Utah Jazz are experiencing an essential season for the future of the franchise going forward as a team, who has success in the regular season, but not enough firepower to compete in the playoffs.
Utah is fourth in the Western Conference, and they seem destined to face the Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the playoffs, barring any significant drop in their winning percentage.
The Jazz kept their core intact for consecutive seasons as they team was able to be among the best teams in the West, usually having a Top-5 finish in the regular season.
However, playoffs are a different story for the Salt Lake franchise. A story full of disappointing early exits or defeats against undermanned teams.
Last season, the Jazz fell to the Los Angeles Clippers, who played without Kawhi Leonard for most of the series. In the “Orlando bubble” they could not get past the Jamal Murray, who had an astonishing run, and the Denver Nuggets.
More importantly, Utah seems to be a different team when his players need to take it upon themselves in the heat of the postseason. Mitchell was able to do that partially for some time, but, he did not make appearances to his usual standards during his postseason career.
The same goes for Rudy Gobert, who took much of the blame for not being in his best during the series against the Clippers last season. He was also outplayed by other bigs in the postseason, namely he had lost several battles to Nikola Jokic, while he was unable to find answers vs the small-ball Clippers.
However, Gobert is not the only reason behind the Jazz’s shortcomings. This season, when Gobert is on the floor, the Jazz are just allowing 104.3 points per 100 possessions, being among the best teams in the NBA defensively.
Through 11 games in the 2021 Playoffs, Utah saw his defensive sturdiness being a non-show. They allowed 121.7 points, and they were a minus-1.6. However, they were still a positive with Gobert (+2.9) and Mitchell (+3.1) on the floor.
In any case, they were horrendous in defense, allowing 117 points per 100 with Gobert and 120 points per 100 with Mitchell on the floor. This season, the two-man combination of Mitchell and Gobert are on a plus-11.2 net rating.
They were a plus-13 during the 2020-21 regular season, with Utah having a 39-14 record with both of them on the floor. Gobert and Mitchell dropped to a plus-4.4 net rating in the 2021 playoffs through 10 games.
It’s pretty obvious that Mitchell and Gobert playoff presence has left a lot to be desired. That’s the reason there are rumors of Utah breaking the duo and moving to a different direction.
Rumors surrounding Donovan Mitchell
Utah has made changes in its front office appointing former Celtics president Danny Ainge as president of basketball operations.
The Jazz could be in for big changes if they have yet another early playoff exit this year. Utah will probably face the Mavericks, a team that haven’t made it through first round since 2011.
Rumors are already starting to swirl, from the New York Knicks potentially making a move for Mitchell to the Spurs being interested in head coach Quin Snyder as Gregg Popovich’s potential replacement.
In any case, the Jazz has already seen a slip in play during the last two months. They will probably need to change things up if they find themselves at the end of another disappointing playoff run.
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