Inside The Jazz

Will Hardy Needs to Give More Minutes to These 3 Jazz Players

It's time for Will Hardy to face some facts and feed the young players languishing on this roster.

Alex White

Will Hardy Needs to Give More Minutes to These 3 Jazz Players
Will Hardy Needs to Give More Minutes to These 3 Jazz Players /
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And just like that, we’re already over a quarter of the way through the NBA season. With the Utah Jazz hanging around the bottom of the league standings, it’s worth monitoring who’s getting minutes as the team tries to uncover its future building blocks. 

We’re already seeing rookie Keyonte George carve out a role as the team’s point guard for both the present and future — a huge developmental win for the team going forward. Who else could use some additional minutes going forward? 

There are three young players the Jazz would be wise to feed more game time. Let's break it down. 

Ochai Agbaji

The second-year wing out of Kansas has quietly put together an excellent shooting season for the Jazz. After starting the season on a cold streak, Agbaji has been on a heater since,  shooting 40.8% from three-point land, including a staggering 65.5% from the corner pockets.

On top of the shooting, Agbaji is, without a doubt, one of the best athletes on the team. Measuring in at 6-foot-5 and 215 pounds with a nearly 7-foot wingspan, he often draws the toughest defensive assignment. 

Despite this, Agbaji ranks second out of only four Jazz players who are holding opponents to a lower shooting percentage than their average. Defensively, he has not been perfect, but despite his tough matchups, he's holding up well. 

With more experience comes more nuance and confidence — I expect Agbaji to continue improving on this end. I would love to see him inserted into the starting lineup alongside Keyonte George for the remainder of the year.

Kris Dunn

Speaking of defense, Dunn has looked like the Jazz's best defender, and that's backed up statistically as well. He's holding opponents' shooting splits to 11.4% below their averages when he is the primary defender. 

That is far and away the best mark on the team. For a Jazz team that has had inconsistent guard play, it’s been a bit puzzling why we haven’t seen more from Dunn.

While his counting stats don’t look great, it’s hard to expect more from Dunn when his appearances have been so sporadic. He’s playing just around 10 minutes per game over 14 appearances and has had a couple of games designated as a DNP/coaches' decision. 

Despite all this, Dunn is the only Jazz player with a positive net rating this year. Go ahead, and read that last line again.

I expect the Jazz to make some changes to their crowded backcourt via trades at some point this year. Hopefully, the Jazz make Dunn the primary backup to George before long. 

With Dunn directing traffic, it should make life easier for guys like Walker Kessler, Ochai Agbaji, and the next players we'll talk about when George isn’t on the court.

Taylor Hendricks

The top-10 rookie out of UCF has shown flashes of why people thought he could make an immediate impact on both sides of the ball. At 6-foot-9 with long arms, Hendricks just looks big when he’s on the court. 

Defensively, that length and activity have resulted in six combined steals and blocks in just three games. While things haven’t been great offensively, Hendricks has a good-looking shot. 

His best performance came in Dallas, but for some reason, I don’t remember much from that game. Hendricks scored 10 points, knocked down a pair of three-pointers, and had several nice defensive plays in that game.

At the end of the day, Hendricks’ development (along with the other young pieces on the roster) is more important for the Jazz in the grand scheme of things than possibly a few extra wins in the short term on a season destined to go nowhere. 

Throw in that Hendricks might actually be ready to contribute right away, and it’s beyond clear that the Jazz need to give him more minutes going forward.

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Alex White
ALEX WHITE

Alex White is in his first year covering the Utah Jazz and NBA. His analytical expertise is in the field of the NBA draft and all things Jazz. 

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