While I love a lot of what Lindsey and Zanik did with the Jazz roster this summer (e.g., adding shooting and playmaking with Conley and Bogey, replacing solid backup center play with Davis)... I think they refused to provide any kind of athletic depth at the 4 - the Jazz will be quite short there (Jingles, Bogey, Royce, Green, Niang lol). Defense and rebounding with size and athleticism at that position was not only neglected, it seems it was completely ignored.
Clearly the modern NBA is more positionless and centered on shooting than ever, and traditional power forwards have mostly been replaced by nimble tweeners that can play more on the perimeter. But it’s also about having flexibility with wide varieties of combinations to adapt to one’s opponent. And the Jazz have only one style of 5-man (defensive-oriented and 0% perimeter threat), and only one style of 4-man (undersized, and relatively unathletic shooter). It makes us one-dimensional in that respect IMO.
What small-ball lineup could we ever possibly put out there against the Draymond’s, Horford’s, and AD’s of the NBA? Who on the team can hold against bigger forwards, lock up guards on the perimeter AND protect the rim and crash the boards? A 33 year old Jeff Green??? If you’re depending on him for anything you’ve already lost - that’s why he’s making the min. And the FO spent their final roster spot on ANOTHER non-athletic 6ft8 shooter, this one from a second-rate European league. William Howard very well may be a diamond in the rough, but he’s entirely duplicative of the rest of our 3-4’s.
In addition to the questionable backup PG options, I’m afraid this oversight will be costly at some point this season in their pursuit of a title. That’s compacted with the FO never recognizing the value in leaving a single roster spot open for buyouts/additions. Many teams are way too roster shift-happy, but it takes far too much for this FO to realize a mistake and change ANYTHING midstream.
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