Who Will Be the Jazz’s Third Best Player This Season?

These two 2019 Jazz acquisitions both figure to play huge roles for Utah in 2021. (Star Tribune)

It is no secret which Utah Jazz players are the most important to the team’s future and success on the basketball court. Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell are All-Stars who were just rewarded with massive contract extensions for the role they play in Utah’s success. The Jazz heavily rely on Mitchell for his offensive production and intensity while Gobert protects the paint and brings a stifling defensive presence.

But who takes the third spot in matter of importance and production for the Jazz? Veteran guard Mike Conley is off to a terrfiic start this season, and Croatian sniper Bojan Bogdanovic was Utah’s second best scorer a season ago. Homegrown hustler Royce O’Neale is another important piece, as is Jordan Clarkson, who just celebrated the one-year mark since landing in Utah. 

Each of these players bring their own individual advantages and disadvantages to the court that create legitimate arguments for them to claim that third spot on the podium of importance, but it really comes down to two of these talented players: Conley and Bogdanovic.

Let’s lay out the case for each as Utah’s third most valuable Jazzman for the 2020-21 season.

Mike Conley – 20.3 PPG, 5 AST, 4.3 REB, 48.3% FG, 45.8% 3P

There’s a reason the Jazz had to give up so much to get Conley in a July 2019 trade. He’s been a borderline All-Star in the second half of his 13-year career with seasons where he averaged as many as 21.1 PPG and 6.4 AST. While his numbers don’t exactly jump off the page, he’s an upper level point guard in a league that demands talent at the guard spot.

Strengths

Conley very well might have the edge on Bogdanovic right now, especially with the way he’s been playing to start the season. He’s averaging a team-high in points per game at 20.3 a contest. The “Memphis Mike” we’ve been waiting for may have finally settled into a Jazz uniform as he looks incredibly confident and is shooting at nearly a 50% clip from both the field and the three-point line.

Another major strength of Conley, that Bogdanovic can’t quite compete with is that Conley makes the players around him a lot better by sharing the ball. Conley’s offensive rating currently sits at 110.1 (second best among players playing over 150 minutes with first being O’Neale at 110.8) compared to Bogdanovic who is at 104.5 (lowest of anyone playing over 150 minutes). While you can expect the starting point guard to dish out more assists, it’s clear that Conley has begun to create real chemistry with his new teammates as he is second in assists per game behind Mitchell. it’s also important to note how well the pick-n-roll play has seemed to be working between Conley and Gobert. They’ve consistently run that play which has either opened up a nice running floater for Conley or an easy alley-oop flush for the big man from France.

The most recent example of how heavily Conley’s performance impacts the overall outcome was against the Clippers on Friday. Conley posted a Jazz-high 33 points and was +24 as the Jazz won 106-100, knocking off the 4-1 Clippers. It’s simple, when Conley is on the floor, the team is at its best. Potentially the most eye opening statistic of the season thus far is how big of a hit the offense takes when Conley is on the bench. When he takes a rest the team drops to an offensive rating of 101.9 (team low), nearly a nine-point difference from when he is on the floor.

Weaknesses

It’s taken a whole season for Conley to look comfortable in a Jazz uniform. Last year he struggled to consistently play at a high level and many critics questioned if he truly fit in with the team. While Conley is currently playing at the highest level we’ve seen, its difficult to know if it will truly last. Conley had a few impressive streaks last year but it didn’t turn out to be sustainable. Time will tell if he can keep his high level performances going.

Bojan Bogdanovic – 14 PPG, 1.5 AST, 3.5 REB, 37.7% FG, 40% 3P

Bogdanovic is perhaps the best free-agent signing the Utah Jazz have had since Carlos Boozer back in 2004. In his first season with Utah, Bogdanovic posted a scoring average of 20.2 (career high) to go with 2.1 assists, and 4.1 rebounds. Bojan quickly became Utah’s second scoring option behind Mitchell and stole the hearts of Jazz fans everywhere with multiple buzzer-beating game winners last season.

Strengths

It is no secret that Bojan can shoot the basketball. Last year he shot 41% (second best in his career) from beyond the arc on 7.3 attempts per game (career most). He is one of the main reasons that the Jazz were statistically the best three-point shooting team in the league as he allowed Quin Snyder to gear the game plan towards the three ball.

Bogdanovic also filled the most blaring weakness for the Jazz as they needed a secondary scoring option behind Mitchell. He filled that role perfectly as he was second behind Mitchell in scoring last season with 20.2 a contest.

Despite a fairly poor start to the season, Bojan finally broke out against the San Antonio Spurs and returned to the level Jazz fans expect. He posted a team-high 28 points on 76% from the field (10-13) and 85% from beyond the arc (6-7). The Jazz inevitably floored the Spurs 130-109 and collectively shot 51% from the three-point line. Bojan’s shooting is often contagious, when he’s on fire, the team often shoots well too.

Weaknesses

Bogdanovic is coming off of a season-ending wrist surgery which he claims is not currently affecting his performance. However, his start to the season has been anything but impressive. Before he broke out in San Antonio, Bogdanovic averaged just 11.2 points over the first five games, and on a rough 29% from the floor. The issue isn’t the offensive scheme, but rather him just missing open shots (he was 9-of-30 on open and wide open threes before visiting the AT&T Center). His outburst against the Spurs aside, only time will tell if he’s back to last season’s level of performance.

Bojan is currently averaging the lowest offensive rating of anyone over 150 minutes at 104.5. Additionally, his defensive rating is 106.9 giving him an overall net rating of -2.4. For all that offense, Bogdanovic clearly isn’t picking things up enough on the defensive side of the ball as the opposing team is outscoring him while on the floor.

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Overall, these are two excellent players that bring a lot to the table for the Utah Jazz. The team has started off with a strong 4-2 record to the 2021 season, placing them in the No. 4 spot in the west. While last year Bogdanovic was clearly the third option for the team, it seems that Conley has raised his level of play. Time will tell which of those two will ultimately seize the mantle of being Utah’s third most important player this season.