With the Utah Jazz heading to the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday to finish out the last leg of a six-game road trip, here are some facts about their season.
They are 27-11 this season with all five of their starters available. They have had precious little time this season with all nine of their intended rotation players available, but they have won 13 of 18 games. They are 18-19 when missing a starter. They are 13-17, counting Sunday night’s 114-100 loss to the Dallas Mavericks, when missing multiple rotation players.
Advertisem*nt
Simply put, the playoff viability for the Jazz revolves around how healthy they are going to be. And with Donovan Mitchell twisting an ankle, which is much the same thing that happened to him around this time last season, the overall health of the Jazz seems to be a dubious proposition.
If they are healthy? Numbers suggest they have a chance to make a run in the postseason. But that means complete health, and the Jazz haven’t had that much this season.
If they are not healthy? A first-round exit is certainly on the table, and a run to at least the Western Conference finals doesn’t seem likely. In a season of twists and turns, in a season where the Jazz have made health a massive priority, they have had as much injury bad luck as almost any team in the Western Conference. This was a team that was 27-9 on the season in the late stages of December. Injury-wise, it all began to fall apart in January.
A big issue is that the Jazz haven’t been a great team with parts missing, which bears a deeper look in this specific story. The question is, why? Dennis Lindsey and Justin Zanik crafted a roster together with specific care, which led to the Jazz being as good as they were last season. Zanik made some significant changes last summer, bringing Rudy Gay and Hassan Whiteside into the rotation for Georges Niang and Derrick Favors. But, the meat of that rotation, at least until Joe Ingles got hurt in January, is still largely intact.
Because the Jazz don’t have the top five or so overall player to hinge everything on, the roster always has been dependent on the sum of its parts. From Mitchell and Rudy Gobert down to the 15th player, everyone has a specific skill that mixes in with the overall stew. As has played out before our eyes over the last three months, when this roster misses even one guy, the entire deck of cards is thrown off.
Advertisem*nt
The Golden State Warriors are seeing this play out with Stephen Curry and Draymond Green. The Denver Nuggets have been able to steady themselves without Jamal Murray or Michael Porter Jr. because Nikola Jokic is one of the top five players in the league. But even Jokic can’t make up for obstacles placed around Denver that the absence of their second- and third-best players cause.
The Jazz are unique because the roster sorely needs a differing skill that every player in their rotation brings. It’s the reason why things seem so off-kilter when one guy is out, and almost impossible with more than one guy out. Sunday night’s loss to the Mavericks was predictable. The Jazz were without four rotation players. They just aren’t likely to beat good teams under those conditions (as would be the case with almost any team in the league).
Let’s go through every one of Utah’s nine rotation players and figure out why the Jazz rotation can’t do without the specific skill that specific player brings. Just for continuity, we will begin with the backcourt, go with the frontcourt and then the four main reserves, as intended when the roster was put together over the summer.
Mike Conley
Without Conley, the ball gets stagnant, because, with Ingles no longer on the roster, he’s the one who gets the Jazz into their offense and gets the ball moving. He’s also, by far, the best player remaining in terms of getting the ball to Gobert. And right now, that’s an issue. With Ingles on the roster, he and Gobert would run five to seven pick-and-rolls a game, which would result in positive plays at the rim.
When Gobert doesn’t get the ball on a regular basis, he’s not happy. But, Gobert also doesn’t catch traffic passes, which is another issue. He’s an elite lob threat. Conley is the best lob passer remaining on the roster. When he’s not available, the offense feels that absence significantly.
Advertisem*nt
Donovan Mitchell
Mitchell is obviously Utah’s best scorer, its most dynamic offensive player and the star that the remainder of the roster rallies around. He’s the leader now. This is his team. But, the skill that this roster can’t make up for are the touches in clutch situations. Yes, I know you are rustling around, looking at the stats and are about to say that Mitchell hasn’t been great in the clutch this season — and you would be correct.
But, when Mitchell is there, the Jazz know who will take those possessions, and the last shot, and where the offense will come from when a game gets to its most important moments. When he is not there, the Jazz don’t know that, and the offense resembles a sailboat without a rudder when those minutes come about.
Bojan Bogdanovic
His absence, especially with no Ingles on the roster, is massive. Without Bogdanovic, the spacing — almost everything the offense has been built on — has not been there. The secondary scoring has not been there. Because Bogdanovic is not on the floor with his gravity, the Conley/Gobert pick-and-roll hasn’t been nearly as effective. Opposing teams are sinking helpside defenders into the lane and clogging it, and lob opportunities haven’t been there at all. Teams are able to load up on Mitchell and Conley on the perimeter. Quin Snyder hasn’t been able to take pressure off Mitchell and Conley by running Bogdanovic off pindowns and flare screens and run plays his way. And, obviously, the 40 percent 3-point shooting on volume hasn’t been there. The Jazz offense has been in a world of hurt without Bogdanovic on the floor. It’s been obvious through this entire road trip.
Royce O’Neale
When the Jazz are healthy, O’Neale is able to be the fifth option, and he’s a really good fifth option. He’s good at attacking closeouts. He’s turned into a terrific shooter, although still a reluctant one in too many instances. He’s become very good in transition. Without O’Neale, who has been among the most durable players on the team this season, the Jazz are missing their best perimeter defender below the free-throw line. He’s not great on the quicksilver guards, but he is really good on the bigger forwards with his toughness and willingness to battle on the interior.
Rudy Gobert
Like Mitchell, so much of what Gobert does is obvious. But the skill they can’t compensate for is the sheer physical size and the rebounding. He’s one of the five best defensive rebounders in the league, and the Jazz get their support from his size and presence in the lane. Without Gobert on the floor, the Jazz are one of the smallest teams in the league, because they don’t have a ton of size on the perimeter. Sunday night, Utah led Dallas by as many as 11 points in the first half. That lead could have been around 20 had the Jazz been able to clean up multiple defensive possessions that led to Mavericks 3s on second-chance opportunities. The rim protection, the defense … with Gobert, it’s obvious. But, the rebounding? That’s something the Jazz just can’t make up for whenever Gobert is out of the lineup,
Jordan Clarkson
Without Clarkson, you don’t have a dynamic scorer off the bench. Without Ingles (man, has he been a theme in this), Clarkson sometimes has too much responsibility in his minutes, especially when he’s such a scorer. But if Clarkson isn’t in the lineup, the Jazz miss his ability to create against the clock, get hot and carry the offense in stretches where Mitchell isn’t on the floor. He’s also Utah’s best guard finisher in the lane, which is why he should get himself into the lane whenever possible. It’s because he’s terrific in the paint with his array of floaters and finishes at the rim.
Danuel House Jr.
It speaks to Utah’s need for a perimeter defender that the Jazz have missed him dearly during his time out because of a bone bruise in his knee. Plus, House is a dog. The Jazz need dogs, desperately. House is already Utah’s best defender above the free-throw line, and provided he is healthy in the playoffs, he is going to play a big role.
Advertisem*nt
But it’s even deeper than that for the Jazz. House plays hard, really hard. And when he plays hard, the rest of his teammates have no choice but to follow. He also makes shots, important shots, from the perimeter. And he also gets out in transition and makes things happen. He also has good size and length, and he’s one of the few Utah perimeter guys who plays consistently above the rim. Check that: He might be the only one at this point. Without him on this trip, the Jazz haven’t been able to bother any of the star players they have matched up against.
The Jazz were good against the Knicks’ RJ Barrett because he plays below the free-throw line. But Kevin Durant (Nets), Jayson Tatum (Celtics), LaMelo Ball (Hornets) and Luka Doncic (Mavericks) all made it look easy against Utah, because House was probably the only one capable of giving any of those guys pause.
Rudy Gay
Without him in the lineup, the Jazz lack length. And for a team without great size outside of its centers, Gay’s length really matters, as well as his ability to make shots and provide select post opportunities. Gay hasn’t been great this season by any measure, but it shows the volatility of the roster that his absence means something. He’s also starting to play a touch better. He was terrific in the first half Sunday night against Dallas. It lends hope to whether he can become a significant factor once the postseason rolls around.
Hassan Whiteside
When he is missing, so is Utah’s ability to play the same system when Gobert is not on the floor. It means the Jazz have to play smaller and switch. It means there is no rim protector on the second unit. And when Whiteside is engaged, he is still significantly better than most backup centers in the league.
When this team is together, it has proven to be a really good team. But this team hasn’t been together since January. That’s three months of mixing and matching and hoping for health.
Will that health arrive? That’s a question that won’t be answered for a few weeks. But one thing is for certain: Utah is dependent on that health.
(Photo of Jordan Clarkson and Mike Conley: Tim Heitman / Getty Images)
Tony Jones is a Staff Writer at The Athletic covering the Utah Jazz and the NBA. A native of the East Coast and a journalism brat as a child, he has an addiction to hip-hop music and pickup basketball, and his Twitter page has been used for occasional debates concerning Biggie and Tupac. Follow Tony on Twitter @Tjonesonthenba
