Mar 9, 2022; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Utah Jazz guard Jared Butler (13) gestures as he dribbles the ball up court in the fourth quarter against the Portland Trail Blazers at Vivint Arena. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports
The Utah Jazz currently have two very well established point guards on their NBA roster in Mike Conley and Patrick Beverley, but if one of those players isn’t on the Jazz roster come the 2022/23 NBA season, they were likely hoping that Jared Butler could step into a role off the bench alongside Jordan Clarkson.
Unfortunately, while Butler wasn’t overly terrible, it just felt like the offense wasn’t clicking together, and it may be the first game of Summer League, but the hope was that Butler with plenty of NBA experience could lead this team in game 1. The Thunder were led by 2021/22 rookie sensation Josh Giddey and Chet Holmgren, and look much more fluent and organized, once again showing there’s a clear lack of overall talent on this Jazz Summer League roster.
With a bit more chemistry in game two and beyond, there’s a chance that Butler can step up and lead this team, so no one should overreact after just one game, but in that one game, the offense didn’t look great at all, and that needs to change if the rest of the team want to show what they’re capable of.
Utah Jazz</a> have just played their first game in the post Quin Snyder/Rudy Gobert era, and despite the fact that it was just a Salt Lake City Summer League game, there are plenty of takeaways, both good and bad. Several players, namely Xavier Sneed and Jeenathan Williams flashed plenty of potential, but ultimately, it was the Thunder squad, led by Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams and star sophomore Josh Giddey who ran away with the win in game No. 1 for the Jazz.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Game 1 of <a href=https://thejnotes.com/2022/07/05/3-takeaways-from-the-first-utah-jazz-summer-league-game/2/"https://twitter.com/hashtag/SLCSL?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>#SLCSL</a> 🎷<a href=https://thejnotes.com/2022/07/05/3-takeaways-from-the-first-utah-jazz-summer-league-game/2/"https://twitter.com/hashtag/TakeNote?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>#TakeNote</a> <a href=https://thejnotes.com/2022/07/05/3-takeaways-from-the-first-utah-jazz-summer-league-game/2/"https://t.co/vrobw8lEfD">pic.twitter.com/vrobw8lEfD
<p>— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) <a href=https://thejnotes.com/2022/07/05/3-takeaways-from-the-first-utah-jazz-summer-league-game/2/"https://twitter.com/utahjazz/status/1544521118043684864?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%22>July 6, 2022</a></p></blockquote>
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<p>Given that Utah had no top draft picks, no Jazz fans should be reading too much into this first game, as there was no guarantee that anyone from this roster was going to push to make the NBA roster on opening night, but given all the talent that was there, it’s hard not to be a little disappointed. Ultimately, this was the first game of three before this group heads out to Las Vegas, and there’s plenty to be learned and plenty of improving to do, and the higher ups should hope so, as there could be some hidden gems on this young roster.</p>
<p>Ultimately, it was just one game, but given how excited Jazz fans are for the future, we are going to take a look at a Utah Jazz game 1 loss to the Thunder, and find three of the biggest takeaways from it.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #00265D" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://thejnotes.com/2022/07/05/3-takeaways-from-the-first-utah-jazz-summer-league-game/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> 3. A lack of talent in one specific position </a>
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