On Sunday night, Snyder went with Mitchell and Gobert. He started
Juancho Hernangomez,
Royce O’Neale and
Nickeil Alexander-Walker around those two. So, the Jazz’s starting lineup consisted of Mitchell, three wings who all defend at a high level and Gobert. With no Conley, who sat on the first night of a back-to-back, and no
Bojan Bogdanovic, it gave Snyder the opportunity to go with a lineup that should serve as a blueprint around Mitchell in the future.
“I liked it,” Gobert said. “Those guys have been playing well defensively and hustling and making plays. It was a different look. It made us a bigger team on the perimeter. It was definitely a fun lineup to play with.”
The Jazz were able to play one of their best games defensively Sunday around Mitchell. Because Mitchell was so dynamic offensively, and because the wings could all shoot, the Jazz were a two-way team at Madison Square Garden. Whenever the offseason comes for the Jazz, it’s probably time for Mitchell to move to the point guard spot exclusively. He’s clearly ready, and he’s getting to the point where it’s just not wise not to have the ball in his hands on every possession, whether he shoots it or not.
Sunday’s rotation looks like a structural alignment around him. Surround him with long and athletic wings who defend and can make shots. Have a secondary ballhandler — like
Jordan Clarkson, who scored 23 points Sunday night off the bench — who can eat possessions and play with bench units. And then, have your star big man in the paint, being an anchor defensively and a vertical-lob threat on the offensive end.
The
Houston Rockets did this when they had
James Harden. Utah probably shouldn’t go to that extreme because that extreme essentially tired out Harden by the end of every season. But wing play around dynamic guards wins in this league. Mitchell’s position was probably always going to end up at the point. As a shooting guard, he’s small, even with his 6-foot-10 wingspan. But, as a point guard, he’s got terrific size. There aren’t many in the league at that position who can match his length, athleticism and build. It was simply a matter of how long it would take him to master the spot.
Utah is 15-5 in its past 20 games. But this trip will be as challenging as any stretch the Jazz have faced all season. At the same time, Mitchell’s ability to raise his game, and Utah’s ability to figure out issues on the fly has got to be encouraging to a fan base hoping for a deep playoff run.
