The Utah Jazz have been at the forefront of NBA conversations since the season was put on hold back in March. As play is soon to pick back up, the team hopes to remain a major talking point after the remaining eight regular-season games and into the postseason.
The 2019-2020 season has been a bit up and down for the Jazz. Even when the NBA play was on pause, the team had ups and downs. Soon after the night that all NBA fans remember that stopped all league play when Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19 minutes before tipoff, and later star guard Donovan Mitchell was confirmed to also tested positive. Rumors began to spread about the relationship between Utah’s two All-Stars may be beyond repair. In the subsequent days, stories broke that the two had not been in contact with each other since that day in Oklahoma City.
Since then, the two have admitted that their relationship is not perfect, but they both are committed to working together to bring a championship to Utah, and both noted that the Jazz have something special. With so much coverage on the relationship between the two stars and how they will co-exist, expect a lot of eyes on the Utah Jazz in the Orlando bubble.
Bojan Bogdanovic
However, those weren’t the only downs during the time away. When the season was still in doubt, it was announced that Bojan Bogdanovic would undergo season-ending surgery to repair a ruptured scapholunate ligament in his right wrist. That is a significant loss for the Jazz, where Bogdanovic is the second-leading scorer on the lineup averaging over 20 points per game and has been a great source of offense for the Jazz.
Bogdanovic was brought in and was intended to be part of a three-headed monster for the Jazz offense with Mitchell, Bogdanovic, and Mike Conley Jr. At times in the season, Bogdanovic came through for the Jazz and was seemingly the first option and took a lot of pressure off the Jazz’s young star Donovan Mitchell. While Bogdanovic played an even more prominent role than expected for the Jazz, one player who has been a bit of a disappointment for the Jazz is Mike Conley Jr.
Mike Conley Jr.
To say Mike Conley Jr. has struggled this season is an understatement. Injuries have been a major part of that statement. The guard has been in and out of the lineup and has often been a defensive liability when in the lineup. Whether that is from playing in a new team system or teams taking advantage of his small size, he has struggled to stop his matchups in the 2020 season.
Conley was seemingly finding his role and place in the Jazz roster just before the season was brought to its streaking halt and was averaging over 16 points while tallying over 5 assists per game in March. Perhaps, the break in the season will allow Conley more time to heal from the injuries that interfered with his season and continue to find his rhythm in Orlando. Can he come in and be the second scorer that the Jazz need to make up for the loss of Bojan Bogdanovic?
The loss of Bogdanovic also brings a major question mark on who will fill that power forward position when playing resumes. Joe Ingles will likely slide into the starting lineup with Royce O’Neal and help space the floor for the Jazz. It is the second unit of big guys that are the question mark for Utah. Will Tony Bradley Jr., Georges Niang, Jarrell Brantley, or maybe Ed Davis be players that step up to help carry this team into the postseason?
No matter the story, the Jazz have voids to fill and are a definite unknown in the field of play in the Orlando Bubble. Defensively the team has the potential to be elite, especially coming off of such a long period without play. Their offense is the premier factor in their success. If Mike Conley plays like the Mike Conley in Memphis and helps lighten the load for Donovan Mitchell, this team has major potential. Jordan Clarkson is a spark plug off the bench that brings instant offense that the Jazz had been missing with Mitchell on the bench. What tune will the Jazz play to close out this season? We will see, but if they combine their great defense and get the offensive boost they need from Mike Conley Jr., this team could go deep into the Western Conference Playoffs.
See more NBA previews here.
