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SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Jazz are struggling with injuries, and in a season like this where the young team is trying to bond together to make a deep playoff push in the next few seasons, the missed opportunity could be potentially devastating.
Gordon Hayward will be a free agent after next season, Rudy Gobert will likely earn a max contract and eventually the Jazz will be forced to pay Rodney Hood a large sum of money on top of re-upping Derrick Favors for a far more lucrative deal.
Just as the Jazz had to part ways with Enes Kanter, in the future, they will be forced to pare down their core to a select group of the four or five best players.
Luckily for Jazz fans, one theme has emerged worth watching, the theme of Trey.
The Trey to root for comes in three forms, third-year point guard Trey Burke, rookie big man Trey Lyles and the emergence of the 3-point shot as a weapon in head coach Quin Snyder's offense.
First, Burke, who before the season appeared to be fighting for his NBA livelihood, has found new lifeblood as a solid NBA contributor. He's upped his field-goal percentage is up from 37 percent to 44 percent, and his 3-point percentage from under 32 percent to above 35 percent. As a full-time bench player, Burke has been able to focus more on being a scorer rather than a distributor. He is the only player in the NBA's top 100 scorers that has yet to start a game this season. While he's never going to be an NBA starter and will struggle defensively due to his size, he's found a comfortable spot in the NBA that should allow him to find the floor for several years to come.
The second Trey is rookie Lyles. After drawing the ire of Jazz fans for being drafted in front of fellow Kentucky product Devin Booker, who would have filled the Jazz need for a pure shooting wing, Lyles held out of early summer league games over a contract dispute.
Despite a slow start to the season, Favors' back spasms have opened up space for Lyles to show off a surprisingly diverse skill-set. Despite playing out of position for his entire college career, Lyles has stepped in and added a dynamic shooting, passing, and dribble-drive game to the Jazz half-court offense. Lyles, alongside Hayward, makes up the Jazz's best two-man unit for the month of January. With them on the floor together, the Jazz are 31 points better. Lyles also leads the team in 3-point shooting percentage at 47 percent.
The final trey to look at is the addition of the 3-point shot to the Jazz offense. Last season the Jazz were near the bottom third in the league at just 34 percent, but the Jazz have jumped to seventh-best in the league at over 36 percent from long range, all while adding nearly two attempts per game. When the Jazz find themselves back at full strength with Favors and Alec Burks back on the floor, the ability to play beyond the perimeter should open space down low and in driving lanes for the Jazz second- and third-leading scorers.
After Monday night's loss to the Detroit Pistons, the Jazz sit at 19-25 and on the outside looking in at the Western Conference Playoffs, but the theme of Trey should give Jazz fans something to root for until the team is fully healthy.
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.
