The return of Georges Niang all but confirms this jazz player’s departure from the rotation

Among everything that has happened with the Utah Jazz this season, something that has gone unnoticed is the return of Georges Niang. While it won’t happen tomorrow, the Jazz have made it clear it will happen soon. If Niang comes back, it means someone is being put in the doghouse to make room for him, and it’s pretty clear that someone is Svi Mykahiliuk.

HoopsHype’s Michael Scotto confirmed today that Niang would be re-evaluated in a week, meaning he’s more or less on track from the last update on him.

Utah brought Niang back, not just for sentimental purposes. All indications are that they have orchestrated a reunion because the plan is to play him, one of the most reliable, dead-eyed three-point shooters in the league. Unfortunately, his integration will likely mean Mykhailiuk’s role in the team will be significantly reduced.

Niang does what Mykhailiuk more or less does, but better

It would be unfair to insinuate that Mykhailuk has been bad this season. He hasn’t been consistent for what the Jazz have asked of him, but he’s been far from invisible. Averaging the most minutes he’s ever had in his career twelve games into the season (27 per game), Myhailiuk has been quite productive for someone like him, averaging 9.4 points while shooting 45.7% from the field and 35.8% from three.

In some games Svi got hot, and in others he was a black hole. His job has been to space the floor, and the bottom line is he was able to do that sometimes do that. Imagine what the Jazz could look like with Niang in that spot instead of Mykhailiuk.

Niang is actually the better version of Mykhailiuk. He is a better spacer and has shown some finesse in scoring, although it is limited. Mykhailiuk may be the smoothest athlete between the two, but there’s a reason why Niang has been featured in the rotations of multiple playoff teams while Mykhailiuk has bounced from team to team to maintain a spot on the NBA roster.

Since Mykhailiuk is inconsistent in what he does, it’s actually quite exciting to imagine what Niang will look like in his role because of how consistent he is. Not only does he regularly knock down threes, but because he’s a downtown threat, opponents will treat them seriously, opening up space for the likes of Lauri Markkanen, Keyonte George and Ace Bailey, all of whom either rise or explode.

The Jazz haven’t won that many games this season, but they’ve still been super fun to watch overall. Niang may not add too many wins, but he will make Utah more competitive as their roster continues to grow internally. It’s a shame this comes at the expense of playing time for Mykhailiuk, who has been a good soldier, but it won’t take time for Niang to show why Utah wanted him back.