Jazz Drop First Summer League Game, Bolmaro Struggles

SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah Jazz suffered their first loss at the Las Vegas Summer League, falling to the Toronto Raptors 80-74 on Wednesday night.

With the loss, the Jazz also fell out of the top seed in Vegas as they were the only remaining undefeated team entering their third matchup.

The Jazz will play one more scheduled Summer League game on Friday against the Los Angeles Clippers and depending on the outcome of it and other games over the next two days, they could still find themselves in the Vegas title game on Sunday.

Bolmaro Continues To Struggle

The book on Leandro Bolmaro coming into the NBA draft was that he had an NBA-caliber game nearly everywhere on the floor except for his shooting.

In his first three appearances since joining the Jazz in the Rudy Gobert blockbuster trade, he’s proven that scouting report to be accurate.

Bolmaro has terrific size at 6-foot-6, sees the floor well as a playmaker, and has the ball-handling ability to get anywhere he wants on the floor offensively.

es fácil ⤵️#TakeNote | @bolmaroleandro pic.twitter.com/XmlYO8uO5X

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) July 13, 2022

On defense, Bolmaro rotates well, slides his feet laterally, and uses his length and athleticism to make life difficult for the man he’s defending.

However, his shot so far has been so bad that it’s hard to keep him on the floor, especially with his hyper-willingness to shoot.

Heading into the matchup against the Raptors Bolmaro was shooting just 20 percent from the floor and 12.5 percent from the three-point line on an ambitious 12.5 field goal attempts per game.

Against Toronto, Bolmaro showed more of the same shooting just 4-of-12 from the floor en route to 11 points. Jared Butler led the Jazz with 12 points on 5-of-16 shooting from the field.

Every Bolmaro shot being an absolute guess is the best.

— Ben Anderson (@BensHoops) July 13, 2022

Poor shooting in the Summer League isn’t always a red flag but Bolmaro has never shown he’s a pro-level shooter.

Bolmaro can contribute to the Jazz as a defender and secondary ball handler on the perimeter but will be a liability until his shooting improves dramatically.

At just 21 years old, Bolmaro has plenty of time to develop for the Jazz, but he will struggle to see minutes at the NBA level until his shot falls at a much better rate.

The Jazz trailed by double-digits for most of the game but made a comeback in the fourth quarter and was within four points with 25 seconds left.

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