The Utah Jazz finished the regular season atop the loaded Western Conference with a 52-20 record. That gave them the best record in the entire NBA, as well. They were incredible at home, going 31-5 at Vivent Arena.
During the season they were bought by a group that is now the NBA’s youngest ownership group in the entire NBA. Part of that ownership group is NBA legend Dwyane Wade. The ownership group is led by Ryan Smith who is a technology entrepreneur and now the majority owner of the Jazz organization.
Make sure to check out all of our other NBA Team Season Recaps.
Team Performance
The Jazz certainly exceeded any expectations in terms of the regular season during the 2020-21 NBA campaign. They went from the sixth during the 2019-20 season to the first seed in the 2020-21 season.
The Jazz were led by their star players in Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert and fielded one of the best supporting casts in the entire NBA. They had two players make the finalists of the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year Award finalists. One of those players, Jordan Clarkson, took home the award.
Team Award Winners
MVP – Donovan Mitchell
Before completely breaking out in the NBA Playoffs, Mitchell already had a breakout regular season under his belt. He averaged a career-high 26.4 points per game behind a career-high 38.6 percent shooting from behind the arc. Despite having an incredible supporting cast, Mitchell was without a doubt the engine that kept the Jazz moving forward during the NBA season.
Defensive Player of the Year – Rudy Gobert
An easy choice here, Gobert took home his third NBA Defensive Player of the Year Award of his NBA career. He manned the middle of the Jazz defense and made opponents fear taking the ball to the rim. Not only did he tie his career-high in rebounds per game (13.5), he set a new career-high in blocks per game (2.7). That doesn’t even include all the shots he altered or made opponents avoid altogether.
Sixth Man of the Year – Jordan Clarkson
Like in the league results, Clarkson edges out teammate Joe Ingles for the sixth man of the year honors. He played a true sixth man role for the Jazz and was a huge reason for their success during the 2020-21 NBA season. Whenever the bench unit came in for Utah, their opponents couldn’t take advantage due to the unit led by Clarkson. He was second on the team in scoring, averaging 18.4 points per contest.
Biggest Surprise – Georges Niang
Niang became a part of the Jazz group of role players that helped them exceed expectations over the course of the season. He played in every single regular-season game, including 10 starts. The consistent part of the rotation he became on such a good team is what makes him the biggest surprise on the season for the Jazz. He’s clearly a good role player in this league and will be around for years to come.
Biggest Disappointment – Derrick Favors
Forced to make a selection for biggest disappointment means the award goes to veteran big man Derrick Favors. Favors was brought back to the Jazz to play a role that he played fine for the team. Still, for his salary and name-value his 5.4 points and 5.5 rebounds per game don’t exactly jump off the board.
What’s Next
The Jazz will have to make a decision on how much they can and are willing to pay a 33-year-old Mike Conley. Conley was a huge part of the teams’ success and found a great rhythm as the backcourt partner to Donovan Mitchell, but his age and injury history make his next contract interesting, to say the least. If the Jazz opt to go another route, it will be difficult to replace the veteran guard. He averaged 16.2 points and 6 assists during the 2020-21 NBA regular season.
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Utah won’t pick in the NBA draft until the 30th overall selection due to their league-best record during the 2020-21 season. Money will be tight during free agency, so a trade may wind up being their best route to improving the team ahead of next season.
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