The Miller family might be on to something here. Then again, they might not.
It’s tough to get a handle on the Miller-owned Utah Jazz, who are headed for their third consecutive season without a playoff berth. Derrick Favors, at 23 years old, remains a big man any team would love to have. Athletic rookie guard Dante Exum is an intriguing piece. Rodney Hood might have quietly been a nice pickup with the No. 23 pick in the 2014 NBA draft.
But 24 games into Quin Snyder’s first season on the bench, it’s unclear whether the Jazz are on an upward trajectory. While it’s still early, the players show little understanding of basic defensive rotations, with center Enes Kanter particularly suspect. Point guard Trey Burke is shooting 36 percent from the field. Swingman Alec Burks has made strides but has yet to develop into the star the organization has insisted for years he would be.
Then there is Gordon Hayward. Despite this summer’s hemming and hawing over whether Hayward deserved a “maximum” contract, his $15.5 million average annual salary over the next four years is hardly a Joe Johnson-type albatross. Hayward carries the bulk of the offensive load along with Kanter, but neither seems to have the versatility to be a franchise cornerstone.
Utah’s future hinges on whether Exum, the No. 5 pick in the draft, turns out to be the stud many scouts predicted or just another international flop. Snyder’s future likely hinges on the same. Once the early aughts version of Brad Stevens as the young go-getter college coach everybody loved, Snyder left Missouri amid controversy for the D-League and hadn’t held a head job since 2010 when the Jazz hired him this year.
Now 48, Snyder likely has one last chance to show he can be an effective boss on the bench and not just another suit holding a clipboard. So far, indications out of Salt Lake City are mixed.
More loose balls from around the NBA:
— The Phoenix Suns just keep getting snakebitten by unlucky (for them) bounces on buzzer-beating shots.
Here’s Khris Middleton of the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday night:
Here’s Blake Griffin last week:
That’s a tough way to lose once, let alone twice.
— Listen, Kobe Bryant is one of the greatest players of all time. But he’s no Michael Jordan, and NBA TV host Rick Kamla’s insistence on asking his co-hosts last week if Bryant had passed Jordan on the “all-time greatness” list while passing Jordan on the career scoring list was forced and clumsy.
Kamla, who is usually excellent, wouldn’t get off it in the run-up and aftermath of Bryant’s accomplishment, and it grew awkward as the former players on the desk with him came up with polite ways of saying, “Nope.” Bryant is great, but Jordan was greater, and that’s fine. Let’s just leave it at that.
— Robin Lopez’s broken hand fulfills the fears of anyone who admired the Portland Trail Blazers over the first month of the season. Despite holding the fourth-best record in the Western Conference, the Blazers are vulnerable due to their lack of depth. Chris Kaman and Steve Blake bolstered the league’s worst scoring bench, but Lopez’s injury now forces Kaman into the starting five, further weakening the reserves.
The West playoffs will be so brutal that gaining home-court advantage is paramount. Losing Lopez for a month or more will make it harder for the Blazers to hold off the likes of the Clippers, Mavericks, Spurs and Thunder heading into the New Year — and eventually could hurt their cause when they’re playing four of seven games on the road in May.
Thumbnail photo via Russell Isabella/USA TODAY Sports Images
