When the clock ran out in game five of the 2019 playoff series between the Utah Jazz and Houston Rockets and the Jazz had been eliminated, one thing was clear for the Utah Jazz. They needed to get a consistent offensive presence to surround their star Donovan Mitchell. The first line of support came in June when the team traded for point guard Mike Conley Jr., But the underrated acquisition of the Jazz offseason was signing Bojan Bogdanovic to a 4-year $73 million deal.
Bogdanovic was coming off the best season of his career, averaging 18.0 points per game with nearly 50% shooting (49.7%) and an impressive postseason series against the Boston Celtics without star teammate Victor Oladipo. This performance stuck out to Jazz management.
In the introductory press conference, Jazz general manager Justin Zanik made eye contact with Bogdanovic saying, “Your toughness, your ability to space the floor, contribute to the group … all the little things that you did in Indiana last year, especially after being able to carry the team the last three or four months really made an impression on us.”
The first three or four months of this the 2019-2020 season have also left an impression on Jazz Nation. The forward is averaging 21.1 points per game while shooting 41% from three-point range and averaging over four rebounds and two assists per game.
To put into context the season that Bojan Bogdanovic is having for the Jazz, Gordan Hayward averaged 21.9 points per game with just over five rebounds and three assists per game in his best of seven seasons with the Jazz. That year earned Hayward a spot on the Western Conference All-Star team.
That type of production is just what the Jazz needed to couple their star Donovan Mitchell with, a second scoring option to go with Mitchells 24.7 points per game.
The Utah Jazz, who are the hottest team in the NBA right now, have seen much of this success with their other offseason addition Mike Conley missing over a month of play. During that month, Bogdanovic, among others, has stepped up, and they haven’t missed a beat.
Now with Conley returning to the lineup, the Jazz hope to benefit from their three-headed monster of Mitchell, Conley, and Bogdanovic to go along with the defense of Rudy Gobert, Royce O’Neale, and the entire team unit. During this stretch of winning 14 of their last 16 games, Utah has shown depth that we didn’t see at the beginning of the season with strong showings from Joe Ingles, Emmanuel Mudiay, and the added boost acquiring Jordan Clarkson has brought.
As the all-star break approaches, it is clear the Jazz knew their weaknesses at the end of their last season and made the moves to bring in Mike Conley, Bojan Bogdanovic, and others to help support their stars and the direction of the program. It is also evident that the team will make the necessary adjustments as the season continues. With moves like trading their former fifth overall pick Dante Exum for Jordan Clarkson and waiving the newly signed Jeff Green to bring in Rayjon Tucker and make room for other young players like Georges Niang that have flourished in their new roles.
Going back to the introductory press conference for Bojan Bogdanovic. Of Bojan, Jazz, Executive Vice President of Basketball Operations Dennis Lindsey, said, “His ability to play both ends of the floor in addition to his exceptional shooting will make him an integral contributor to our franchise and our postseason goals.”
The Jazz continue to build a team with postseason goals in mind, and these decisions are visible with their recent court play. With players like Rudy Gobert changing gameplans with his defense and added offensive threats in Bojan Bogdanovic, Mike Conley, to go with Donovan Mitchell, their sensational guard, it is exciting to see what this team can put together in the second half of this season and with an eventual playoff run.
