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SALT LAKE CITY — The NBA finals are set, as the Golden State Warriors became the first team since the 1981 Boston Celtics to battle back from a 3-1 series deficit in the conference finals to win the series and punch their ticket to the NBA finals.
The Oklahoma City Thunder looked like the favorite to win the series after winning three of the series’ first four games, but failed to hold onto leads in each of the final three games.
In a rematch against the LeBron James-led Cleveland Cavaliers, NBA fans will be treated to a best-of-seven series between the world’s two greatest players: Stephen Curry of the Warriors, and James for the Cavaliers, making his sixth straight finals appearance.
The Utah Jazz do not have a LeBron James, or a Stephen Curry, so for the next couple of years while these two battle it out in their primes, the Jazz's path to a championship would require a rash of injuries for other teams, and some big-time development from their young core.
The hope that any player on the current Jazz develops into a superstar rests solely on the shoulders of Rodney Hood, Dante Exum and Trey Lyles. Hood, at age 23, has the least room for development, and despite having a promising future, probably doesn’t have the athleticism or the youth to develop into a truly elite player. However, he is 6 foot 8, can shoot, handle the ball, and has a knack for creating his own shot.
Exum, coming off a torn ACL, will turn 21 in July. His rookie season had its highs and its lows, largely with his defensive abilities developing far more rapidly than the organization had expected, and his offensive skillset needing more time to marinate. Exum still has an enormous ceiling, the highest on the team, and the likelihood that the Jazz have a future top-10 player in the league already on their roster rests most heavily in his corner. At 6-foot-6, he has a unique size and elite speed for the point guard position.
Trey Lyles is a dark horse to have an All-Star future. At 6-foot-10 and just 20 years old, Lyles displayed a skillset that doesn’t resemble many players his size. He can shoot, converting better than 38 percent of his 3-point shots as a rookie, he can attack close-outs when a defender attempts to alter his 3-point shot, and when he’s on the move with the dribble, he can pull up for a jump shot, finish at the rim or pass on the move. Truly, there may not be 10 other people in the world with his combination of size and skill.
The Thunder have two things the Jazz don’t: Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. Behind James and Curry, you can’t name three players you’d rather have on your roster besides these two. When breaking down how the Thunder nearly knocked off the 73-win Warriors team, one must look at the brilliant play from these two stars. The two combined to average nearly 60 points, 15 rebounds and 15 assists per game in the series.
Beyond the spectacular play from Westbrook and Durant however, the Thunder may have revealed not only the blueprint for defeating the Warriors, but the archetype for the future of team building in the NBA.
Former Phoenix Suns head coach Mike D’Antoni started a revolution in the NBA, revolving around embracing the 3-point line as a primary focus in his quick scoring offense. While the speed of his offensives hasn’t caught on for most of the league, a focus on the 3-point shot has. The Warriors ranked first in the NBA in 3-point attempts this season, while the Cavaliers finished third. Anyone who says you can’t win as a 3-point shooting team isn’t looking at the numbers.
The emphasis on the 3-point shot earned the moniker of "small ball," as the focus on scoring shifted towards the smaller players on the floor, often from the 3-point line.
And while the Thunder certainly embraced the 3-point shot in their series against the Thunder, it was the size of the shooters that gave the Warriors trouble. Instead of attempting to match up with the Warriors' small lineup that often features 6-foot-6 Draymond Green playing the center position, Oklahoma City kept its bigger players on the floor and still embraced the 3-point shot.
Outside of the 6-foot-3 Westbrook, the Thunder had a rotation that mostly featured Andre Roberson at 6-foot-7, Durant at 6-foot-9, Serge Ibaka at 6-foot-10 and Steven Adams at 7-foot. Outside of Adams, all four players on the floor can shoot and switch defensive assignments on the perimeter. The size of the Thunder also gave the Warriors fits when rebounding the ball.
Though the Jazz don’t have the talent to match up with the league’s elite, they do have the size. Where the Thunder caused problems for the league’s best team, the Jazz could find a similar advantage against most opponents next year on the floor.
With Exum at 6-foot-6, Gordon Hayward at 6-foot-8, Hood at 6-foot-8, Derrick Favors at 6-foot-10, Rudy Gobert at 7-foot-2 and Lyles at 6-foot-10, the Jazz could have one of the league’s bigger rotations. If the Jazz want to better emphasize the perimeter shot, they can boost Lyles' minutes from 17.5 as a rookie to more closely resemble that of a starter. A lineup with the three previously mentioned wings, with Lyles and Favors making up the frontcourt rotation, would provide the Jazz with five players on the floor capable of spreading the floor out to 18 feet, and the size and athleticism to switch defensive assignments on the perimeter.
Where the Jazz may struggle to attract top-tier free agents to live in Salt Lake City, and likely won’t have a top five draft pick for the next several seasons barring unforeseen circumstances, their ability to play small ball while staying big could put them ahead of the game in the modern NBA.
