Fantasy Review For 2018/19 Season:
After a bit disappointing first half of the season, Jazz again reached the Playoffs, but lost easily in an extremely tough matchup against Houston Rockets. Modern basketball yet again brutally verified their offense, as they simply couldn’t score enough points to win a playoff series against elite offense. This resulted with offseason moves that were focused on improving their scoring without taking huge defensive hit.
Changes in the offseason
Lost = Derrick Favors, Grayson Allen, Jae Crowder, Raul Neto, Ricky Rubio
Added = Mike Conley, Bojan Bogdanovic, Ed Davis, Jeff Green, Emmanuel Mudiay
Projected Depth Chart:
| PG | SG | SF | PF | C |
| Mike Conley | Donovan Mitchell | Joe Ingles | Bojan Bogdanovic | Rudy Gobert |
| Emmanuel Mudiay | Dante Exum | Royce O’Neale | Jeff Green | Ed Davis |
| Nigel Williams Goss | Miye Oni | Stanton Kidd | Georges Niang | Tony Bradley |
Positional Battles: Small Forward
There isn’t really any huge positional battle in terms of minutes, nor the finishing / best lineup. It is obvious. The only question here is one of the starting forward spots, lets say it’s a small forward. There are four candidates for two places, and although Joe Ingles and Bojan Bogdanovic are clear cut best players here, Quinn Snyder may use Royce O’Neale or Jeff Green with starting five, to better balance starters and bench fire power and better utilize Joe Ingles and/or Bojan Bogdanovic as playmakers.
Fantasy Relevant in standard leagues:
62,9 FG%, 65,3 FT%, 0 3PM, 16,9 PTS, 14,3 REB, 2,5 AST, 0,8 STL, 2,6 BL, 2,3 TO
To describe him, last year we have used a quote “At this point he’s a lock to be elite in 3 big man categories and to be weak in 4 others [points, threes, assists and steals] so his value depends mostly on FT% and games played.” Gobert right now is quite established player, so we may almost apply this sentence to this upcoming season. Almost. The main difference is him playing without any other big man, in a 4-1 modification of Quinn Snyder system, with four deadly shooters surrounding him. That should result with a bit more of the blocks, rebounds and shots, although his efficiency might take a small dip. Still his influence on big man categories combined should be bigger than ever, easily best in fantasy basketball. Also he should improve as an assist source. After making consecutive progress in two straight seasons in that department, Gobert is right now looking for another big leap. Surrounded by elite shooters and multiple ballhandlers, he should be prepared to be used as a playmaker in 4on3 situations, after defensive traps on pick and roll ballhandler. Reportedly, Jazz are trying to prepare for those situations, and it may result with Gobert achieving a mark of an excellent for a rolling big man 3 assist per game.
45 FG%, 81,5 FT%, 3 3PM, 24,4 PTS, 4,3 REB, 5,2 AST, 1,5 STL, 0,4 BL, 2,7 TO
After spectacular rookie campaign his lack of significant statistical progress in sophomore season was considered as a bit of a letdown. However, he still managed to be top40 fantasy 9 cat contributor after All Star Weekend, and the disappointment comes from the start of 18/19 campaign, when he had to adjust to the opponents being ready for him. It is also quite typical for amazing rookies to have a quiet sophomore season, and to take a leap in their third year. Besides some superstar outliers, player progress in NBA usually isn’t linear. Now, in the more friendly to his game surroundings and playing alongside perfect veteran mentor in Mike Conley, we should expect him to take a jump as far as to top35-40 9 cat rankings with an upside of 10 to 15 spots higher. He may take a little dip in assists, but also should improve in every other category.
He is an excellent source of threes, assists and steals while maintaining solid efficiency. That makes him an extremely solid in a 80-120 range, but with very limited upside, as he will be capped around 28-30 minutes due to Jazz recent additions.
For the first time in his career, Conley will play in a system, where he is not the only reliable ballhandling / playmaking option on the team. Also for the first time will he play with an elite spacing and a rollman as good as Rudy Gobert is. On court he would thrive in Quinn Snyder offense, especially as he is an absolute elite in terms of spot up shooting. Fantasy-wise, he will definitely take a dip in assists an rebounds, but should achieve new levels of efficiency. This makes him a top60 lock with high floor and significant upside.
It would be hard for him to maintain level of fantasy contribution from Indiana, when in the last two months of the season he became team offensive leader and a top75 roto player. However, he has a shot at staying in top100 with an elite combination of 3PTM, percentages and an opportunity for some rebounds while playing as a Power Forward next to Rudy Gobert. His ceiling is extremely low, so while at the end of top100 there are a lot of players with significant upside, he should be drafted in that 100-120 range.
Very reliable source of rebounds outside of top100 (maybe even top200), with a very little else to offer.
Could be useful with trades/injuries [or in deeper leagues than 15 teams]:
Emmanuel Mudiay, Royce O’Neale, Tony Bradley
Just don’t bother with:
Dante Exum, Jeff Green,
Don’t forget to check the rest of the Utah Jazz fantasy basketball projections..
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