Winner: Utah Jazz
The Utah Jazz made one of the biggest offseason moves before free agency even started, trading for Memphis point guard Mike Conley. If that made them a dark horse contender next season, their early moves in free agency have thrust them into the frame as a more obvious threat for the title.
After letting Ricky Rubio walk and reportedly parting ways with Derrick Favors, they spent their newfound cap space on Pacers wing Bojan Bogdanovic. $73 million over four years might seem like a lot, but the Croatian is coming off a career best season where he averaged 18 points per game, shot 42.3 percent from 3 and carried Indiana’s offense for large stretches after Victor Oladipo‘s injury.
Utah’s defense has been elite for the past two seasons (2nd and 1st in defensive rating), but their offense has lagged behind (14th and 16th in offensive rating). Too much of the load has fallen on Donovan Mitchell‘s shoulders, and when the young guard’s shot isn’t falling the Jazz lack a crunch-time scorer to finish close games.
Bogdanovic should help to ease that burden, and with his improvements as a defender and a playmaker last season he was one of the more underrated free agents on the market. Utah payed a premium for him, but it should be worth it as they move into title contention mode.