Utah Jazz Have Finally Signed An Incredible Key Player To…
The Utah Jazz looked like they might be in contention for a high lottery pick in this summer’s NBA Draft when they got off to a 7-16 start this season. Front office sharks were circling the Jazz, hoping to pick off useful veterans at the trade deadline, and there were even rumblings about teams hoping to land star forward Lauri Markkanen if Utah was going to pull the plug and enter a full-on rebuild.
However, since then the Jazz have gone 15-5, including a recent 6-game win streak that included wins over the Sixers, Bucks, and Nuggets in succession. Utah has been one of the league’s best offenses over their hot streak, boasting a 121.7 ORtg (5th in the NBA) over the last 15 games. They’ve also raised their level on defense with a 113.2 DRtg (10th in the NBA) in that same stretch. Only the Celtics and Cavaliers have managed to be top-10 in offensive and defensive rating over their last 15 games like the Jazz, and Utah has gone from being a potential fire sale candidate to a potential buyer at the deadline.
Getting Markkanen back on the floor after he missed some time has helped, as he’s once again playing at an incredibly high level, backing up his All-Star campaign a year ago with averages of 24.0 points and 8.8 rebounds per game on 49.7/39.7/87.5 shooting splits this season. However, what has really allowed the Jazz to finally find their groove is improved play from their backcourt.
Early in the season, Utah was just not getting anything consistent from their guards, and as such there wasn’t a great flow to their offense. However, when the Jazz moved Collin Sexton into the starting lineup for an injured Jordan Clarkson in mid-December, the team took off. Their 15-5 run has coincided with Sexton becoming a starter, and Clarkson has returned to the sixth man role he has thrived in for many years. That shift was one Will Hardy wasn’t sure he wanted to make, but circumstances called for it and the result has been a rejuvenated Jazz team, with Hardy noting Sexton’s play has taught him a lot about coaching without leaning on preconceived notions of what a player is from past teams.
In the Jazz starting lineup, Sexton is enjoying the best stretch of basketball of his career, averaging 21.9 points, 4.8 assists, and just 1.6 turnovers per game on 52.2/41.5/90.8 shooting splits. What he provides this Utah team is an element of rim pressure they simply don’t get from anyone else. Clarkson is a terrific scorer, but with the spacing the Jazz have in their starting lineup, Sexton’s ability and willingness to attack downhill relentlessly puts immense pressure on defenses — take his 30-point performance against the Pacers on Monday, where he got two feet in the paint consistently.
With Sexton in the starting lineup, Hardy has made some adjustments to help open up those driving lanes and create tough decisions for defenses. Walker Kessler, who is not a three-point threat, now stations himself in the corner fairly regularly, daring his man to sink to the paint to provide help on a driver. That creates a runway for Kessler to cut to the rim and finish lobs like he would from the dunker’s spot, but makes the read easier for the guard by putting the defender in more space and making them make a decision quicker. He’s also moved Simone Fontecchio into the starting lineup alongside Sexton, putting another three-point threat on the floor to open things up, while moving Clarkson and rookie Keyonte George to the bench unit.
All of the strings Hardy has pulled of late have been working, and the Jazz have gone from a group that appeared aimless to a legitimate threat as a Play-In team in the West, vaulting into ninth at 22-21, just 2.5 games back of the 6-seed. How they proceed from here as an organization will be fascinating. A year ago they sold at the deadline in a similar position, but with a less enticing Draft this year (and clearly no chance of getting into the tank race with how bad the bottom of the league is), they could very well become buyers or at the least let this group play it out and see how far they can go.
