Utah Jazz: 3 positive takeaways after disappointing first-round playoff exit

Return of Bojan Bogdanovic

Throughout the bubble, one big blow for the Jazz was not having second-leading scorer and Bojan Bogdanovic. Prior to the restart, Bogdanovic had wrist surgery that kept him sidelined and didn’t join the team in Orlando. After signing a four-year, $73 million deal last summer in Utah, Bojan averaged 20.3 points while shooting 41.4 percent from 3-point range as the second scoring option behind Mitchell.

Without Bojan, Mitchell didn’t get a ton of help on the scoring end, with only defensive-minded Rudy Gobert, Mike Conley, Joe Ingles, and sixth man Jordan Clarkson being the key contributing scorers alongside him. Although some of the numbers put up by the supporting cast weren’t terrible, Bojan’s scoring ability exceeds anyone else on the team behind Mitchell and was definitely missed badly during the restart.

With Bogdanovic back next year, the weight can be lifted off Gobert to focus on the defensive side and Ingles and Conley to slot back into their roles.