What to watch for
The bench rotation
Grayson Allen and
Alec Burks have played to the best of their potential this preseason ... that is as long as the team on the other side of the ball is from the NBL. Those two have been quite masterful. Against Toronto’s bench mob—arguably the best bench in the NBA—they struggled. Many assume that
Dante Exum and
Royce O’Neale can be penciled in as the first players of the bench when it comes to relieving a guard or wing due to Exum’s contract and O’Neale’s postseason play, but Allen and Burks have thrown a wrench into that expectation.
The Backcourt of Irrational Confidence—Burks and Allen—has averaged a combined 26.4 ppg during the preseason on 47% shooting from long range. For a Utah Jazz team that at times can be starved for three point shooting outside of
Joe Ingles, this is definitely something that could be tempting for
Quin Snyder. But this comes with a giant asterisk. Allen and Burks have not showed out against real NBA competition. If they do that to close out the preseason against the Trail Blazers and
Kings, that’s going to cause some consternation for Quin Snyder and the rest of the coaching staff as the decide who’s getting minutes to start the year.
Jae Crowder, where are you?
While the guard competition has been heating up, the backup big competition is as cold as ice. Both Thabo and Crowder have been stuck in the weeds. Crowder, who was part of the Jazz’s most feared lineup that led the league in Net Rating, has shot 33% from the field and only 20% from three. His body looks slimmer, he says he’s in a better mental state than last year, but his performance in preseason hasn’t shown the work he has put in yet.
This is where we say, it’s just preseason, but Crowder had the backup four spot locked down due Thabo’s injury. It was Crowder’s and he couldn’t lose it. This year, it has changed. Thabo is back from injury, but he hasn’t had a preseason performance that could overtake Crowder as the favorite. The dark horse candidate is
Georges Niang.
Don’t over look an undrafted free agent signing. Quin Snyder has already shown he is willing to give minutes to those who produce regardless of their NBA pedigree. That’s how Utah has found diamonds in the rough with Joe Ingle and
Royce O’Neale. While Jae Crowder might win this competition by default more than anything, a strong couple of games from
Niang could make Crowder feel some heat from his teammate behind him on the depth chart.
The return of Dante Exum
Dante Exum returns tonight after a two game hiatus due to a sore knee. He had a ho-hum game from the field in his first game of preseason, shooting 33% from the field and only finishing with 3 points. While he didn’t get points per game twitter excited, he did get analytics twitter buzzing with his 6 assists, 1 block, 138.4 ORTG, 62.2 DRTG, and +/- +36.0 while on the court.
With Grayson Allen and
Alec Burks showing out, all eyes will be on Dante Exum to see if he can fend those two off and keep his place atop the depth chart.
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