If you didn’t watch any of the Jazz-Mavericks series, then you didn’t miss much. The Jazz have been the same team for the past two seasons, and the Mavs drubbing them 102-77 in Game 5 shined an even brighter light on what everyone already saw: This Jazz team built around Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert just ain’t it.
Mitchell suffered a hamstring injury toward the end of Game 5. If it seriously hampers him, then that should make this series a wrap. The larger question looming is if the relationship between the two stars is worth continuing. There have been moments when they have been on the brink of finally forming some sort of connection. Gobert clinched Utah’s Game 4 win off a perfectly placed lob from Mitchell, showing what could be. But for the most part, these two stars have looked like co-parents agreeing to trade off custody of the ball on Monday through Wednesday with alternating weekends.
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That Game 4 lob was shocking to anyone who has paid attention to the history between Mitchell and Gobert. Mitchell infamously only averaged 2.3 passes (passes, not assists) to his big man during the regular season. He was making a concerted effort to get Gobert the ball in Game 4, passing to him seven times and helping him score a series-high 17 points. But in the other four games of this series, Mitchell has averaged only three passes per game to Gobert.
Before this series started, coach Quin Snyder had adamantly tried to shut down the narrative that his two stars didn’t like each other. And maybe that’s true. But Mitchell has still missed Gobert constantly on easy lobs and mismatches.
Look at Game 1 as evidence. None of these possessions resulted in a pass from Mitchell to Gobert, who was either wide open or had a small guard posted up underneath the basket.
The problems between the two haven’t been solely on Mitchell. In Game 2, Mitchell tried to adjust and hit Gobert more often. But Gobert’s attempts to score were a clumsy trainwreck.
Gobert is a tough fit offensively. He’s awkward with the ball. While his hands have gotten better, they’re still not good. Lobs have to be placed perfectly for him to dunk them home. Any time he puts the ball down to dribble, it’s time for Jazz fans to get on their knees and pray. And his passing ability in the short roll is like watching someone play a game of darts after a dozen beers.
Still, the Jazz need to incorporate him more as a threat to score if they want to win. He’s shown in international play that when he has guards switched onto him, he can put them in the basket. On the one time that the Jazz tried it this series, he easily scored right through Reggie Bullock. But for the most part, he’s been ignored when he’s had Bullock, Jalen Brunson and Spencer Dinwiddie buried underneath the rim.
Defensively, the story has been similar. Gobert has the ability to be a lot better than he is, if the Jazz use him in the right way. When they don’t, he and his teammates look terrible.
The Clippers showed last year how to beat this Jazz defense: Force Gobert to guard a 3-point threat, then make him choose between protecting the paint or staying out on a shooter. The Mavericks were succeeding in following the same formula early in this series. Gobert’s most glaring weakness defensively is that he doesn’t have the foot speed to recover to a shooter when he helps at the rim. In fairness, not many big men do.
Gobert has gotten the lion’s share of the blame for every basket scored against the Jazz defense. But their biggest problems lie in their terrible perimeter defenders. Mitchell has been one of the worst defenders in the playoffs. Mike Conley Jr. has lost three steps. Bojan Bogdanovic has competed hard but been up-and-down overall. And Jordan Clarkson has given better effort later in the series but is a significant negative defensively.
The Jazz finally found something in Game 3 by playing small with 6-6 Eric Paschall in place of the 7-1 Gobert. They cut a 15-point deficit in the third quarter down to four midway through the fourth before checking Gobert back in. That small ball group was able to spread the floor more on offense, and they could recover to shooters better on defense. That some of the Jazz’s best minutes in this series came with Gobert off the floor doesn’t bode well for his future there.
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Snyder did find a way to keep Gobert on the floor later in the series by putting him on a smaller, lesser used wing in Josh Green. That showed that there is a way for Gobert to help the Jazz, if they could put him in the right role both offensively and defensively. But it’s a tricky proposition with this particular roster, and the Jazz haven’t been able to do it consistently.
The league is trending away from players like Gobert, and the Jazz might decide that it’s time to move on while his value is still relatively high. He’d be an immensely helpful player in the right spot. The Hornets are the most obvious location. The Bulls, Wolves, Hawks, Blazers or Raptors also make some sense. ESPN’s Tim McMahon said on “The Lowe Post” podcast in early April that the Mavs would be very aggressive if he became available on the market.
Gobert can still anchor a top-10 defense by himself and is by far the best rim protector in the league. But the fit for him in Utah just doesn’t work. They don’t have the great lob throwers he needs to thrive, his chemistry with teammates on offense stinks, and there just isn’t enough help for him to cover all their mistakes on defense.
Everyone in Utah has said the right things, but at some point results speak louder than words. Gobert said it best in his postgame interview after Game 4 (pardon his French).
“Man, F— the talk. We just try to be the best that we can be, enjoy the moment, and whatever happens, happens.”
The clock is ticking on the Jazz. We’ve seen the talk. We’ve seen the moment. And we’ve seen what happens. Gobert can still be an elite player in this league. It just won’t happen on the Jazz.