Utah’s Keyonte George brings the ball upcourt because the Jazz and the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder play in Summer season League motion on the Delta Heart in Salt Lake Metropolis on Monday, July 3, 2023. The Jazz misplaced 95-85. Scott G Winterton, Deseret Information
I’m not going to sugarcoat issues. Not seeing Taylor Hendricks or Brice Sensabaugh play any Summer season League ball was a disappointment.
Whether or not you’re a Utah Jazz fan, a teammate, a coach, an analyst, or a Jazz beat reporter, there was an immense quantity of intrigue after the Jazz drafted three gamers on June 22. Although Hendricks had a gentle hamstring pressure throughout pre-draft exercises and Sensabaugh is coming off knee surgical procedure in March, they had been each hoping to play. However the Jazz brass determined that warning and bubblewrap had been extra essential than a number of video games with out stakes within the offseason.
I get it, why worsen an harm or rush them again to play in the summertime whenever you need them contemporary and feeling their greatest when coaching camp rolls round? That was the Jazz’s thought course of.
So that they cast on, and even with out Hendricks and Sensabaugh, the ninth and twenty eighth general draft picks, respectively, the Jazz’s Summer season League stretch was actually fascinating and enjoyable and illuminating.
With six gamers of main curiosity and an assistant coach on the rise, there’s quite a bit to remove from the Jazz’s 2023 Salt Lake Metropolis and Las Vegas Summer season League efficiency.
Keyonte George
The sixteenth general choose within the 2023 draft (tenth greatest participant within the draft on the Jazz’s inside huge board) got here in with plenty of query marks. With a unfavourable assist-to-turnover ratio at Baylor, can he actually be a degree guard for the Jazz? Can he clear up his shot choice? Can he be environment friendly?
Three video games performed in Utah and two-and-a-half extra performed in Las Vegas. That’s all it took for Keyonte George to make a extremely convincing case for himself. And, in fact we don’t need to be responsible of overreacting to a Summer season League efficiency, nevertheless it’s exhausting to not when one of the crucial questionable positions on the Jazz roster is level guard.
George confirmed that he can knock down pictures (scoring 33 factors in his Las Vegas debut), that he can discover different methods to affect the sport when his pictures aren’t falling (going 10 of 10 from the free-throw line in Utah when he was struggling from exterior), and that he can run an offense unselfishly and with precision passes.
I feel that it could be real looking to anticipate George to want time to acclimate to NBA physicality and achieve some power. But it surely’s additionally not a stretch to hope that, based mostly on what we’ve seen, he can develop into the Jazz’s major ballhandler of the long run.
We will’t end speaking about George with out mentioning the explanation he solely performed in half of the Jazz’s third recreation in Las Vegas. George stepped on one other participant’s foot on the way in which to the basket simply earlier than halftime of that recreation. He went down instantly and on replay it was clear that he’d rolled his ankle.
He’s going to want this offseason to let the ankle heal and whereas workforce sources have indicated that there’s not long-term concern, a setback within the offseason may imply a setback within the common season. In spite of everything, it’s the identical ankle that George sprained again in February at Baylor.
Even so, if he takes a bit extra time to ramp up, and if he wants some further time to develop, that’s OK. The Jazz have the personnel to resist that and so they’ll be affected person with George.
Ochai Agbaji
It’s not just like the Jazz wanted Ochai Agbaji to play in Summer season League. They bought a hearty dose of what he's able to final season and that dose included some notable progress close to the tip of the season.
However Agbaji was challenged by the teaching workers to be prepared for heavy minutes and a bigger function this coming season. They wished to check his conditioning and experiment with him a bit bit this summer time. So, he labored actually exhausting, he's in the perfect form of his life, and he was prepared for something they had been going to throw at him.
The Jazz steadily switched Agbaji between level guard and capturing guard throughout Summer season League video games. They ran him exhausting, enjoying him heavy minutes, they requested plenty of him on the defensive finish and in addition anticipated him to be an enormous a part of the offense.
What we discovered is that it’s going to take quite a bit to wear down Agbaji. He simply retains going and his conditioning is de facto spectacular. We additionally discovered that placing him within the unfamiliar and uncomfortable place as level guard didn’t at all times yield the perfect outcomes, however he’s completely succesful.
We additionally discovered that there could be much more defensive potential than we beforehand thought out of Agbaji and that his rookie 12 months within the NBA gave him plenty of knowledge. He seemed extra snug and extra in management than plenty of the gamers he went towards (his 10-foul recreation in SLC however).
Although, I actually assume a very powerful factor from Agbaji this summer time was his angle. He by no means appeared slighted by the Jazz wanting him to play in Summer season League, he was as much as each problem, he’s enthusiastic about what’s to return and he’s devoted to bettering.
Luka Samanic
Although the Jazz had been in a position to have Luka Samanic on the workforce final season, it was just for a handful of video games.
The Jazz actually like Samanic and so they need to give him an opportunity, which is why he was included on the Summer season League roster and why he might be on the coaching camp roster.
Samanic had a very nice run by way of in each the Salt Lake Metropolis and Las Vegas showcases. He averaged 13.3 factors, 6.6 rebounds and a pair of.3 assists per recreation whereas capturing 36.4% from 3-point vary in Utah and averaged 16.6 factors, 7.1 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.3 steals and 1.3 blocks per recreation white capturing 36.8% from 3 and 51.3% general in Vegas.
Truthfully although, Samanic’s recreation will not be actually one which’s nicely fitted to Summer season League. The affect that he can have is healthier measured over extra time, which is why I feel the Jazz have structured his contract to have two extra assure set off dates (one simply earlier than the beginning of the 2023-24 season in October and one in early January).
Two-way gamers
Final 12 months the Jazz had each Micah Potter and Johnny Juzang on two-way offers. This 12 months, NBA groups are allowed to have as much as three gamers on two-way offers, so the Jazz added Joey Hauser to the combo.
Potter confirmed some very nice flashes for the Jazz in Las Vegas. Enjoying nearly all of his minutes with George, the 2 developed some fast chemistry and their two-man recreation was fairly spectacular. They discovered one another slicing, protected each other on drives and simply appeared to work very well collectively.
Potter additionally confirmed some power and aggressiveness that I believed he’d been missing by way of the Salt Lake Metropolis Summer season League and it was good to see.
Although Juzang’s 3-point capturing was actually spectacular this summer time (52.2% in Salt Lake Metropolis and 50% in Las Vegas), I discovered myself questioning what else he supplied to the Jazz’s offense, and I don’t imply their Summer season League workforce. I used to be looking for the place he would match into the Jazz’s common season rotation and the issue is that I simply don’t assume he’s prepared for that function.
There’s nothing that he does that’s egregiously dangerous, however there are small issues that add up — he picks up his dribble at inopportune occasions, he’s not an amazing passer, he appears to get caught in no-man’s land, and he doesn’t at all times really feel like he’s fully underneath management.
The identical could possibly be mentioned for Hauser. I do know the Jazz actually wished to bolster their capturing depth and that they're searching for dynamic scorers, however there wasn’t any time throughout Summer season League the place I felt wowed by Juzang or Hauser exterior of some good pictures.
Closing ideas
I preferred the thought that Jazz assistant coach Evan Bradds put into the Summer season League plan. I appreciated him letting George exhibit his potential and placing Agbaji into uncomfortable conditions. It’s additionally reassuring to see how a lot the gamers respect Bradds and the way rapidly he positive factors the belief of the gamers.
Everybody would have cherished to see Hendricks and Sensabaugh, however there’s loads of time for them, the Jazz are usually not dashing something — not the event of their younger gamers and never the timeline to changing into a contender.
I’m not alone in being impressed with George. I wasn’t certain that he would be capable of quiet the considerations concerning his recreation, however he proved me and plenty of different folks incorrect.
In all, the Jazz performed some aggressive basketball, they had been enjoyable to look at and there have been plenty of gamers to look at who may actually find yourself mattering.