In-Depth Look at Utah Jazz Rotations and Lineups
A deep dive into Will Hardy's rotations, lineups, and what it will mean for the Utah Jazz regular season.
Rotation Breakdown
Not many NBA fans are willing to watch preseason games, and that makes sense. Preseason is all about ironing out quirks, refining schematics, and seeing if any players at the end of the roster can crack the rotation. In the context of the Utah Jazz, this preseason has brought a lot of new faces. New faces are always exciting because they mean new lineups, new rotations, and, essentially, a new team. Yes, it’s a lot of "new." This year, Will Hardy has given Jazz fans a strong preview of which players will be in his regular rotation, as well as the lineups he plans to use. This is a stark contrast to last season, when the big questions were “Who’s going to be the point guard?” and “Will Collins and Kessler play together?” This year, things seem much more straightforward. At the time of writing, the Utah Jazz have played four preseason games, going 3-1. From the first game against the New Zealand Breakers, Will Hardy and company have not been shy about revealing their intended rotations.
Using data from NBA.com, I mapped out the Jazz's rotations from their first three preseason games. It's important to note that I only examined the first half of each game since second-half lineups can be noisy due to end-of-bench players getting minutes. I also focused on the first three games because Keyonte George suffered an injury in the third quarter against Dallas. With that context, let’s dive into the lineups.
The Jazz have used the same starting five in each of their four preseason games: Keyonte George and Collin Sexton in the backcourt, Lauri Markkanen and Taylor Hendricks on the wings, and Walker Kessler holding down the center position. During the 2023-24 NBA season, this lineup played just 20 minutes together, posting a +/- of -13. While that’s a small sample size, Will Hardy must have seen enough to make this his starting group. To Hardy's credit, the lineup checks a lot of boxes, including four shooters, passing, rim protection, and length.
The Jazz's rotations against the Houston Rockets looked very similar. The starting group played the first 4-5 minutes together, after which the first substitutes were Cody Williams for Lauri Markkanen and John Collins for Walker Kessler. Keyonte George and Collin Sexton played the majority of the first quarter before Jordan Clarkson and Isaiah Collier subbed in for them. Taylor Hendricks’s minutes have been consistent, with a big chunk of minutes at the beginning of both the first and second quarters. An interesting trend to monitor will be the duration of John Collins’s minutes. Currently, he’s playing in quick 5-minute bursts, while Walker Kessler is seeing more extended action.
In the third preseason game against the Dallas Mavericks, we saw a longer look at Utah’s starting lineup in the second quarter. That lineup included Isaiah Collier, Jordan Clarkson, Lauri Markkanen, Taylor Hendricks, and Walker Kessler. Anytime you put Lauri, Taylor, and Walker on the court together, it’s bound to be interesting. Even more intriguing is that this lineup may feature the two best passers on the team. Isaiah Collier has led the Jazz in assists this preseason with 4.3 APG, while Jordan Clarkson has improved as a passer over the last two years, averaging 5.0 APG and 4.4 APG, respectively. This lineup could be fun to watch, especially since they’ll likely be tasked with overcoming first- and third-quarter deficits and setting the team up to finish games strong.
Lineup Breakdown
Looking at rotations can be fascinating—it’s fun to see who comes in and goes out, and when. But even more interesting than rotations are the lineups that get deployed. The Jazz have used a variety of lineups, as is typical when players are being subbed out every two minutes or so. However, through three games, three lineups have played more than 9 out of 72 potential minutes together. The first is the starting lineup, which plays together for 5-6 minutes at the start of the first quarter. The second is the previously mentioned group that starts the second quarter, and the third is the lineup that has closed out second quarters. This closing lineup is essentially the starting lineup but with Cody Williams in place of Taylor Hendricks. It’s not uncommon for a team’s second- and fourth-quarter rotations to mirror each other, so if this holds true, Cody Williams could be closing games.
There are a couple of things I’ll be keeping an eye on based on the Jazz’s rotations and lineups. First, which two guards will play together? Keyonte George and Collin Sexton have frequently shared the court, while Isaiah Collier and Jordan Clarkson have also logged a lot of minutes together. Second, I’m curious to see how Brice Sensabaugh fares at power forward. While Brice is 6’6" and strong, you have to wonder if he’ll be able to hold his own defensively against true power forwards.
Preseason is mostly noise, and there’s not a lot you can definitively take away, but it can give you an idea of what to watch for. This year feels much different from last season, when Will Hardy was experimenting with lineups deep into the season. There were times when both Keyonte George and Collin Sexton were coming off the bench, but now their roles as starters seem much more solidified. Having a set rotation and finding groups that work well together will help the Jazz play a cohesive, stylistically appealing brand of basketball, even if that doesn’t always translate to wins.