Biggest Jazz questions for NBA restart: Rudy Gobert-Donovan Mitchell rift repaired? Mike Conley to step up?

Also, how will the Jazz fill the void left behind by Bojan Bogdanovic?

The four-month NBA hiatus has been a whirlwind for the Utah Jazz. From Rudy Gobert's COVID-19 diagnosis ultimately shutting down the entire league and causing a divide in the locker room, to one of their most important players, Bojan Bogdanovic, electing to have season-ending surgery making him unavailable for the restart, Utah has dealt with its share of issues. While most teams will be getting healthier for the resumption of the 2019-20 season, the Jazz will be playing a little wounded. As a result, there are several lingering questions that Utah will be faced with at Disney World that could have both a short- and long-term impact on this franchise. 

With that being said, here's a look at the biggest questions facing the Jazz when the season resumes in Orlando on July 30. 

Will Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert's rift cause issues for the Jazz?

This is perhaps the biggest question for the Jazz, not just for the restart, but long term as well. In March, Mitchell, who essentially held Gobert responsible for their positive coronavirus tests due to the French big man not taking the virus seriously, was not on speaking terms with his fellow teammate. The pair went two weeks without speaking, but after a month of the NBA postponement passed, the two finally had a talk. Gobert told ESPN's Tim MacMahon that they said what they needed to say to each other, and that they both are on the same page after their call.  

However, during the time off, reports began to surface left and right that their relationship was "strained" even before the COVID-19 incident. Speculation began to swirl on whether the Jazz would have to choose between their two All-Stars. Gobert has made comments in the past toward Mitchell -- like jokingly telling him to pass the ball -- that have reportedly made some within the Jazz organization uncomfortable. While Gobert recognizes that his constant griping about not getting the ball in certain situations is annoying, he also knows it wears on his teammates, specifically Mitchell, who is responsible for nearly 19 percent of the passes Gobert receives, per NBA Advanced Stats. 

Through this whole ordeal, Gobert has been very transparent, while Mitchell didn't speak publicly about the matter for months. The third-year guard did say recently, though, that the two are "good", while Utah's executive VP Dennis Lindsey said the players were "ready to put this behind them." Whether that is true or just an effort to quell the narrative that there is a deeper divide between them, this is an issue that could have ripple effects beyond just the 2019-20 season. 

Utah has been building around Gobert and Mitchell as its cornerstone pieces, and if that duo has any lingering issues with each other past this season, specifically during the 2021 offseason when both players are due new contracts, it could cause a shakeup in Salt Lake City. For now, though, Utah's All-Star duo will need to perform better than they have all season to silence the rumors. Especially considering the team will be missing their second-leading scorer in Bojan Bogdanovic for the duration of their stay at Disney World.

How does Utah respond to Bogdanovic's absence?

Bogdanovic underwent season-ending surgery on his right wrist in May to repair an injury he suffered in January. It was a decision that was made when the future of the 2019-20 was still very murky. While the Jazz will certainly miss his 20 points a game and 40-plus percent 3-point shooting, looking at the bigger picture, Bogdanovic is expected to make a full recovery in time for the 2020-21 season. In the meantime, though, other players will have to step up to account for the significant production loss the Jazz are losing with their starting forward.

It's not just the scoring that Utah is losing. Bogdanovic was a central piece to everything the Jazz did. He was a tremendous floor spacer for Gobert rolling to the rim, or Mitchell driving past defenders. When he had the ball, more often than not something positive would happen. Bogdanovic ranks second in the league in points generated per touch (0.456), and this season proved he is one of the best spot-up shooters in the league. 

Utah isn't in a position where it has a single player who can immediately fill Bogdanovic's shoes. Instead it will take an effort by a committee of players on the roster to make up for it. Mitchell will need to improve upon his 52 percent effective field-goal percentage, where he ranks in just the 68th percentile among players at his position, per Cleaning the Glass. Players like Joe Ingles and Royce O'Neale will have to look for their shots a bit more, and the bench production, which ranks 25th in the league in points per game (31.9), will have to greatly improve. 

After being traded to Utah in February, Jordan Clarkson proved to be a much-needed scorer off the bench, averaging 15.6 points in 34 games, while Georges Niang showed he can be relied upon as an effective 3-point shooter (41.6 percent) in the second unit. It's going to take a committed effort from everyone on Utah's roster to make up for Bogdanovic's absence, and one player would could stand to contribute the most is Mike Conley.

Can Mike Conley turn his rocky season around for the playoffs?

Conley's first season with the Jazz has not been what many anticipated it would be, as the 32-year-old guard struggled to get acclimated in their system throughout the season. For the first time in Conley's career he wasn't the primary ball-handler, and had to grow accustomed to moving without the ball, and playing off of Mitchell. It resulted in an eight-year low in points per game (13.8), as well as a career low in field-goal percentage (40.5 percent) and trips to the free throw line (2.9). To make matters worse, Conley dealt with a hamstring injury that caused him to miss a chunk of games from early December to mid-January. 

When Conley returned, Utah experimented with bringing him off the bench, but while the team performed better, the former Memphis Grizzlies guard still couldn't find his place. There was light at the end of the tunnel, though. During a five-game stretch in early March, Conley looked to be turning the corner. A standout game against the Boston Celtics, where he dropped 25 points, five assists and three steals, while going 6 of 10 from beyond the arc, signaled better days for the veteran. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic put a halt to that progress, and now not only will Conley have to pick up where he left off nearly five months ago, but he'll be asked to do more with Bogdanovic out.

With the huge void left by Bogdanovic, Conley will have an opportunity to have the ball in his hands a bit more, and it also helps that back in March, the 13-year veteran was getting more comfortable with his teammates.

"It feels like I've played a full season already," Conley said recently via The Athletic. "I've had a chance to build chemistry with my coaches and with my teammates. I haven't had any questions about plays or my role. I have a clear picture on what to expect."

His chemistry with Gobert specifically began to improve before the hiatus. Early in the season, there were times when Conley would miss open lobs to Gobert when they were running a pick-and-roll, or instead of dishing him the ball with a wide-open lane to the rim, Conley would put up a floater, which he was only sinking 35.5 percent of the time, per NBA Advanced Stats. Jazz coach Quin Snyder attributed it to the fact that Conley isn't used to playing with a center like Gobert.

"He plays with arguably one of the best rollers in the league -- I think the best, in Rudy [Gobert]," Snyder said via Forbes. That's a massive departure from the first 12 years of his NBA career. He played with Marc Gasol, who was more of a pick-and-pop big. I thought there was a tendency for Mike to try to think too much. I certainly contributed to that, because I was trying to learn Mike [while] he was trying to learn me."

In March, though, as Conley's assists climbed to a season-high 5.6 per game, he was turning those low-percentage floaters into lob passes to Gobert, and was playing a solid two-man game with Utah's big man. If these two can continue building their chemistry in Orlando, it could provide the Jazz with a new wrinkle to their game for the postseason. 

Conley was one of the few players in the league who had the benefit of having a full-sized basketball court at his disposal during quarantine, and the Jazz are hoping that leg up on everyone else will work to their advantage as they need him to shine now more than ever.