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SALT LAKE CITY — There are a couple of memories that come to mind when Quin Snyder thinks of Miye Oni's potential.
He remembers the first time Joe Ingles guarded Lou Williams when he realized Ingles could stick on the floor as a defender. He thinks back to a road game in Washington when Royce O'Neale demonstrated that same value.
"I see Miye in the same light," Snyder said.
There hasn't been a specific NBA moment that Snyder can point to for Oni, though he did say he was pleased with Oni's minutes in the Disney bubble — but that could be coming soon. The Jazz didn't pick up additional wing help in the offseason (to the bemoans of many in the fan base) and the organization is anticipating players missing time periodically throughout the season due to COVID-19 protocols.
That points to an opportunity for Oni — like O'Neale and Ingles before him — to play himself into a role on the team.
"There's nothing wrong with having a more limited role — not everybody's going to be your primary school or primary handler," Snyder said. "It's not a question of really accepting it, I think he does accept that, it's a question of perfecting."
The role: defend and be a catch-and-shoot 3-point shooter in limited minutes.
Jazz executive vice president Dennis Lindsey credited Oni in helping the Salt Lake City Stars finish with a top-five defensive rating in the G-League. Oni wasn't necessarily known as a stalwart defender in college; he was Yale's offense. But the physical attributes — the height, the wingspan, the quick lateral movement — to be a reliable stopper on the wing were all there. Playing with the Jazz has helped harness those attributes.
"I think I've definitely become a much better defender over the past year and a half," Oni said. "I think just practicing against guys like Donovan (Mitchell), JC (Jordan Clarkson), Joe every day has really helped me improve. ... I feel like I could really make an impact on the defensive end."
Oni said the biggest thing for him as he tries to carve out a role is understanding the cerebral part of playing defense in the NBA. Outside of knowing his own team's concepts and perfecting rotations, he is trying to understand opponents at a deeper level. Does Player X more commonly drive with his left or right hand? Does Player Y shoot better from the left or right corner?
Snyder said Oni has to improve at defending without fouling. In the end, athleticism doesn't always win out at the NBA level — good thing the young man went to Yale.
"Just learning how to take away what the other team wants to do best, I think it's the most important thing for it to translate to the NBA," Oni said.
Oni appeared in 10 regular-season NBA games as a rookie — half of those came in the Disney bubble. In those five games, he averaged 7.0 points on 39% 3-point shooting while playing nearly 20 minutes.
"I think the bubble was huge for me, getting the opportunity to play with the main guys and everything," Oni said. "Getting used to how they play the sets and everything, so I feel like now I'm a lot more comfortable. I feel like the game's slowing down."
And the high 3-point shooting mark might not be an unsustainable uptick from his 35% G-League average last season. In his final 14 G-League games, Oni hit on 42% of his 3-point shots; he averaged just six attempts from three in those games.
Still, Oni said perimeter shooting was the main thing he worked on, especially corner 3-point shooting, during the short offseason. As Snyder said, it's about perfecting the role.
And it's a role the Jazz could need more this season than in a normal year, especially as Utah sees itself as a contending team. Second-year players that were taken late in the second round of the draft don't often contribute, but this is no normal season. Mike Conley missed the start of training camp simply due to close contact with someone who has tested positive for the coronavirus. The Jazz aren't naive enough to think that something like that won't happen during the season.
"I think we can probably anticipate some of that," Snyder said.
That's why Snyder wasn't surprised he was being asked about Oni or fellow second-year player Juwan Morgan, because it's very likely they'll be needed at some point this season.
"Their roles are going to be important," Snyder said.
