Storylines to watch as the Utah Jazz begin training camp

SALT LAKE CITY — In some ways it feels far delayed; in others like it's coming too soon. On Tuesday, the Utah Jazz open training camp for the 2020-21 season. It's been a lightning-fast offseason. The NBA bubble wrapped up at the beginning of October, the draft and free agency were days apart, and now teams are already back together.

Here are the storylines we'll be watching as the Jazz open camp.

The Rudy Gobert extension

The Jazz will enter camp with contract extension talks with Rudy Gobert ongoing (his current deal ends after the 2020-21 season).

"We don't comment on past, present, or future negotiations, but we love Rudy," Jazz executive vice president of basketball operations Dennis Lindsey said. "We'd like to be here for the duration of his career."

The Jazz would like him to be in Utah. Gobert has said he would like to be around for the long haul. But it's not that simple.

Gobert is eligible for a supermax extension of 35% of the salary cap. And the Jazz probably can't afford that. Make no mistake, the Jazz want to give Gobert a raise and show him how much he is valued, but supermax deals are almost impossible to live up to. Gobert is a top player in the league, but he isn't LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard, Kevin Durant, etc.

Giving Gobert the supermax could tie the Jazz's hands for years (see Washington with John Wall) so it's about finding the right balance.

The plan with the luxury tax

Since the draft, the Jazz have traded away three second-round picks in order to dump the salaries of Tony Bradley, Ed Davis and Rayjon Tucker.

Those moves have trimmed Utah's roster to 14 players (one below the league maximum) and made it possible for the team to avoid the luxury tax.

Lindsey said he has the go-ahead from the Jazz's new owner, Ryan Smith, to remain in the luxury tax (currently the team salary number has exceeded the tax line) if the team's play warrants it.

"We'll see the level of the team moving forward and if the team's performance is meeting or exceeding the salary then we have good news," Lindsey said. "If not, obviously, we have mechanisms that we can work that number down moving forward."

Can the defense return?

From Dec. 23 until the season was halted due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Jazz had the No. 1 offense in the NBA. Adding major offensive pieces in Mike Conley, Bojan Bogdanovic and Jordan Clarkson made the Jazz an elite offensive club, but had they overcorrected?

For the first time since Gobert became the centerpiece of the Jazz, Utah wasn't a top 10 defensive team. Remember Jamal Murray's multiple outbursts against the Jazz in the first round of the playoffs? Such big games from perimeter players happened regularly throughout the season.

"It's something that we have to own," Lindsey said.

Some fans were left scratching their heads when the Jazz didn't pick up a defensive wing in the draft or free agency to help solve the issues. Lindsey, however, believes adding Derrick Favors — a key part of Utah's top defensive teams of the past — will help solve the defensive issues that plagued the team. As for an additional wing stopper? The Jazz hope there is one already on the roster.

"Miye (Oni) didn't get the minutes at the Jazz level that he did at the stars level, but he helped drive significant margin defensively (in the G League)," Lindsey said. "We'll find out with Miye moving forward, but he's 6-6, 6-11 wingspan, great movement profile, a major edge and toughness to him."

Running it back

Utah's big moves in free agency were bringing back Favors after a year away from the team and re-signing Jordan Clarkson. It wasn't a flashy offseason, but there were reasons behind it. With their success last year on the offensive end and the shortened offseason, Lindsey "wanted to err towards continuity."

By bringing back the entire playoff rotation and adding a known commodity in Favors, the hope is there won't be many growing pains during the abbreviated season. Head coach Quin Snyder knows the team and for the most part, the team knows each other.

Lindsey is also hopeful that since Utah's training staff — led by Mike Elliott — knows the players so well, that'll help keep everyone healthy during what will be a strange season.

Bogdanovic's recovery

Bogdanovic missed the entire run in the bubble after undergoing wrist surgery in May, but it's expected he'll be ready when the season rolls around. Lindsey said Bogdanovic has been in Salt Lake City for the last few weeks and "looks terrific."

While it's still to be determined if he'll take contact on the first available practice, there doesn't seem to be any worry about his recovery.

"So far, so good," Lindsey said.

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