When the Utah Jazz traded All-Star point guard Deron Williams just before the February trade deadline it was very much a reaction to Williams inspiring head coach Jerry Sloan to step down mid-season. The franchise had to respond, and the response was to send Williams to the New Jersey Nets in a deal that landed point guard Devin Harris in Utah. Harris does have All-Star credentials of his own, but he's a significant step down from Williams and represents an entirely different kind of floor leader.
Harris is really at his best in isolation situations, as he is quicker than most of the players he faces at the point and his first step is as quick as anyone's. Unfortunately, the Jazz aren't a team that often clears out a side and just lets someone go one-on-one, and Harris isn't particularly efficient at running Utah's preferred style of play. He's OK in the pick-and-roll, but ranks in the 58th percentile among NBA ball handlers in the pick-and-roll, and for all of his quickness he isn't very good in transition, where the Jazz also like to live. This season Harris ranked in the 27th percentile in transition, which is dismally low, and the transition game was Utah's second-best way of scoring this season, second only to spot-up situations.
Compare Harris' numbers to Williams, who was the pick-and-roll ball-handler 29.5% of the time this season, and was really at his best in hand-off plays. In his last full season with Utah, Williams was the pick-and-roll ball handler in 19.4% of his offensive plays and was ranked in the 76th percentile in converting those opportunities. He scored in transition 17.5% of the time, putting him in the 54th percentile. In short, Williams was the type of point guard who was tailor made for Utah's offense, and Harris' inability to play the style had a lot to do with the team's dismal play after the trade. It's also why we're hearing Harris' name come up in trade rumors.
Meanwhile, the Jazz believe they can find their long-term solution at the point in this year's draft, with BYU point guard Jimmer Fredette.
Fredette would set the Jazz back a bit in terms of experience, but when you think about the kind of point guard who would flourish in the pick-and-roll culture of the Jazz, you can see how Fredette would hold a lot of appeal. At BYU he ran a lot of pick-and-rolls, in fact pick-and-roll plays constituted 21% of Fredette's offense while running the team and he was very good at running it. His top three offensive players were isolation (29.5%), transition (22.6%) and pick-and-roll, and those are also the plays that have defined Utah Jazz basketball for several generations.
Don't be surprised if the Jazz move Harris, possibly to a team like Portland that's looking for a new floor leader and has appealing pieces to send out in trade. Fredette could very well turn out to be Utah's next great point guard.
