The Triple Team: Switching up starting centers fuels Jazz’s dominant win over Nets

Three thoughts on the Utah Jazz’s 125-102 win over the Brooklyn Nets from Salt Lake Tribune Jazz beat writer Andy Larsen.

1. Rotation change produces major dividends

For the first time ever, the Jazz started Udoka Azubuike over a healthy Hassan Whiteside. The call was decided upon by the coaching staff over Zoom before the game, and it paid major dividends: Both players played their best on Friday night.

Azubuike played the best he ever has in his career, generally figuring out where and when to stand and have the biggest impact. He didn’t go block hunting (he didn’t have one), but just played sound defense and contested shots when he could.

This is promising — maybe ‘Dok does have a future in the NBA! Obviously, one or two games does not a career make, and the Nets were absolutely terrible... but truly, this week has been the first time he looked even capable on an NBA floor. I worry about teams playing Hack-a-Dok in the playoffs if he has to play there (he was a 41% free-throw shooter in college), but let’s address one step at a time.

But honestly? Whiteside was even better. Look at him make multiple defensive efforts on this play: trapping up top, then getting down low for the contest!

That’s the Whiteside we saw earlier in the year, the Whiteside was completely absent in January. Maybe the most optimistic theory is that Whiteside just needs to come off the bench in order to unlock his best play, but truly, that doesn’t make a ton of sense — there’s no real reason to think that Whiteside couldn’t play harder at the beginning of games with the starting lineup.

Instead, I think it’s probably a classic case of a guy who was suddenly threatened with losing his job finding some motivation. And truthfully, he was at risk of losing his job: he was really a huge part of the Jazz’s awful last month, and if the Jazz cut or waive him, I’m not sure he gets another NBA contract next year. If he plays like this? He could help any team.

I do want to see it over the next week, I want to see it against better and more motivated opposition, and I’d still keep an eye out for a better and perhaps more reliable third option. But this was a promising, and unexpected, turn of events.

And while we’re here, let me show you this very silly move Whiteside pulled off. Sure, he airballed the next one, but wow.

2. Some things I like about this version of the bench

The Jazz didn’t have Jordan Clarkson tonight; they’ll obviously not have Joe Ingles for the rest of the season. Danuel House was out due to COVID, and Rudy Gay missed the second half due to knee soreness.

And yet, I liked a lot about what the Trent Forrest/Jared Butler/Eric Paschall/(Gay or Hughes)/Whiteside bench was able to do tonight. While they weren’t perfect, there’s just a lot of good stuff to mention.

For Forrest and Butler, I continue to be impressed with their isolation games, and their ability to create something out of nothing. Forrest was the star against the Nuggets, and again had the better game than Butler tonight, but Butler had a couple of really strong moments. This is wiggle that’s really tough to teach.

Paschall has been ultra-aggressive from 3-point range, even taking the fairly contested ones. He’s now a 38% 3-point shooter on the season, which means that, if he’s going to be consistently that good, that he should take every shot he can. I prefer ending a possession with this kind of shot rather than a record-scratch possession restart or, worse, a driving turnover.

And again, there’s a real question of whether or not they can do this against real NBA teams and not just chronically shorthanded ones. Even if they can’t, I like the approach over that of some of the isolation ball that the Jazz’s bench has played in recent weeks. These younger players are moving the ball, staying attached on defense, and generally making life tougher for their opponents than Clarkson, Ingles, and Gay sometimes made it seem.

3. Thinking about roster construction

Joseph Gill had a good thread on Twitter about the roster construction trends in the NBA that really made me think as we approach the trade deadline — I think the Nets definitely display a lot of these negative trends, but the Jazz will have similar considerations in the years to come.

As Gill points out, there’s just a ton of empty money out there in the NBA right now: either in the form of injured older players who aren’t playing, or guys who are able to play but just aren’t as efficient as they used to be. The Nets have the intersection of that: Irving’s been less efficient, Harden’s having perhaps the least efficient season of his career at age 33, and Kevin Durant is hurt, too. And, look, maybe it’s just worth it to have those guys all on your roster — in the low-percentage case they’re all healthy and at their best, you actually have a really good chance of winning a title.

The Blazers were worried about having $90 million attached to Norman Powell, and so they traded him and Robert Covington for an extremely limited return today. Powell is fine, but the Blazers discovered this themselves: he’s not a difference maker. He’s only average on both ends of the floor, and why spend money on that and continue on the treadmill they’re on? Yes, it looks like they could have gotten more in return, but I agree with the overall direction: clarify the books and give the next front office the opportunity to make decisions that have a better chance of working.

The Jazz have a good but not great cap sheet moving forward: Mitchell and Gobert are star difference makers who look likely to at least play to the level of their contracts for the next couple of years (though Gobert in his final year might get rough). Conley doesn’t score a ton, but is so incredibly efficient on both ends that he’s worth his money this year. Next year might be a little bit harder, but 2024-25 is only about halfway guaranteed. Bogdanovic expires at just about the perfect time, after next season.

Right now, their empty money is in Ingles and, sadly, Clarkson. If they want to have the best chance of winning moving forward, they’ll try to turn those contracts into more flexible and younger role players at the deadline this year.