Are the Jazz about to make a major leap in the West? Do they need to make any significant trades? How big is the Gordon Hayward injury?
Our NBA Insiders debate the 2016-17 season for Utah.
1. What's your take on the George Hill trade?
Kevin Arnovitz, ESPN.com: It's a savvy, high-value, low-risk move that gives the Jazz a solid starting point guard who understands systems, shoots 40 percent from 3, defends both guard positions, plays off the ball and can mentor Dante Exum -- all of this for the cool price of the No. 12 pick and an $8 million expiring contract.
Amin Elhassan, ESPN Insider: Loved it. Hill is neither a dynamic playmaker nor likely to make any All-Star teams, but he's exactly what Utah needed: solid defensively, judicious with the ball and a steady veteran hand in a locker room that lacked one. His Spurs ties with head coach Quin Snyder and GM Dennis Lindsey don't hurt either.
Chad Ford, ESPN Insider: I thought it was a really smart move. The Jazz are loaded with young players. They desperately needed a seasoned veteran to run the point until Exum is ready to take over. Hill doesn't do anything spectacularly, but he's a perfect fit in that culture -- and by the time Hill is a free agent, Exum could be ready to lead the team.
Jeremias Engelmann, ESPN Insider: Great trade for them. The Jazz were so thin at the position that Atlanta's third-string point guard, Shelvin Mack, came in and started the last 27 games. The Jazz also had trouble with turnovers last season, ranking 27th in turnover percentage. Hill, with his elite 1.4 turnovers per 36 minutes, should be of tremendous help here.
Kevin Pelton, ESPN Insider: It came at the right time. I'm not ordinarily a fan of trading a first-round pick for a player under contract, particularly one with just one year remaining. If the Jazz are to compete for home court in the playoffs, however, they couldn't count on Exum coming off his ACL injury, and Hill is both an enormous upgrade on Utah's incumbent point guards and an ideal fit.
2. What is the biggest issue facing the Jazz this season?
Elhassan: I'm not wild about the spacing from the bigs. As much as I love Rudy Gobert and Derrick Favors individually, I'm not sure about their on-court pairing. The additions of Joe Johnson and Boris Diaw will help, but both of those guys are on the decline.
Arnovitz: The Jazz feature a nice complement of skill guys with good size who are committed to defending, working both sides of the floor and rebounding the basketball, but they have to work harder than most teams to find good shots. They don't have a lot of players who can break down defenses (or a devastating one who can do so at will). Good health has also been a trip wire for the Jazzmen in recent seasons, and the Hayward injury is another in a series of frustrating setbacks in that column.
Pelton: The ability to win close games. Only the Minnesota Timberwolves (18) lost more games by 5 points or fewer last season than the Jazz (17), explaining why Utah missed the playoffs with the West's fifth-best point differential. Fortunately for the Jazz, records in close games tend not to persist from season to season.
Engelmann: The Jazz don't have any glaring issues. They have a very good coach and used the offseason to nicely fill (almost) all their holes in the depth chart. Their biggest problem is probably going to be shot creation, at least until Hayward comes back from injury.
Ford: Lack of athleticism. The Jazz have one of the deepest teams in the league. But they'll be vulnerable to super-athletic teams. It's not a squad of elite athletes, with the exception of the injured Alec Burks. That could end up causing some problems for them defensively in certain situations.
3. What's the biggest source of hope for the Jazz this season?
Pelton: Depth. In trading for Hill and Diaw, signing Johnson and returning Exum, Utah has added four rotation-caliber players without subtracting any player appreciably better than replacement level. As a result, players on the Jazz's current roster combined to play 23,717 minutes last season (none by Exum), the most of any NBA team.
Ford: Incredible depth. The Jazz will be bringing Exum, Burks, Johnson, Trey Lyles and Diaw off the bench. There aren't many teams in the league that have depth of that caliber. That should help the Jazz weather injuries and fatigue throughout the season.
Engelmann: They can hope for a healthier season of their starting big men -- Favors and Gobert missed a combined 41 games last season. Also, Exum is back after missing a full year with a knee injury. If he is fully healthy and can further improve his game (he's only 21), that'd be a big plus.
Arnovitz: The Jazz have a deep roster of smart, multifaceted players who each perform a number of tasks proficiently without a lot of drama. If they can tread water without Hayward while building a top-five defense and some good offensive habits, they should be fine.
Elhassan: Just seeing how good this young team can be. They should have made the playoffs last year but fell apart down the stretch due to untimely injuries and some youthful mistakes. This year, they're deeper, more experienced and more versatile.
4. What trade would make the most sense for the Jazz?
Ford: Maybe it's a cop-out, but I don't think they should make a trade, barring a major injury. I love the chemistry the team has developed. The continuity this team has will pay off down the road. They do need a little more athleticism, but the only guy they should really explore trading, Burks, just happens to be their most athletic guy.
Engelmann: The Jazz seem to have solid depth and are in a good position overall, so I would advise against actively looking to trade. If the opportunity arises, they can try flipping future first-round picks (their own, or those from Golden State and Oklahoma City) for some quality depth at small forward.
Elhassan: A stretch big would be high on the wish list but, honestly, the move that makes most sense is probably not making one. Utah is uniquely positioned to have talent under contract with a low payroll. Let this group grow together and see what it can accomplish.
Arnovitz: If and when Utah decides they're ready to entrust mobile big man Lyles with the power forward spot, they could dangle the more conventional 4-man Favors, who has a very appealing two years and $23 million remaining on his contract, and try to acquire some firepower or dynamic playmaking on the perimeter.
Pelton: The only trade I can really see making sense for Utah right now would be dealing a spare point guard for a future second-round pick(s). Otherwise, while the Jazz certainly could benefit from consolidating some talent into a single standout star, I don't see any realistic trades that make sense.
5. Fact or fiction: The Jazz will make the Western Conference final four.
Arnovitz: Fact. This was a more confident prediction before Hayward went down with a broken finger, but I still like Utah a tad more than the rest of the field in the West's 4-through-10 scrum.
Elhassan: Fact, if they can get to a five seed or higher. They're not more talented than the West's presumptive top three of the Warriors, Clippers and Spurs -- and even if the margin is slim, they lose massively on experience. Unlike for veteran teams, the regular season is exceedingly important for the Jazz.
Ford: Fact. I think they're the third-best team in the West right now, behind the Warriors and Spurs. If everyone is healthy and the team clicks, I think the Jazz could end up in the Western Conference finals.
Engelmann: Fiction. Even projections that have the Jazz finishing as high as third or fourth in the Western Conference expect little separation among them, the Rockets, the Blazers and the Thunder. This means the Jazz will probably not have home-court advantage in the first round, making it unlikely they'll advance.
Pelton: Faction. Too many things can happen between now and April to start predicting the outcome of playoff series just yet, but if you were asking me to pick the four teams most likely to win a playoff series in the West, Utah would be the last team in that group.
Bonus: How big a problem will Gordon Hayward's injury be?
Ford: It will hurt. It looks like he might miss the first 10 games of the season. Hayward is the leader of this squad, but given the veteran depth here, I don't think it's going to have a major long-term impact on the Jazz. They have plenty of wings that can cover for him in the short term.
Elhassan: It's not ideal but at least it happened early enough for them to overcome the setback. He's their best offensive player, but luckily they have plenty of help on the wings in the form of Hood, Burks and the previously injured Exum.
Engelmann: It's a medium-sized blow. Hayward is the Jazz's best offensive player, and his replacements don't come close in terms of impact. On the plus side, Hayward is expected to miss only about a month.
Pelton: Given their aforementioned depth, the Jazz should be able to survive Hayward's injury well enough to make it nothing more than a footnote by season's end. The timing is suboptimal, however, given that Exum might not be as ready to supply playmaking in Hayward's absence as he would be later in the year.
Arnovitz: Losing your offensive fulcrum is always a problem, but the Jazz are better-equipped than in recent seasons to absorb that loss. Like Hayward, Johnson is a big wing who can initiate offense and shoot from the arc. As understudies go, the Jazz could do a lot worse, and they should be able to tread water for six weeks on the back of their team defense.