I’m encouraged to see Ace getting more minutes, but I’d like to see the Jazz run more actions specifically designed to get him shots. For both his development and—unfortunately—the realities of the tank, he needs to be carrying a usage rate that is meaningfully higher than it is now. Stationing him in the corner or expecting him to create his own offense consistently doesn’t serve anyone’s interests, except perhaps Will Hardy’s. Ace also needs to be more assertive. He still defers too often, as though he’s conscious of an invisible limit on how many possessions he’s allowed to use.
It's also about time for Brice and/or Clayton Jr. to start getting more of Svi's minutes, including in the fourth quarter and during crunch time. If Svi were tearing things up, then OK, but he's not, so not OK. (I've softened toward Svi. I'd like to see him succeed and stick. He could be a longer-term role player, but a role player only, not a starter eating up 26 minutes a night.)
More generally, given the season's imperative to keep our draft pick, all the youth still need more burn. I love K Love, but it should be Flip out there getting his minutes. There's less and less excuse to keep Hendricks out of the lineup, and possibly also Williams, although Williams sucks so badly that it's understandable. This is, after all, supposed to be a premier professional league.
If we lose our draft pick because the youngsters ball out, so be it. But if we lose it because Hardy stubbornly played vets or transient players (i.e., not in the team's LT plans) over youth or players in the team's LT plans (or potentially in the team's LT plans), that's inexcusable malpractice.
