One Area Jazz Have Improved This Summer
Aug 26, 2024, 6:20 PM | Updated: 7:55 pm
Utah Jazz guard Johnny Juzang (33) shoots the ball during an NBA game against the Phoenix Suns at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City on March 27, 2023. (Courtesy of Deseret News)
(Courtesy of Deseret News)
SALT LAKE CITY – It has not been a banner summer for the Utah Jazz as their plans to go big game hunting came up empty.
The team’s off-season additions consist of low-cost veterans and high-upside rookies who aren’t ready to add wins to the team’s end-of-season record.
Despite the low-frills signings, the Jazz will enter the 2024-25 season doing one thing better than the last time they took the floor, shooting the ball.
Jazz Added Shooting To Roster This Summer
After last year’s trade deadline, the Jazz finished the season as one of the worst three-point shooting teams in the NBA.
From February 7 through the close to the year, the Jazz knocked down just 34.7 percent of their threes, tied with the Charlotte Hornets for the fifth-worst percentage in the league.
The @utahjazz are reportedly signing wing Svi Mykhailiuk to a four-year deal.
What does it mean for the roster?#takenote https://t.co/1VO2LaMZE6
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) August 9, 2024
The primary reasons for the dip were the trades that sent 43 percent three-point shooter Kelly Olynyk to the Toronto Raptors, and 39 percent three-point shooter Simone Fontecchio to the Detroit Pistons.
With only Kira Lewis Jr. returning to the Jazz in the trades, the team never fully replaced the floor spacing they lost in Olynyk and Fontecchio.
Newcomers Should Add Spacing For Jazz
Though where, and how often they’re used remains to be seen, the Jazz should see a bump in floor spacing with the additions of veteran shooters Svi Mykhailiuk and Patty Mills.
Mills is coming off the worst three-point shooting year of his NBA tenure at just 28 percent, but has a career success rate of 38 percent on an impressive 4.4 attempts per game.
NEW: According to reports, the @utahjazz will sign Patty Mills. https://t.co/pUjIiwfLJ5
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) August 14, 2024
Mykhailiuk is a career 36 percent three-point shooter, but knocked down 40 percent of his threes over the last two seasons.
The Jazz may also get a boost from Cody Williams who knocked down 37 percent of his threes in the Vegas Summer League, and 41 percent of his threes as a freshman at Colorado.
Shooting may very well be the easiest way for Kyle Filipowski to see the floor as a rookie if he can continue his success rate from Vegas.
After shooting 35 percent from downtown as a sophomore at Duke, Filipowski knocked down 38 percent of his attempts in Vegas.
Does Shooting Matter If Jazz Tank?
The question for the Jazz is whether shooting has value on a team that isn’t focused primarily on winning games.
While wins may not be in the Jazz’s best interest if they are pursuing a top pick in next year’s draft, proper floor spacing may be a key element to player development for the rookies and sophomores on the roster.
Keyonte George (32 PTS) is up to 9 threes on the night to tie the rookie record!
Warriors-Jazz | Live on the NBA App
📲: https://t.co/JyID3RSrsv pic.twitter.com/WhNDrNRDgw— NBA (@NBA) February 16, 2024
Last season Keyonte George was saddled with taking a large number of off-the-dribble threes as a rookie to provide adequate floor spacing within the offense.
Ideally, adding better floor spacing from the team’s newcomers will improve the shot quality for the team’s young players, lessening their burden, and the difficulty of their development.
Fewer Bad Shooters On The Roster
While the Jazz added proven shooters to the roster, they also removed players from the team who didn’t offer much in the way of floor spacing.
Talen Horton-Tucker was the main offender, attempting 3.6 threes per game while connecting on just a third of his attempts.
Luka Samanic, a 20 percent three-point shooter is also gone from the roster, as is Kris Dunn who shot a healthy 37 percent from three, but was an unwilling shooter at just 1.7 attempts per game, allowing opposing defenders to sag off of him on the perimeter.
Jazz Must Improve Shooting Internally
Though the Jazz will get a shooting boost from the offseason additions, they also need to see a jump in percentage from players they retained from last season, especially in the backcourt.
George shot just 33 percent from three on a whopping 5.8 attempts per game.
Bizarrely, George was a better shooter last year off the dribble than he was in catch-and-shoot situations, and if he can match his off-the-dribble percentages as a standstill shooter, his efficiency will rise dramatically.
Jordan Clarkson (38 PTS) set a new franchise record for most 30+ point games off the bench in the Jazz win against the Wizards! pic.twitter.com/qKkQYUSqk7
— NBA (@NBA) March 5, 2024
Jordan Clarkson has the worst three-point shooting year of his career knocking down just 29 percent of his 5.6 attempts.
Like George, Clarkson was asked to take nearly half of his threes off the dribble but shot just 25 percent on pulls ups as opposed to stand-still threes.
Clarkson is a career 33 percent three-point shooter, and his 5.6 attempts per game were right at his career average. Though it could be attributed to an overall decline, there’s evidence to believe it may have simply been a down-shooting year for the guard.
Rookie Brice Sensabaugh also failed to crack the 30 percent mark from three, but has been a better shooter at every other stop in his career.
In his lone season at Ohio State, Sensabaugh shot 40 percent on 4.5 attempts per game. At the Salt Lake City Summer League, he shot 40 percent on five attempts per game.
Paired with an increased role for Johnny Juzang who shot 41 percent from three last season there’s room for optimism that the Jazz improved their shooting this summer from where they finished last season
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Ben Anderson is the Utah Jazz insider for KSL Sports and the co-host of Jake and Ben from 10-12p with Jake Scott on 97.5 The KSL Sports Zone. Find Ben on Twitter at @BensHoops or on Instagram @BensHoops.
