Utah Jazz Are the Best Young Team in the NBA
The Utah Jazz may not have a winning record, but the pieces are there to be a very good team for a long time.
With the emergence of Rudy Gobert alongside Derrick Favors' development and Gordon Hayward's consistency, the Jazz have one of the most talented frontcourts in the NBA.
Utah's backcourt is still raw, but Trey Burke, Alec Burks and Dante Exum are talented enough to take the next step in due time. If the Jazz can add another skilled wing during the offseason, the franchise will be dangerous in 2015-16 and a dark horse to make the NBA playoffs.
The Jazz only have three players over the age of 25—Trevor Booker, Joe Ingles and Elijah Millsap—and none of them are guaranteed to be with the organization at the conclusion of this season. Youth has troubled the franchise at times in 2014-15, but it is precisely the reason why they could become the NBA's most challenging team for the foreseeable future.
An Exciting Frontcourt
Gobert, Favors and Hayward are three All-Star talents that will continue improving with experience.
The 7'1", 245-pound Gobert is 22 years old; the 6'10", 262-pound Favors is 23; and the 6'8", 225-pound Hayward is 24. Each athlete complements the others perfectly.
Gobert is becoming a premier defender with exceptional shot-blocking ability. Favors—now playing the 4—is a reliable rebounder and scorer on the block that is developing a solid jump shot. Hayward is the team's best overall player with an ability to create shots for himself and his teammates, as his 4.2 assists per game illustrate.
Favors is no slouch as a playmaker either:
Via ESPN.com, Hayward has a 7.86 WAR—third-best in the NBA among small forwards—and is good for 6.0 win shares, via Basketball-Reference.com. Favors checks in with the 14th-best WAR among power forwards with 4.29, alongside 6.0 win shares. Gobert has the 10th-best WAR at the 5 at 3.02 and is also good for 5.4 win shares.
Utah's frontcourt isn't exactly dominant just yet, but when coupling the trio's youth with their performances, there's a lot to be excited about. Hayward and Favors are averaging 19.5 and 16 points per game, respectively, alongside 4.8 and 8.2 rebounds per game.
The emergence of Gobert after the All-Star break has catapulted the organization toward becoming a much better team defensively.
Gobert's numbers may appear modest—7.1 points, 7.6 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game—but he's contributed that stat line in only 22.7 minutes per game.
The trio of Gobert, Favors and Hayward leads the franchise in wins produced with 9.08, 7.31 and 7.04, respectively, via Box Score Geeks.
If Utah's guards can take the next step, the Jazz have powerhouse potential in the NBA.
A Tantalizing Backcourt
Burke, Burks and Exum haven't exactly progressed as well as some would like. The 23-year-old Burks has been the most consistent guard, scoring 13.9 points and dishing 3.0 assists to go along with 4.2 rebounds per game, but he's been afflicted with the injury bug.
The 22-year-old Burke has been good for 13.1 points and 4.6 assists per game, but aside from his turnover percentage of 10.7, his advanced stats have been lackluster. He has a negative-0.28 WAR to go along with only 1.8 win shares and a 0.0 value over replacement player. He's also only shooting 37.7 percent from the field, which is unacceptable for a point guard with as much potential as he possesses.
Burke may never be a prolific 1, but he's a good enough scorer and playmaker to start in the NBA for a decade. He has a 2.72 assist-to-turnover ratio and is solid in the pick-and-roll, getting to the basket with ease. His inefficiency scoring-wise could be attributed to his need to be stronger at the rim and smarter with his shot selection, as displayed by his shot chart:
Burke may need to put on some more muscle in order to be a capable finisher at the rim and get closer to league average, and he needs to cut back on his three-point attempts, as he's attempting five per game.
He also has the tendency to take off-balance shots at times, as seen in the video below at the 34-second and 1:02 marks. Although he makes both shots, it's a habit that needs to be addressed to ensure more consistency.
Once Burke's issues are corrected, he will get much closer to fulfilling his potential as a starting point guard.
The 19-year-old Exum has also struggled this season, despite his talent. At 6'6", 190 pounds, the Australian rookie has tremendous reach and athleticism at the 2 and is capable of being a playmaker once he adapts fully to the NBA.
Exum is crafty and possesses the intangibles to become a very good player in this league, but his youth and inexperience is certainly weighing on his performance thus far.
His mid-range game is also virtually nonexistent—as seen in the shot chart below—which doesn't help his 35.0 field-goal percentage on 4.8 attempts per game.
If Exum can develop into a solid shooter from the perimeter and be more effective in the mid-range—whether in catch-and-shoot opportunities or pull-ups—he can become the perfect complement to Burke and Hayward.
Exum is already an above-average finisher at the rim, and he's capable of getting into the paint and feeding others once his perimeter game comes together. When that happens, Utah will be a very difficult team to guard.
Missing Piece
Via NBA.com, the Jazz have the sixth-best field-goal percentage from five feet and in, knocking down 61.0 percent of those shots. The Jazz are also 11th-best from 25-29 feet knocking down 34.6 percent of those shots. From 15-19 feet, however, Utah is ninth-worst, shooting 38.9 percent from the field.
Utah needs another perimeter scorer that can be effective from mid-range. If the Jazz can add a wing that is capable of consistently knocking down shots from 15-29 feet, the organization will be primed for prominence.
Since the departure of Enes Kanter, the franchise is becoming one of the NBA's better defensive teams.
The low-block presence is there with Gobert and Favors, Utah just needs that extra shooter that can come off screens and space the floor.
In a limited sample size, Burks has shown the potential to fill that void, as indicated by the graphic below:
But the guard's durability has been questionable, playing in more than 65 games only once in his career.
Once Utah addresses that need, whether through free agency or the NBA draft, the franchise will be poised to reach the next level. The Jazz have done an excellent job retaining their young talent—inking Burks to a four-year contract extension worth over $42 million, matching Hayward's four-year, $63 million offer sheet and signing Favors to a four-year, $50 million deal in 2013.
The organization has one of the best young cores in the NBA. With Favors, Hayward, Burks, Burke, Gobert and Exum locked up for the next few seasons, chemistry will continue developing and success is inevitable.
Utah has quietly put together the best group of athletes with the potential to become a headache for teams around the NBA.
.jpg?w=600 "Colts Release Kenny Moore")
