NBA
Utah Jazz F Bojan Bogdanovic’s Future Outlook
Bojan Bogdanovic's 2019-20 season has come to an abrupt end as he's getting season-ending wrist surgery. How will this setback impact the Jazz in 2020 and beyond.
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The Utah Jazz are currently 41-23 (4th in the Western Conference) and entrenched in a tight race that separates the 2nd and the 7th seed by only 5.5 games. Unfortunately, Bojan Bogdanovic suffered a wrist injury earlier in the season that lingered to the point where he’s now forced to get season-ending surgery. As COVID-19 continues to postpone the 2019-20 NBA season, the Jazz must get innovative to replace their 2nd leading scorer.
Utah Jazz F Bojan Bogdanovic is undergoing season-ending surgery on his right wrist, sources tell ESPN. Full recovery expected for start of 2020-21 season. He’s averaged 20 points per game for Jazz, fourth-seed in West.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) May 18, 2020
The Utah Jazz signed their forward of the immediate future by inking a 4y/$73.1M contract with the Croatian sniper Bojan Bogdanovic during the 2019 offseason. By surrounding Bogdanovic with two of the best defenders in the NBA (Rudy Gobert and Royce O’Neale), the Jazz have given him an ability to shine offensively. Bojan was on pace to prove that the Jazz made a wise investment by hitting major shots throughout the season and improving his ability to create his own shots.
At 31 years old, Bogey’s age has to be viewed in a different light due to his slow-paced shoot and cut skillset. He plays the game in a way that athletes in their mid-30s have been able to sustain success, plus he’s only been in the NBA (playing an 82-game schedule) for six years, so he still has plenty left in the tank. However, with the injury being to his shooting wrist, it’s hard to ignore that his shot could be affected or that this injury can affect him for the rest of his career. If he fully recovers by next season as expected to, he’ll still be a valuable contributor to a team looking to make noise in the Playoffs.
FUTURE OUTLOOK: B
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Although the Jazz have only one player that is listed at SF, they have a multitude of versatile pieces (Joe Ingles, Royce O’Neale and Georges Niang). With Royce O’Neale being penciled in as the starter at PF, expect Joe Ingles to be the incumbent starter as he’s the only Jazz player with over 40% of his minutes at SF.
Joe Ingles’ lack of athleticism and defense presents a glaring need for a team that doesn’t have a lot of time to build chemistry. While it might be too late this season to add outside pieces to the mix, expect the Jazz to tap back into the veteran market this offseason and add some needed forward depth. Utah will likely target a player similar to veteran F Jeff Green who was cut by Utah in late December. A minor investment that could mainly help out on the defensive end when Bojan comes back, and in his place if he can’t play as much.
Bojan Bogdanovic will continue to be the leader at SF for the Jazz going forward, but they have have major depth issues beyond 2020. Even though the Jazz have multiple players that could qualify as Small Forwards, it’s not wise to not have a clear backup for players over the age of 30. If the Jazz want to remain a threat in the Western Conference, they must add some young talent immediately.
There’s plenty of ways the Jazz can fill this void such as permanently moving Joe Ingles to SF. While that might help them get through the postseason this year, that’s not a sustainable option since Ingles will be 33 next year. Utah has never been a major player in the free agent market so they have a small chance of landing an above-average back up.
It seems like an option that should be considered for the Jazz is to tap back into the foreign market, where they’ve landed the likes of Rudy Gobert, Andrei Kirlenko (better known as AK-47), Enes Kanter, and Dante Exum in the past. Leandro Bolmaro stands out as a potential option for Utah in the draft as he could not only contribute off the bench in the near future, but also potentially take over for Bogdanovic once his contract expires after 2022-23.
JAZZ SF OUTLOOK: B-
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