a look at the five roster moves they must make this offseason.