Do the Jazz Have Enough at Power Forward?

The high-flying Green will be a big part of Utah’s plans at the 4 spot. (Game still)

This past offseason, Jazz decision-makers Dennis Lindsey and Justin Zanik took a wrecking ball to the Utah Jazz’s roster and completely reworked it. The Jazz added five free veterans via trade and free agency, and also added three rookies to their 15-man roster. Players like Derrick Favors and Ricky Rubio are gone and new faces like Bojan Bogdanovic and Mike Conley Jr. bring a completely different set of skills.

As part of the change, Utqah went from being one of the biggest teams to now having NBA experts wonder if they are too small.

NBA expert Zach Lowe wrote this in his season preview: “The Jazz might face some size and rebounding issues splitting power forward minutes between Bogdanovic, [Royce] O’Neale (don’t be shocked if he starts) and Jeff Green.”

Bogdanovic and O’Neale are both wings players and the Jazz will ask them to shift down a position and guard some bigger power forwards. Having Bogdanovic try to defend Blake Griffin or Anthony Davis and keep them off the glass, won’t be a smart plan. This is why there are concerns about the Jazz.

Head coach Quin Snyder has tested different starting lineup combinations, but one he didn’t start during the preseason was with both Joe Ingles and Bogdanovic as the forwards. The Jazz used their version of the “death lineup” at times during games and the offense was sensational. The defense struggled, but the Jazz defense as a whole struggled all preseason. It will be interesting to see what Snyder does with his starting lineup as the season goes. There is an argument to be made for starting your top five players (Conley, Donovan Mitchell, Ingles, Bogdanovic and Rudy Gobert) and when the Jazz play bigger power forwards, insert Green, O’Neale or Georges Niang into the starting lineup to help defend them. This also will help Ingles and Bogdanovic from getting worn down and beat up.

Rebounding was another area of concern that Lowe brought up, but after the preseason the Jazz rebounding rate was pretty much average. One of the reasons the Jazz built the roster the way they did was knowing they had one of the best rebounding centers in the game. Lindsey and Zanik also added Ed Davis to play backup center, and he is one of the best rebounding backup centers. Watching him in preseason, he was always moving and going after every rebound he could. He has emerged as one of the best offensive rebounders in the game.

Even with these strong rebounding centers, rebounding will need to be an effort the team concentrates on. With players playing a position they aren’t use to, everyone will need to help out.

If the concerns Lowe brings up proves to be valid, the Jazz, “can dangle [Dante] Exum to trawl for an extra big man if need be.” The Jazz brass have been high and loyal to Exum since they drafted him, so the idea of the Jazz trading him seems a bit far-fetched. After looking at the Jazz’s roster there aren’t a lot of contracts that can help you get a good player in return. The Jazz have either very high salary players like Gobert, Conley and Bogdanovic or guys on rookie or minimum contracts.

The only average salaries on this team are Exum at $9.6 million a year and Joe Ingles at $12 million. The Jazz aren’t going to be moving Ingles, especially after the contract extension they just rewarded him with. Basically, Exum is Lindsey’s only main trade piece.

If the Jazz do decide to make a move, they will need to find an available power forward who checks all of the boxes they need. On a podcast episode with Kevin Arnovitz, Lowe talked about the amount of power forwards on the Kings’ roster and suggested that teams like the Jazz might call about Nemanja Bjelica. He is a 6-foot-10 stretch four who is known for his shooting, a career 38 percent from three. He has some ability to pass and dribble, helping him play some small forward during his stint in Minnesota. Defensively he is long but a soft defender. He is solid on the glass, posting a rebounding rate of around 12 percent. This is much higher than the now-departed Jae Crowder (8%), as well as current Jazz forwards Green (8%) and Bogdanovic (7%).

There were many reports during the 2018 offseason linking the Jazz to Bjelica. Everything seemed like a signing was going to happen, even Rubio seemed to be recruiting his former teammate to come to Utah. Nothing happened and Bjelica was going to sign with the 76ers but spurned them for more money with the Kings. It is unclear whether Bjelica decided to sign elsewhere or if the rumors the Jazz were interested were false.

The season has just begun and expectations are that nothing will happensoon, the Jazz need to see how this team meshes and if the concerns with being smaller will really become an issue. If it does, how Lindsey and Zanik handle it should be interesting to see.