How each Jazz player can improve the team from within


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SALT LAKE CITY — While the rest of the NBA seems to be caught up in a fast and expensive offseason, Utah Jazz GM Dennis Lindsey and the Jazz front office opted to improve their team through minor international signings, and from within, counting on internal development to turn a promising young team into a potential contender.

Understanding that Raul Neto, Tibor Pleiss and Trey Lyles will make their rookie debuts for the Jazz this season, it's difficult to predict how they can add to this youthful roster. However, looking at last year's regulars, those who played 20 games or more, let's examine one area in which each player could improve to make the Jazz a player in the postseason.

Elijah Millsap, who played arguably the smallest role of anyone on that list, has potentially the most to improve upon to earn a spot on the roster, much less regular minutes. Millsap was limited by his 3-point game, and that doesn't mean just shooting. Millsap is a tenacious defender, but struggles offensively to a point that it's hard to keep him on the floor. Millsap shot a mediocre 31 percent from the 3-point line, despite shooting a promising 37 percent from the left and right corners beyond the perimeter. If Millsap can limit his field-goal attempts to his hottest shooting spots, specifically the left corner three, he can be a valuable '3 and D' contributor.

It's hard to argue with the production the Jazz got from Joe Ingles last year, considering they picked him up just before the regular season started after the Los Angeles Clippers cut him from the roster. There is room to improve, and Jazz fans saw it after the All-Star break.

Before the break, Ingles shot 39 percent from the floor, and 30 percent from the 3-point line. However, after the midseason hiatus, he shot a respectable 44 percent from the floor and a red-hot 42 percent from the 3-point line. That screams of a slow adjustment period for the 26-year-old rookie, something he must avoid as the Jazz go to back up small forward this season. Ingles has the all around skill set that could keep him in the league for a decade, a la Boris Diaw, but he must be ready to use his versatile offensive game whenever his number is called.

Trey Burke has faced a lot of adversity through two seasons in the NBA. He slipped to nine in the 2013 NBA draft, then broke a finger in the preseason, missing valuable time to develop with a young roster. Despite starting 68 games as a rookie, the Jazz drafted Burke's eventual replacement in Dante Exum, and Burke's started only 43 games in 2014-15.

Burke saw his shooting numbers fall off considerably in his second season, bizarrely seeing his shooting percentages fall as a sophomore. Burke needs to know when to be a scorer and when to be a passer, as fans saw 14 games last year in which he attempted 10 or more field goals and shot 25 percent or worse. A back-up point guard simply can't cost his team games like he did by shooting 4 of 22 against Minnesota, and 2 of 19 against Atlanta this past year. Burke can be a productive back-up, and he has shown the ability to hit big shots, but he has to know when, and when not, to shoot.

Rodney Hood has a very simple goal for 2015-16 and that is to stay healthy. Every player can see their career derailed via injuries, and Hood looked like a candidate for just that as a rookie. He is the Jazz's second-leading 3-point shooter returning from last season, and like Ingles, shot well over 40 percent after the All-Star break. Hood finished with 15 points or more in one of every five games last year, highlighting his ability to potentially become a much-needed scoring threat as either a starter or a reserve.

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Like Hood, Alec Burks needs to bounce back from injury after the Jazz decide to shut him down to repair a nagging shoulder injury. Burks was off to a promising start as a shooter last year, converting a team- and career-high 38 percent of his 3-point shots last year. Burks has traditionally been an exceptional finisher at the rim, despite a slight dip last season, and he could be a deadly offensive player if he were to mix his old skill set with his new found 3-point jump shot.

Most importantly, Burks needs to attempt more than 2.5 3's a game, upping his efficiency and continue to open up driving lanes with his jump shot. If he does this, he can become a fantastic complimentary scoring wing next to Gordon Hayward.

Trevor Booker added a new wrinkle to his offensive game last year, shooting the three regularly for the first time in his career. Booker can take that shot to the next level by improving his ball-handling skills. Booker shot an incredible 39 percent from the above the break three, and a solid 66 percent inside the restricted area.

Now the key is bridging the gap, and he can do that with a better handle. If Booker can duck defenders closing out on a 3-point shot attempt and get into the paint with a better dribble-drive game, he'll add to his value to the Jazz.

Exum stunned the NBA world as a rookie by defying every expectation experts had for him based on his time in international basketball. The scouting report said he was an aggressive scorer with excellent vision, but needed work as a shooter and defender. Almost the exact opposite was true, and Exum earned his minutes on the defensive end, and he was only able to score as a 3-point shooter.

In one summer league game, Exum showed the aggressiveness Jazz fans were begging to see last season, and it must be a mainstay of his offensive game next season. Exum's first step is elite, as is his size, now he has to put it to use by getting into the paint and finishing. If Exum can stay aggressive, he'll prove that the Jazz made the right choice by starting him over Burke in the second half of last season.

Keeping with the offensive trend, Derrick Favors has to see his offensive game continue to improve to make the Jazz playoff contenders. Favors saw his scoring averages rise dramatically after the Jazz traded Enes Kanter. Favors was asked to carry more of the load. In the month of March, Favors averaged an impressive 18 points per game, averaging nearly six free-throw attempts per game. The area Favors can most improve on, however, is his passing. His assist numbers lag behind other elite big men in the NBA.

With the increasing trend of spreading the floor offensively, Favors must find a way to contribute with out necessarily shooting 3-pointers. He can do it as a passer, and would be a big step to becoming an All-Star-caliber player.

Rudy Gobert likely should have won the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year award. He led an elite defensive team in the second half of the season after the Jazz traded away Kanter. Gobert is without a doubt the league's best rim protector, and very little should change next season.

While the NBA may work out a way to fix late-game fouling to prevent intentionally putting a poor free-throw shooter on the line, Gobert could up his value to the Jazz by improving his free-throw percentage. The French big man completed a solid 62 percent of his free throws last year, up from 49 percent as a rookie, but it could stand to improve further. If Gobert were to see that percentage climb above 70 percent, he could eliminate his liability offensively late in games and could up his points per game to double digits.

Hayward signed a max contract last offseason and quickly proved any doubters wrong that he worth every penny of the deal. He led the team in scoring and proved to be one of the most versatile players in the NBA. While versatility is nice, it is often code for a term used to describe a jack-of-all-trades, master of none player, and Hayward certainly falls into that classification.

The advantage for Hayward is that he's at least average, or better than average in nearly every offensive category, so getting to an elite level in just one area should be attainable. Hayward has shot better than 40 percent from three twice in his career but did it last in 2012-13. He averaged over five assists and five rebounds two seasons ago, before seeing each drop last year as he carried a higher scoring load.

If Hayward sees his 3-point percentage rebound to where it was early in his career, he'll likely see his scoring average jump to better than 20 points per game. If he balances his scoring and gets back to his rebounding and passing prowess of years past, he becomes one of only a handful of players in the NBA who can potentially score 20 points in a game, while also averaging five rebounds and five assists. If either of those happen, a Hayward All-Star debut would likely follow, and the Jazz would have a proven starter to continue to build around.

It's no coincidence that this list is made up purely of offensive improvements each Jazz player could make. The team led the NBA in fewest points allowed per game, and was near the bottom in points scored. While those basic averages don't offer a complete summary of the Jazz season, it does highlight the need for a drastic improvement on offense, while maintaining the status quo defensively.

If the Jazz can get even a minor improvement from the majority of their rotation players offensively from last season, it's not out of the question for the team to maintain the success it had in the second half of last season and potentially make a surprising run into the Western Conference Playoffs.


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About the Author: Ben Anderson ------------------------------

Ben Anderson is the co-host of Gunther in the Afternoon with Kyle Gunther on 1320 KFAN from 3-7, Monday through Friday. Read Ben's Utah Jazz blog at 1320kfan.com, and follow him on Twitter @BenKFAN.

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