Twelve different Utah Jazz players have started a game this season, comprising 16 different starting lineups.
It’s not quite the most in the NBA: a couple of other teams have been forced into more changes than the Jazz due to injuries. But it’s a big number, and during long swaths of this season, head coach Will Hardy was experimenting, searching for what works.
It appears he’s found what he’s looking for.
With these current lineups, and only small game-to-game edits to the rotation, the Jazz have found a nice balance that gives them offensive and defensive firepower throughout all 48 minutes of the game. And as a result, they’re winning often: nine of their last 11, 12 of their last 16. On Wednesday, a runaway 124-111 result against the defending champion Denver Nuggets was the most impressive win yet.
What’s working? Here’s a guide.
A starting lineup with defined roles
The Jazz are starting Kris Dunn, Collin Sexton, Simone Fontecchio, Lauri Markkanen, and John Collins — they’re 6-1 with that starting lineup. In particular:
• Dunn has been brilliant as the Jazz’s starting point guard, taking limited shots in favor of spreading the ball around. In the Jazz’s last three games, he’s taken a combined five shots, but added 17 assists. He knows his role is to set up the Jazz’s finishers in the starting lineup, and he does it well.
• Giving Dunn point guard duties also clarifies Sexton’s role as an off-ball slasher, which allows him to attack defenses when they’re a little bit softer. Sexton’s been brilliant since moving into the starting lineup.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen (23) grabs a rebound in NBA action between the Utah Jazz and the Denver Nuggets at the Delta Center, on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024.
• Fontecchio is really the Jazz’s only traditional wing player on the roster. Playing him — after his significant improvement over his NBA rookie season — gives the Jazz a floor spacer who will also defend the Jazz’s biggest wings and do the dirty work.
• Markkanen can also take on a stronger rim-protecting and rebounding role when playing at the four position than when playing at the small forward spot he played most of last year.
• Collins has been far better as a center than as a power forward in the Jazz’s lineups. Playing him as the center gives the Jazz significantly more spacing than when he’s the four and a non-shooter (like Walker Kessler or Omer Yurtseven) is playing the five.
A bench unit that’s on fire
But interestingly, that starting unit is only average: it outscores opponents by 0.7 points per 100 possessions. Good given the strength of the opposition, but not elite.
It’s been the bench lineups that have torched opponents. The Jazz’s backups right now — Keyonte George, Jordan Clarkson, Ochai Agbaji, Kelly Olynyk, and Walker Kessler — are outscoring opponents by a whopping 24 points per 100 possessions.
That’s just good lineup construction as well. Clarkson has played terrifically, averaging 19 points and six assists per game since coming back from injury and returning to a bench role. His shifty game seems to work better against opposing bench lineups, who might be more willing to bite on his fakes than others.
The offense also gets to run through Olynyk in these lineups when it’s not in Clarkson’s hands. Olynyk is a riverboat gambler — his passes to cutting Jazzmen brilliantly lead to layups or turnovers with not much gap in between. Overall, the math works out in his favor.
George has a lesser role than earlier in the season here too, which allows him to just take easier catch-and-shoot looks.
Which center with which lineup?
One bit of contention the Jazz have heard from fans recently is the choice to put Collins in the starting lineup over Kessler. After all, Kessler’s plus-minus numbers are sterling, but Collins’ are poor. Why not start the younger player making the more positive impact?
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler (24) leads a fast break, in NBA action between the Utah Jazz and the Denver Nuggets at the Delta Center, on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024.
Hardy said he liked how Collins gave the Jazz “variety” offensively. He cited the Jazz’s games against Philadelphia and Milwaukee — when Philadelphia played Paul Reed at center, Collins was able to get behind the shorter center for lob dunks. When Milwaukee played Brook Lopez, a good rim protector, Collins was able to pick-and-pop more and shoot threes.
The Jazz have also finished seven of their games in this 12-of-16 stretch with Kessler at center, depending on what the team needs. That lineup, with Kessler instead of Collins at center, has been a +34 in this recent stretch, turning multiple games around.
But playing Kessler with the bench lineup makes significant sense — while Clarkson, George, and Olynyk are probably net-negative defenders at this points in their careers, Kessler’s defense gets to clean up their defensive mistakes or inadequacies. He remains one of the league’s best rim protectors; after a slow start to the year, he’s re-found his footing on both ends of the floor.
The Jazz have also started spacing Kessler a little differently, Hardy said. Rather than having him hang out close to the paint, he’s starting near the 3-point line in the corner. It’s not because defenses respect his 3-point shot, but because Kessler gets a runway to the rim with the extra space, allowing him to have momentum towards the hoop for his lob finishes. Kessler’s a better moving finisher than a contact finisher at this point in his career.
In all, it’s not about having the best starting lineup, Hardy said. It’s about having the best outcome over 48 minutes.
Trust in each other
More than anything, though, the Jazz’s recent success just comes down to trust. Early in the season, the Jazz’s players didn’t trust each other on the court, and it showed. Bad body language, short-circuited plays, and no defensive stops were obvious results.
These combinations have much more inter-teammate trust. Rather than playing with the relatively unproven Talen Horton-Tucker, with whom he “fought like brothers,” according to Hardy, Sexton gets to play with revered teammate Dunn. Markkanen plays with Fontecchio, a friend. When Clarkson defers on the bench, it’s usually to Olynyk, a fellow veteran who has respect in the locker room.
Of course, winning builds that trust, too, and as the Jazz built chemistry against a slate of easier opponents at the end of December, the team found that Hardy’s rotations worked. There’s not much to argue with when wins stack up.
Or as the rookie George yelled in the locker room at least six times after the Jazz’s win against the Nuggets: “Team camaraderie! Team camaraderie! Team camaraderie!”
