Utah Jazz: 3 goals for Hassan Whiteside in the 2021-22 season

Fans of the Utah Jazz have grown accustomed to having an elite rim protector and rebounder on the court for about 30 to 34 minutes per contest with Rudy Gobert. With the team’s offseason addition of Hassan Whiteside, they’ll be hoping that number looks closer to 40 to 44.

Salt Lake City fans are not strangers to their squad rostering two quality bigs, as Derrick Favors, save for the beginning of his career in New Jersey and a brief 2019-20 stint in the Big Easy, spent the majority of a decade as a member of the Utah Jazz. However, Head Coach Quin Snyder, either out of preference or necessity, frequently ran lineups featuring both Favors and Gobert sharing the front court in twin tower formations during his tenure with the club.

Nobody should be expecting the Utah Jazz to run Whiteside at the 4 alongside Gobert. Favors’ solid midrange touch at least provided some justification for those units: Gobert and Whiteside are both unequivocally centers. In a sense, that makes Whiteside the best backup 5 Snyder has had at his disposal in the Gobert era.

All of which is not to say that there are no avenues for Whiteside to improve upon his 2020-21 performance with the Sacramento Kings. In fact, there are several.

Here are 3 goals the veteran big should strive to achieve as a member of the Utah Jazz in the 2021-22 season.