General manager Justin Zanik and his colleagues in the front office have already done their share. The offseason additions of Rudy Gay, Eric Paschall and Hassan Whiteside go a long way towards enhancing the positional versatility that the Jazz were lacking in their playoff defeat against the Clippers. Now, the onus is on the players to work towards plugging any existing holes in their respective games.
Admittedly, thats a tall order for a veteran-heavy squad. Most of the key members of the Utah Jazz are fully formed NBA players: cliches about teaching old dogs new tricks may apply. Nonetheless, we’ve seen veterans add wrinkles or improve on shortcomings later in their career in the past, and improvement is always a goal, no matter how achievable, for professional athletes.
Here’s one goal every projected Utah Jazz starter could aim to achieve heading into the 2021-22 NBA season.
Rudy Gay</a>, <a href=https://thejnotes.com/2021/09/13/utah-jazz-one-goal-every-player-starting/"https://thejnotes.com/2021/08/05/utah-jazz-grading-eric-paschall-trade/">Eric Paschall</a> and <a href=https://thejnotes.com/2021/09/13/utah-jazz-one-goal-every-player-starting/"https://thejnotes.com/2021/08/04/utah-jazz-free-agency-hassan-whiteside/">Hassan Whiteside</a> go a long way towards enhancing the positional versatility that the Jazz were lacking in their playoff defeat against the Clippers. Now, the onus is on the players to work towards plugging any existing holes in their respective games.</p>
<p>Admittedly, thats a tall order for a veteran-heavy squad. Most of the key members of the Utah Jazz are fully formed NBA players: cliches about teaching old dogs new tricks may apply. Nonetheless, we’ve seen veterans add wrinkles or improve on shortcomings later in their career in the past, and improvement is always a goal, no matter how achievable, for professional athletes.</p>
<p>Here’s one goal every projected Utah Jazz starter could aim to achieve heading into the 2021-22 NBA season.</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/2021/09/13/utah-jazz-one-goal-every-player-starting/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Rudy Gobert </a>
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We’ve already outlined the potential benefits</a> of Donovan Mitchell making a leap on the defensive end. Nonetheless, those benefits are worthy of repeat mention.</p>
<p>Unlike in the case of his Utah Jazz teammate Bojan Bogdanovic, we haven’t bothered to outline a specific, measurable statistical goal for Mitchell to meet. Instead, the explosive young off-guard is afforded the luxury of leeway due to his considerable offensive workload.</p>
<p>Still, getting his DBPM back out of the red would qualify as a starting point. Mitchell’s actually posted a positive score in that metric twice throughout his young NBA career, in both his rookie and sophomore seasons. In the seasons following, Mitchell’s DBPM has been negative (-0.6 in each of his last two seasons).</p>
<p>At 6’1, Mitchell is arguably an undersized off-guard. However, his considerable wingspan compensates some for his lack of height, and his explosiveness and quick hands should provide him with the framework to be an average, or even better, NBA defender.</p>
<p>Sometimes, defensive negligence arises out of the need to preserve energy, and that may hold true in Mitchell’s case, as he scored a team-leading 26.4 points per game for the Utah Jazz last season. Ultimately, it’s that kind of offensive creation that elevates Mitchell to the position of being the most important player on his team.</p>
<p>Regardless, if he made it a goal for himself to generally improve his defense over the 2021-22 NBA season, he’d be able to provide the Utah Jazz with even more value.</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/2021/09/13/utah-jazz-one-goal-every-player-starting/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Mike Conley Jr. </a>
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<img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-85502" src=https://thejnotes.com/2021/09/13/utah-jazz-one-goal-every-player-starting/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1065,w_1600/https%3A%2F%2Fthejnotes.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2017%2F07%2F1320979526.jpeg" alt="Utah Jazz" width="1600" height="1065" srcset="https://thejnotes.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1320979526.jpeg 1600w, https://thejnotes.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/1320979526-768x511.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px"><div class="fs-center-img">
<p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:1600px;">Mike Conley of the Utah Jazz (Photo by Justin Ford/Getty Images)</p>
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<h2>Utah Jazz point guard Mike Conley Jr.</h2>
<p><em><strong>2021-22 Goal: Stay healthy </strong></em></p>
<p>Arguably, we’re copping out with our 2021-22 goal for Mike Conley Jr. Every player on the Utah Jazz and in the National Basketball Association in general would prefer to stay healthy for the entire duration of every season of their careers.</p>
<p>Fair enough. <em>You</em> try identifying a more realistic and vital goal for Conley Jr. heading into this season.</p>
<p>Simply put, it cannot be done. Short of manifesting his own physical growth and/or athletic gifts, <a href=https://thejnotes.com/2021/09/13/utah-jazz-one-goal-every-player-starting/"https://thejnotes.com/2021/08/09/utah-jazz-mike-conley-best-value-signing/">Conley Jr. has no room for improvement</a>. His positive DBPM of 0.9 from last season is about as good as anyone can expect from a 6’1, 175-pound 33-year old. The 41.2% he shot on 6.6 three-point attempts per game last season is unlikely to climb, and could even afford to slip a little before it began significantly impacting his team’s efficiency.</p>
<p>His 6.0 assists per game from 2020-21 were solid, but become something better when paired with his 1.9 turnovers per game. That was good for an 8.9 turnover ratio. That’s a mark that landed Conley 25th in the NBA last season, but it’s worth noting that the top 20 or so players are largely low-usage point guards. For context, the league leader was Jevon Carter (5.1). Conley Jr.’s 8.9 landed him one spot ahead of esteemed Point God Chris Paul (9.0).</p>
<p>Indeed, there is no realistic goal that anyone could ask of the heady, well-rounded veteran outside of improved durability. Last season, Conley Jr. suited up for 51 out of Utah’s 72 regular season games, and then unfortunately missed time in the playoffs as well. The season before was even worse, as he managed 47 out of 72.</p>
<div class="fs-shortcode" data-type="StoryLink" data-theme="dark" data-text="Jazz star unveils basketball court for upcoming Academy" data-url="https://thejnotes.com/2021/09/12/utah-jazz-star-unveils-court-academy/" data-call-to-action="Next"> <div class="story-link-next"> <a class="story-link-next-btn" style="background: #00265D" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="story-link-next-shortcode" href=https://thejnotes.com/2021/09/13/utah-jazz-one-goal-every-player-starting/"https://thejnotes.com/2021/09/12/utah-jazz-star-unveils-court-academy/"> <span class="call_to_action">Next:</span> Jazz star unveils basketball court for upcoming Academy </a> </div>
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<p>Conley Jr. is as solid as veterans come in the NBA: his body just won’t agree. He should make it a goal to stay on the floor as often as possible for the Utah Jazz in the 2021-22 season.</p><!—pageview_candidate—>">