Via NBA.com
Key Players: Donovan Mitchell, Rudy Gobert, Ricky Rubio
*Trigger Warning Start*
This article may come off as very boring. While entertainment is usually an attempted accommodating feature of most articles, SoundSports is not responsible for the reader's entertainment. SoundSports would like to note that there were internal attempts to come up with compelling components for today's '31in30' subject; but aside from drafting Grayson Allen, the Utah Jazz had an offseason synonymous to Utah--boring. A series of Grayson Allen jokes were thought about but jokes about the former Duke guard's past on-court incidents tend to fall flat.
Exactly.
The next idea was to draw parallels between how boring Utah, the state, is to the Utah Jazz, but that came off as unusually cruel to a state that did nothing.
On a roll this article.
However, that idea did spark the premise of this article. Following the conclusion of this trigger warning, all aspects of the article will represent the dull nature of the Utah Jazz offseason. The adjectives and word choice will be redundantly basic and the sentence structure will spark middle school journal memories. Much like the piece Utah is lacking to become true contenders, this article will induce thoughts of 'something is missing'. Whenever a slight headache occurs at this article's lack of flavor in figures of speech, think about the Utah Jazz front office. This is a physical representation of their lack of innovation. Again, sincerest apologies.
*Trigger Warning Conclusion*
With the 21st overall pick, the Utah Jazz selected the 6'5 shooting guard out of Duke University--Grayson Allen. No other notable additions occurred. The Utah Jazz did not have any notable losses this offseason.
Utah's Very Good Scenario
Yeah, even the pictures are boring. Thank the Jazz front office. Via B/R
Donovan Mitchell is good. Leading your team in points(20.5 ppg) while posting almost four assists and four rebounds a night is a good season. Putting up those numbers in your first season is really good. His first playoff appearance was equally good. All of Mitchell's per game averages increased, tallying 24.4 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 4.1 assists a game. These statistics are impressive considering who he was guarded by. Donovan Mitchell was guarded by Paul George, Russell Westbrook, Trevor Ariza, Luc Mbah a Moute, and P.J. Tucker. H̶i̶s̶ ̶i̶m̶p̶r̶e̶s̶s̶i̶v̶e̶ ̶r̶o̶o̶k̶i̶e̶ ̶s̶e̶a̶s̶o̶n̶ ̶m̶a̶t̶c̶h̶e̶d̶ ̶w̶i̶t̶h̶ ̶h̶i̶s̶ ̶r̶e̶l̶a̶t̶i̶v̶e̶l̶y̶ ̶s̶m̶a̶l̶l̶ ̶s̶i̶z̶e̶ ̶f̶o̶r̶ ̶a̶ ̶t̶w̶o̶-̶g̶u̶a̶r̶d̶ ̶l̶e̶d̶ ̶m̶a̶n̶y̶ ̶m̶e̶m̶b̶e̶r̶s̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶b̶a̶s̶k̶e̶t̶b̶a̶l̶l̶ ̶c̶o̶m̶m̶u̶n̶i̶t̶y̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶d̶r̶a̶w̶ ̶c̶o̶m̶p̶a̶r̶i̶s̶o̶n̶s̶ ̶t̶o̶ ̶a̶n̶o̶t̶h̶e̶r̶ ̶u̶n̶d̶e̶r̶s̶i̶z̶e̶d̶ ̶t̶w̶o̶-̶g̶u̶a̶r̶d̶.̶ Donovan Mitchell got this comparison a lot.
Via By Any Means Basketball/Youtube
If Mitchell can live up to the Dwyane Wade comparisons in his sophomore season, the Jazz will have a very good season. H̶o̶w̶e̶v̶e̶r̶,̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶h̶o̶p̶e̶s̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶a̶ ̶g̶o̶o̶d̶ ̶s̶e̶a̶s̶o̶n̶ ̶d̶o̶n̶'̶t̶ ̶r̶e̶s̶t̶ ̶s̶o̶l̶e̶y̶ ̶o̶n̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶s̶h̶o̶u̶l̶d̶e̶r̶s̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶l̶a̶s̶t̶ ̶y̶e̶a̶r̶s̶ ̶R̶o̶o̶k̶i̶e̶ ̶o̶f̶ ̶t̶h̶e̶ ̶Y̶e̶a̶r̶ ̶r̶u̶n̶n̶e̶r̶-̶u̶p̶.̶ Other things will help the Jazz have a good season.
One of those other things is the Utah defense. The Jazz have reigning Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert. Gobert was in the top-5 of almost every major defensive statistic: defensive rating(2nd, 99.5), defensive plus/minus(2nd, 4.6), and blocks per game(2nd, 2.3). His skill on the defensive end is good for the Jazz. The Jazz went 11-16 without Gobert versus 37-18 with him. Gobert, paired with head coach Quin Snyder's defensive gameplan, led the Jazz to finishing number one in the league's defensive rating.
The roster is the same. Fans should expect the same good defense.
Utah's Very Bad Scenario
Same boring picture. Both sides are hurting right now, but lessons have to be taught.
The Utah Jazz were underdogs last season in a tough Western Conference. From top to bottom, the Western Conference improved. The Jazz added Grayson Allen as their big offseason splash. Allen averaged 16.5 points on 38 percent shooting in his Vegas Summer League appearance. In his homecourt's league, the Utah Summer League, Allen averaged 10 points on 21 percent shooting. The Jazz did not follow the trend of their Western Conference peers.
Not following trends could be the main reason the upcoming season would be viewed as a failure. A late-lottery pick should not be able to take over the role of franchise face, as easy as Donovan Mitchell did last season. His sudden positioning as the franchise face left many onlookers awaiting any sign of this role being too much for Mitchell to handle. Mitchell handled it until the very end. Now entering his second season in the league, the expectations on the new franchise face are high. Analysts, like ESPN's Ryan Hollins, have franchise face Donovan Mitchell as a top-10 player in the league, ranking him above franchise faces like Anthony Davis and Giannis Antetokounmpo. Seriously.
Via HoopCentral/Twitter
Bad rankings aside, incredible rookie seasons can be a player's peak. Think former Sacremento Kings franchise face Tyreke Evans averaging 20/5/6 in his rookie season then failing to exceed or match those numbers almost a decade later. Donovan Mitchell's rookie season looking like a flash in a pan as he struggles in his follow-up campaign is every Jazz fan's nightmare.
Record Prediction: 43-39, "Good/Franchise Face"