Utah Jazz Complete 2016-17 Season Preview

The 2015-16 Utah Jazz learned two critical lessons on March 30.

First, never leave Klay Thompson unattended. The All-Star sniper buried a game-tying triple with 15 seconds remaining, forcing an overtime period that allowed the Golden State Warriors to escape Salt Lake City with a 103-96 win.

But the second takeaway arguably trumped the result: The Jazz saw firsthand that they could hold court with the NBA’s elite.

“I feel like we can play with them,” swingman Rodney Hood said, per Aaron Falk of the Salt Lake Tribune.

Though last season’s Jazz lost more games than they won (40-42), they weren’t bullied by anyone. They split the season series with the Cleveland Cavaliers, took both the Warriors and Oklahoma City Thunder to overtime and came within two points of stopping the San Antonio Spurs.

Utah had the highest net rating of the 14 non-playoff teams (plus-1.6, 12th overall) despite enduring a laundry list of injuries: Former No. 5 pick Dante Exum was lost before the season to a torn ACL, and prominent rotation players Derrick Favors, Rudy Gobert and Alec Burks all missed at least 20 games.

A clean bill of health should propel Utah into the postseason race, and a string of savvy investments will only increase the franchise’s odds of snapping its four-year playoff drought.

         

Biggest Offseason Move

The Jazz can see the light at the end of their breakthrough tunnel. In fact, they used it to guide their offseason.

Rather than add to their prospect collection with the No. 12 pick, they flipped it in a three-way deal for battle-tested floor general George Hill. The lanky 30-year-old has been a playoff participant in seven of his eight NBA seasons and was one of only 12 point guards to post positive real plus-minus ratings at both ends of the court in 2015-16, per ESPN.com.

Hill and MVP Stephen Curry were the only qualified players to average at least 12 points, four rebounds and three assists per game and shoot 40 percent from three, according to B/R Insights. Should Hill reproduce that line, he’d be the first player in Jazz history to do so.

As Bleacher Report’s Andy Bailey observed, Hill immediately provides a sizable step-up in point guard production:

George Hill’s last three seasons compared to Utah Jazz PGs over the same period… pic.twitter.com/ilOjTpMfWR

— Andy Bailey (@AndrewDBailey) June 22, 2016

Hill’s low-maintenance game means that Hood, Burks and Gordon Hayward won’t need to curtail their offensive creativity, and his outside shot brings breathing room to an offense that often features two interior bigs. His 6’9″ wingspan adds even more length to what was already a top-10 defense. Not to mention that all of this eases the burden Exum will shoulder in his return.

Utah approached the rest of its summer with the same desire for immediate gratification. Free agency brought 35-year-old Joe Johnson, an interchangeable forward with a vast array of scoring skills and nearly 4,000 minutes of playoff experience. Veteran big man Boris Diaw arrived in a trade, and the draft delivered seniors Joel Bolomboy, Marcus Paige and Tyrone Wallace.

“We added a guard, we added a wing, we added a big and we added to our depth,” Jazz general manager Dennis Lindsey said, per Mike Sorensen of the Deseret News. “We’ve improved and are better able to manage our season with the depth we have.”

        

Rotation Breakdown

For all the talent and depth assembled on this roster, head coach …

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