Notable Youngsters: Trey Lyles (19), Dante Exum (20), Trey Burke (22), Rodney Hood (22), Rudy Gobert (23), Alec Burks (24) Derrick Favors (24), Gordon Hayward (25), Tibor Pleiss (25)
If you've been fighting the impulse to pencil in the Utah Jazz as a playoff team this season, it's time to surrender.
Dante Exum's ACL injury is of some concern, since it could hamper Utah's defensive potential on the perimeter. The Jazz were the league's best points-preventing team after the trade deadline, but they were even stauncher with him on the floor. Exum actually recorded a better net rating than Rudy Gobert and Gordon Hayward during that time.
But the Jazz's playoff potential isn't about any one player. It's about the sum of their parts. Besides, Alec Burks is set to return from a campaign-crushing shoulder injury, and he's at least an offensive upgrade over Exum.
Adding Burks to last season's four-man combination of Derrick Favors, Rodney Hood, Gobert and Hayward is a tantalizing proposition. They outperformed opponents by 6.1 points per 100 possessions when playing side-by-side.
That mark wouldn't have only guaranteed the Jazz a playoff berth. It would have been the fourth-highest net rating in the entire league, surpassing everyone except the Warriors, Clippers and Spurs. And the Jazz did this in the brutally built Western Conference.
You may now surrender to the immediate and future promise of Utah's childlike collective at your convenience.
