Three Questions For The Utah Jazz In 2019

Jazz season is just around the corner and we are less than a week away from Jazz media day(!!!) which means it’s time to take a break from football coverage for just a moment and turn our attention towards the NBA, and more specifically the Utah Jazz.

This very well could be the most exciting season for the Utah Jazz since the late 90’s. Back-to-back DPOY Rudy Gobert returns to help anchor the defense alongside Donovan Mitchell, a rising superstar who is entering his third year in the league. But that’s not all. The Jazz made quite the splash in the offseason, bringing in Mike Conley, who has been one of the premier point guards in the NBA over the past decade along with Bojan Bogdanovic, a 42.5% shooter from three last season.

But despite the excitement and energy that accompanies this season for the Jazz, there are still some questions that surround this team.

Will Mike Conley be healthy come playoffs?

You could make the argument that the acquisition of Mike Conley is the biggest offseason move in the history of the Utah Jazz. To go out and get a player with the level of talent of Mike Conley, fans, of course, are going to be head over heels. This is a Jazz team that is used to getting good players, but who are on the tail-end of their careers. Joe Johnson, Boris Diaw, George Hill and Mark Jackson, all very good players who came to Utah just as they were beginning to fade from the NBA spotlight, which is why acquiring a player like Mike Conley has set the Jazz fanbase ablaze.

But there’s one nagging question. Everyone knows Mike Conley is talented. But the Jazz have championship aspirations which would require Conley to be full-go once postseason play begins. Over the past six seasons, Conley has played in over 70 games once and played just 12 in 2017-18. Conley is extremely talented, but he does have a history of injuries. Some are small, nagging injuries while others, including an achilles injury, are more serious. Utah will need to closely monitor Conley’s health all season long if they want to compete for a championship. And if the 31-year-old point guard needs to take off some games due to “load management” then so be it.

How will the new faces fit?

Last season’s trade deadline was a tumultuous one, and one that upset a former Jazz point guard that hails from Spain. The Jazz were finally able to acquire Mike Conley this offseason, but it was not the first time the team went after the former Memphis point guard. It February of last year the Jazz were rumored to have offered Ricky Rubio in a trade for Conley, a rumor that apparently struck a nerve with Rubio, who commented that “sometimes, upstairs, they don't feel like the chemistry matters, and sometimes it matters more than anything."

Well now Rubio is in Phoenix and Conley is in Utah, along with six other new faces. In addition to Conley, the Jazz brought in Jeff Green, Ed Davis, Emmanuel Mudiay, Bojan Bogdanovic, Nigel Williams-Goss and Miye Oni to compete for a championship. And now, like Rubio touched on, the team must form that chemistry that Rubio believed was a key part to Utah’s success. The Jazz should have no trouble however building team chemistry. Utah, along with Quin Snyder, has a reputation for creating an environment that seems to cater to its players and creates an environment where teamwork and chemistry are prevalent.

Additionally, the players the Jazz brought in are team guys. Green is an NBA journeyman who seems to fit in wherever he goes. Davis was beloved by teammate Damian Lillard when he was in Portland, and Bogdanovic seems to have a quiet, go to work attitude. With the culture of the Jazz and the players they brought in, it may take some time to gel on the court, but it should take no time for the team to establish that chemistry that Rubio talked about.

What will Dante Exum’s role be?

With all the offseason commotion, one player that seems to have been forgotten about, to a degree is Dante Exum. Exum has been a victim of terrible luck, a player that just can’t seem to avoid freak injuries that cause him to miss months at a time. But now, Exum seems to be clinging onto the Jazz roster. Raul Neto is gone, but Emmanuel Mudiay is now a member of the Jazz and we already know no one is unseating Mike Conley at the point guard, which leaves Mudiay and Exum to battle it out for whatever point guard minutes may be left.

Mudiay is a new face in the Jazz facility. Coming off of what may have been the best season he’s had in his career, albeit for a dreadful NY Knicks team, but despite that, he signed with the Jazz to fight for a backup role on a league minimum contract. Players don’t just come to Utah on a league-minimum coming off their best statistical season, especially someone who played a major role on their past two teams, especially not when they are in their early 20’s, which makes me think that Mudiay may be expecting to get some decent minutes with Utah. But if Mudiay is going to get minutes, what does that mean for Exum?

Mudiay may be banking on an Exum injury, but if the two do battle it out for the backup role on the Jazz, there’s no guarantee that Exum wins that job. Tony Jones of the Athletic hinted about the possibility of Exum playing off ball, which could work if the Jazz do decide to go small with Exum at the two or three, but the Jazz have a crowded roster that features the likes of Joe Ingles and Royce O’Neale who will command the majority of the minutes at those positions. Exum will get his shot this season, after all, Utah is not going to pay him $11-million to sit at the end of the bench. But the question remains, what is Exum’s role going to be on a crowded Jazz roster?

There’s no doubt in anyone’s mind that it’s going to be a very exciting season in Salt Lake City. Where the Jazz will stand once the season ends is anybody's guess, but buckle-in and get ready for a rollercoaster of a season.