Game Thread Oct 22, 2025 07:00PM MT: LA Clippers @ Utah Jazz

[donAZ62]

One thing has become clear to me. Coach Hardy could have won 40 plus games each year so far. We had to trade away key players and bench healthy players to keep one arm tied behind his back. This year I think we may need to put Hardy on leave for some fake illness if we want a chance at a top pick. He may be the new Popovich...

 

[Tanktastic]

i don't think there is any question sensabaugh is an nba rotation player based on what he did in the second half of last season, summer league, pre-season and one game into this year. the only question with him, is HOW good is he or can he be - is he a 25 ppg guy at some point, or does he ultimately hover around 15 ppg.

I did actually have Sensabaugh originally in there with Keyonte. However, I do think there are questions, and to be a 25 ppg player would take some historical level development.

Apart from Brunson every 25 ppg non-center in the NBA the last two years had at least 19-20 ppg in their second season. Sensabaugh had 10.9. And this is on a team where the opportunity to get minutes and shots was wide open.

And I still think he has a good shot at being a rotation player for quite some time, scoring off the bench. But 25 ppg would be out if this world considering what he's done and shown so far.

I think keyonte, flip, wcj, ace, hendricks, brice, kessler are all rotational players (I might be missing someone even). Jazz have done a pretty good job drafting.

Clayton has played one (1) NBA game. College seniors drafted in the back-half of the 1st round are more likely to end up in Montenegro in five years (hiya, Dok) that become valuable rotation players. Hendricks had a good last two months of his rookie season and is very much a mystery still. Can he find his own niche on the offense, because in today's NBA purely defensive players rarely get full rotation minutes. Flip is fine. But on a team actually competing he wouldn't probably have gotten anything else than garbage time minutes.

I would like one more shot at the top of the draft next season to hope to draft that guy in what should be a great draft.

I'm sure everyone would like that. But it also has a cost. Miniscule chance at "that guy", meanwhile this team and these players suffering for another 80 games - if the Jazz go the full tank route again. There's no "now we start winning" switch.

But mostly I just wanted to say that the jazz have actually drafted pretty good during this tank.

It's been ok. Looking back there's really not that many misses. They've picked the best ones out of what's been available, other than Williams. I would say on drafting the Jazz have one very good decision that suits them: taking Ace. Which was seen as a risk, as he was dropping, as the rumours swirled. A team in the Jazz's position has to take those kinds of risks.

 

[fishonjazz]

I did actually have Sensabaugh originally in there with Keyonte. However, I do think there are questions, and to be a 25 ppg player would take some historical level development.

Apart from Brunson every 25 ppg non-center in the NBA the last two years had at least 19-20 ppg in their second season. Sensabaugh had 10.9. And this is on a team where the opportunity to get minutes and shots was wide open.

And I still think he has a good shot at being a rotation player for quite some time, scoring off the bench. But 25 ppg would be out if this world considering what he's done and shown so far.


Clayton has played one (1) NBA game. College seniors drafted in the back-half of the 1st round are more likely to end up in Montenegro in five years (hiya, Dok) that become valuable rotation players. Hendricks had a good last two months of his rookie season and is very much a mystery still. Can he find his own niche on the offense, because in today's NBA purely defensive players rarely get full rotation minutes. Flip is fine. But on a team actually competing he wouldn't probably have gotten anything else than garbage time minutes.


I'm sure everyone would like that. But it also has a cost. Miniscule chance at "that guy", meanwhile this team and these players suffering for another 80 games - if the Jazz go the full tank route again. There's no "now we start winning" switch.


It's been ok. Looking back there's really not that many misses. They've picked the best ones out of what's been available, other than Williams. I would say on drafting the Jazz have one very good decision that suits them: taking Ace. Which was seen as a risk, as he was dropping, as the rumours swirled. A team in the Jazz's position has to take those kinds of risks.

There actually is a "we start winning now switch". Really simple. You prioritize winning and getting better and at the same time stop trying to lose and get worse. The jazz literally could have won more games that they did in the Hardy seasons if they simply wanted to. They didn't want to win more though. In fact, they wanted to win less than they did for a few of those seasons.
How much success comes as a result is unknown but the switch is that simple to explain.

Now what "we start winning now" means to each person is subjective. To me it means maximizing the amount of wins we can achieve in a season. Thats pretty simple. Just play the best players as much as possible and make roster moves to improve the team in the short term. We could very very easily start doing that whenever we decide to. Im hoping we flip that switch next season and I think we will. I dont think we have to give OKC our first round pick next season after all.

 

[Tremendous Upside]

I think keyonte, flip, wcj, ace, hendricks, brice, kessler are all rotational players (I might be missing someone even). Jazz have done a pretty good job drafting.

Yeah, rotational players on THIS team.

Key is a regular season 8th guy at most on a contender. Possibly glued to the bench in the playoffs.

Flip will be a career bench player (on non-tanking teams), but I think he'll have a long NBA career.

Hendricks may not be in the league in 5 years. He doesn't have a single skill or ability that pops.

Kessler is obviously a rotational player, possibly a starter depending on the team. His FT shooting will always hold him back.

Brice is a talented but unathletic scorer who needs the ball to be effective, but can't dribble or pass. That's not a great thing to be in the NBA. I see him in Europe or China in 5 years.