Raulzinho will get time and opportunity after Exum injury


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SALT LAKE CITY — Dante Exum's injury was a major bummer.

After an encouraging 20-point, 5-assist performance against Boston's Marcus Smart in the Utah Jazz Summer League, Exum got hurt, and then got hurt again, tearing his ACL in Australian national team play.

That probably took away the Jazz's best chance on the roster of achieving even average point guard play this season: the development of Dante Exum into something resembling his gigantic potential.

So, in the mean time, the Jazz have three PGs left: Trey Burke, Raul Neto, and Bryce Cotton. Burke would seem to be the natural choice for starter, with nearly infinitely more NBA experience than either Neto or Cotton. Burke's even been a starter for 1.5 years in a Jazz uniform.

But the Jazz's turnaround started last year upon inserting Exum in the starting lineup in place of Burke — pushing Burke's profligacy of shots to the bench where he'd be shooting instead of Elijah Millsap, Trevor Booker and Chris Johnson rather than Gordon Hayward, Derrick Favors and Rudy Gobert. That proved to be a good move: the Jazz put up 102.7 points per 100 possessions when Exum, Hayward, Favors and Gobert shared the floor and only 91.6 points per 100 possessions when Exum was replaced with Burke with those starters.

That improvement wasn't because of what Exum did, but what he didn't do: He "stayed in his lane," allowing the best players on the floor to get shots. And the point guard who fills that role best on the Jazz's roster today is Raulzinho Neto.

Neto, like Exum, isn't a good shooter. He shot just 20 percent from 3-point range last season, and he won't be able to really space the floor unless things massively change in that area.

What he can do, though, is pass the ball. Check out this compilation of Raulzinho's assists in Spain, and you'll see someone who has good vision, probably better than any Jazz PG who played last season:

And that extends to NBA-level basketball. His performance against team USA last summer displayed good dribble search skills, and a valuable ability to find big men on pick-and-roll and in transition. It's easy to imagine Derrick Favors or Rudy Gobert playing the role of Anderson Varejao here:

On the defensive end, he's never going to be elite; he's not a big PG by NBA standards, and he doesn't have insane quickness. But he does cause his fair share of steals (2.2 per 40 minutes last season) and shows good effort on getting around screens and keeping with his man more than Burke often does. They're actually about the same size: Burke's a little bit shorter, but has longer arms than Neto.

Here's a compilation of his defensive work against ACB guards:

Neto's potential is one reason that the Jazz haven't felt a need to go acquire a stopgap PG in Exum's absence. The team still says it hasn't reached out to free agents or potential trade partners in order to find a replacement, but instead, it wants to see how Neto will perform with regular minutes. The thinking is, why make a move now before we know more about Raulzinho?

The other part of the problem is that pickings are slim in the free agency market, and none of the readily available trade options are sure upgrades over Neto or Cotton getting the PG minutes that don't go to Burke. The best option on the free agency market is probably either Norris Cole or Kendall Marshall, but how much of an upgrade are those players over Neto getting at the same time?

Likewise, there are cheap trade possibilities in the market, like Jose Calderon or Garrett Temple, who would cost either nothing or only a second-round pick to acquire. But Calderon was chronically injured last year, and the history of 34-year-olds recovering from the injuries he had (knee, Achilles, calf) is not pretty. And Temple has the same problem as the FA possibilities: Is he really going to be significantly better than Neto or Cotton?

Finally, all of those who are actually potentially significant upgrades at the position would cost long-term assets to solve a short term problem. For example, you might be able to trade for Darren Collison from the Kings using a first-round pick or one of the Jazz's young players, but why give those pieces up for a one-year concern? That's not the type of shortsighted move that has gotten the Jazz this far in the rebuilding process.

It all adds up to a really good chance that Raulzinho Neto is the starting point guard of the Utah Jazz this upcoming season, even as soon as day one. Yes, just as with Exum, there would be significant development bumps in the road for the rookie PG. But his combination of passing ability, an understanding of his role, reasonable defense, and perhaps most importantly, his current presence on the roster, may make him the best option for the job.

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Andy Larsen

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