For The Suddenly Beleaguered Jazz, It’s Time to Improvise

A lot will rest on these two while the Jazz wait on a trio of mending point guards (Photo via USA Today)

Up until about a week ago, the Jazz probably felt pretty good about their injury luck in 2018-19. Sure, there had been bumps and bruises along the way, and rookie reserve Grayson Allen was nursing an ankle he sprained in December. But by and large, the injury bug hadn’t bit in any major way, and that had to feel good for Utah after a couple straight years of multiple extended absences to key players.

And then all at once, the injury luck ran out.

Utah will enter its pair of weekend home games down six players, and without a single pure point guard. Regular points Ricky Rubio (groin) and Dante Exum (ankle) are each out for at least a week, and after a single game as the fill-in starter, Raul Neto (groin) joined the pair on the injured list. The Jazz are also still without Allen, while both rotation forward Thabo Sefolosha (groin) and seldom-used big man Tony Bradley (knee) are on the shelf as well. Oof.

The slew of sudden dings leaves the Jazz with just nine healthy bodies for this weekend’s back-to-back set against the Lakers and Bulls. The Jazz also have a pair of two-way players — guys with hybrid contracts that allow them to cross over between the Jazz and their G-League affiliate — on whom they can choose to lean for some minutes, although Tyler Cavanaugh and Naz Mitrou-Long have seen just a combined 14 minutes of NBA action this season, so that’s a big leap of faith.

And anyway, the most acute need for Utah is at the point guard spot. Rubio and Neto will be reevaluated early next week, and Exum’s timeline was fuzzier, but in any case, it’s clear that none of the three will be able to help the Jazz get through their weekend games, which also happen to be the third and fourth games in a six-night stretch. Utah will likely lean on wings Donovan Mitchell and Joe Ingles, who both frequently initiate the offense anyway and who collectively execute dozens of pick-and-roll actions a night.

But it’s also a huge burden to ask the pair to man the point guard position for 48 minutes, given everything else that’s required of them. Being the full-time point guard means that Mitchell will have to bring the ball up every time and get the Jazz into their sets, in addition to carrying the scoring burden. It’s hard to be responsible for both initiating the churn of the offensive machinery AND being its endpoint, to say nothing of the fact that defensively he’ll have to guard dozens of pick-and-rolls at the point of attack. That’s tough. But that’s what there is.

Leaning on Mitchell and Ingles. The debate rages on about whether Mitchell’s ideal position will be the 1 or the 2 once he reaches the peak version of himself, but regardless of what you call him, players like Mitchell usually have a point guard playing next to them. Think about the players Mitchell most gets compared to — guys like Dwyane Wade and Allen Iverson. Both of those superstars almost always played alongside another guard who could handle and set up plays, like Aaron McKie and Eric Snow on AI’s Sixers, or Jason Williams and Mario Chalmers during Wade’s two title runs with Miami. So no matter what we choose to call Mitchell as his career moves forward, it seems obvious that coaches find it advantageous to pair that type of player with someone who can share some of the PG-like burdens. Not that the Jazz will have that option this weekend, but it illustrates why asking him to play Rubio’s role and his own is going to be a challenge.

So the Jazz will also lean on Ingles’ facilitation skills a little more, but that’s not ideal, either. The 31-year-old forward has already looked tired in recent games, the result of being asked to run a decent chunk of the Jazz’s pick-and-roll offense while also (usually) being assigned to guard the opponent’s best wing player. Just in the past three weeks, Joe has been the primary defender against studs like Paul George (whom he guarded for 41 plays¹), Kawhi Leonard (39), Kevin Durant (30), Khris Middleton (27) and Jimmy Butler (23). And those are just the players against whom he has finished the MOST possessions on those nights. He has also had turns over that span on the likes of Giannis Antetokounmpo, JJ Redick, Klay Thompson and CJ McCollum.

No wonder he’s tired.

But regardless of what else Mitchell and Ingles have on their respective plates, they will be Utah’s best options in the short term. Jae Crowder helped bring the ball up a few times on transition possessions in Wednesday’s win over the Magic, and Royce O’Neale and Kyle Korver can help in a pinch.

Adding a player. Utah can’t add reinforcements without cutting somebody. They don’t have an open roster spot, so they can’t sign a player to a 10-day or rest-of-season contract unless they first cut ties with a player. The Jazz can petition the league commissioner for a hardship exception to temporarily extend their roster to 16 players (plus the two-way guys), but that mechanism is really designed for long-term injuries and may not help the Jazz here. For starters, a team can only request that hardship roster allowance once four different players have missed at least three games. As of now, only Allen has officially been listed as injured for three straight games. And even if/when the Jazz do get to a point where four players have missed three straight, that doesn’t guarantee an exception. At that point, the Jazz can request an exception, but that just starts a review process. Per the NBA’s constitution, the commissioner’s process to determine whether to temporarily allow the roster increase involves consulting with an independent physician to determine whether all four players “will continue to be unable to perform playing services” for some time. This is not an exception that the league approves when guys are out for a week at a time.

Moreover, it’s not like there’s a long line of impactful PG options sitting out there as available free agents. They’d be sorting through other teams’ discard pile, looking for guys who had either been cut during the season (Michael Carter-Williams, Andrew Harrison, Isaiah Canaan) or players who didn’t make it through training camp (Jarrett Jack, Isaiah Whitehead, Donald Sloan). They could give a shot to someone with NBA experience who’s been out of the league for a while, like Ramon Sessions, Brian Roberts or Leandro Barbosa, three guards who didn’t even make it to the end of last season on a roster. It’s unclear if any of those would help enough to be worth the hassle of waiving a player under contract.

Calling up G-League talent. They could instead waive a two-way player and ink some short-term help in one of those two slots instead. Neither of Utah’s current two-way players helps with the immediate positional need², so they could release one and get some emergency help at point. A player signed on Friday would be limited to spending 23 days practicing or playing with the Jazz between now and the end of the G-League season, but that could get the Jazz past their current injury woes. Two-way contracts can only be signed through next Tuesday.

If the Jazz do opt to add help via a two-way spot, they are most likely looking at calling up someone in the G-League talent tier, so again: not a major difference maker. But Isaiah Cousins and Jairus Lyles both spent time in Utah’s training camp and have been practicing and playing in the Jazz’s system while averaging 12.3 and 10.5 points per game, respectively, for the SLC Stars. Neither guy would figure to get significant minutes, but if Quin Snyder has no choice but to throw a G-League level guard on the floor for a few minutes, he would probably at least prefer someone who knows the club’s plays and defensive approach.

Trade. Since someone asked: trading for point guard help is also technically an option, but at this point it’s unlikely to provide much short-term relief. Players have two days to report to their new team after a trade, and then the finalization of the deal is subject to physicals and paperwork. So by the time the Jazz could realistically a player in and ready to contribute, they might be past the worst of the current crisis, with some injured Jazz men set to be reevaluated as early as next week. It’s also worth mentioning that Jazz GM Dennis Lindsey rarely does deals that only satisfy an immediate-term need. They’d only make a deal if it made sense relative to their broader goals and didn’t cost them assets (including players) that they value.

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So those are the Jazz’s options: ride it out with Mitchell and Ingles handling, cut a roster guy to add a replacement veteran off the discard heap, or call up a G-Leaguer for emergency duty using a two-way spot.

Whatever they choose, there is mild relief in the fact that these injuries came at a decent time in Utah’s schedule. The Lakers will be without LeBron James and Rajon Rondo on Friday night, and the Bulls are a struggling young team with the league’s worst offense. If the injury crisis spans into next week, the Jazz host the inconsistent Pistons on Monday before visiting the L.A. Clippers on Wednesday.

So they can survive, for now. And they could start to get players back soon. Allen appears to be the closest, after a quick rehab stint with the Stars. The rookie was out of the rotation before his injury, but he’s a hybrid guard with handling and shooting skills that could come in handy given the current shortage. Rubio and Neto will be reevaluated soon, and is doesn’t sound as though Exum’s and Sefolosha’s injuries will have them out for too long.

Regardless, weathering the next few games will require some improvisation, and asking a lot of Mitchell and Ingles as the Jazz wrap up this 4-games-in-6-nights stretch.