It was the news that might have broke many Jazz fans’ hearts: “Bojan Bogdanovic out for season with wrist surgery.” I mean, how else are you supposed to react when your 2nd leading scorer is out for the season? After that, I think the Jazz done for as far as the playoffs go. I was really a big fan of this team, I thought they were one of the deepest teams in the league. As time went on though, as deep as they are, they often had trouble scoring the ball. It doesn’t help that Quin Snyder has a pace slower than molasses, but their scoring was often scarce. Is there a way for the Jazz to recover without Bojan Bogdanovic?
Bojan Bogdanovic Impact
Bojan averaged 20 PPG on 44.7% shooting, not bad at all. Out of his 15 shots per game, almost half of them are from 3. He shoots an efficient 41.4% from there, that’s basically the best on the team. By losing Bojan Bogdanovic, you’re losing 20 PPG that has to be made up somewhere and valuable spacing he brought with his 3PT shooting. Along with Khris Middleton, he is only 1 of 2 players that averaged 20 PPG on 40% shooting from 3 and 90% from FT. Bojan wasn’t really a major factor for assists or rebounds for the Jazz, so at least in those categories, it’s not a huge loss.
Sure, I said the Jazz’s X-Factor is Joe Ingles. I stand by that, with Bojan’s injury and the Jazz needing to step up, Ingles needs to be the man. But, let’s be honest, he’s no Bogdanovic. Joe Ingles will have a couple of good games, but I don’t think he’ll be able to play at the quality that Bojan was playing at. I think the Jazz’s ceiling before Bogdanovic’s injury was the Western Conference Finals. I thought they could beat whoever their 4th/5th seed matchup was and upset the Lakers in the 2nd round.
Now? I don’t even think they get out of the first round. I think they can win 2 games in the first round against their matchup. However, I don’t even think they’ll stay in the 4th/5th conversation, I think there’s a chance they move down to the 6th seed and face either the Nuggets or the Clippers. If that’s the case, I can see only one lucky win against those teams. If they play the Thunder or the Rockets, I see 2 wins. Either way, they’re out in the first round. That’s just how valuable that Bojan Bogdanovic was. Without him, the Jazz will be exposed.
