The Jazz lost to the Oklahoma City Thunder, 95-85, in their first summer league game of 2023. What did we learn?
• In the end, it was Keyonte George that impressed most in the Jazz’s first game. We knew he could score, and after some really nervy early moments, his second half was pretty brilliant. He found times to attack in transition, including at some unique angles that I think will work in the NBA’s regular season, too. For a rookie in his first game, he did a really nice job of playing relatively responsibly, calling plays for Ochai Agbaji and more.
Defensively, too, he made an impact. He struggled at times one-on-one, but I think he showed some impressive timing on some of his steals.
“I’m very impressed from the get go,” Jazz summer league coach Evan Bradds said about George’s defense. “I was very impressed by that just overall awareness. And then, we obviously switched a lot and they’re a big team, so he got switched on to some of their guys... and I thought his fight was great. And that’s exactly what I was hoping to see. I’m more than happy with it.”
• Agbaji played a very different role in this summer league than he did during most of the games in the regular season, as the Jazz put the ball in his hands and had him attack the rim more often. At this, he was a mixed bag: he forced a couple of charges, missed some layups as he wasn’t able to get over OKC’s rim protection.
But he did impress in a few other ways. He got a career high in rebounds with nine, including a couple of times where he had to box out bigger guys down low. Rebounding is something he struggled with last year, so this was nice to see. He also attacked the glass on the defensive end in another way — attempting blocks. While he only ended with one, he was helping more at the rim than we’ve seen him be able to do before.
That’s one of Agbaji’s goals, he’s said: get in better shape so he can play with high energy on both ends of the floor. Last year, it was kind of one end or the other — this game was a good first start, even if it wasn’t the most efficient on offense (Agbaji shot just 7-19 from the field on Monday).
• Luka Samanic had a bright first four minutes... and then a rough 20 minutes after that, finishing with 13 points on 16 shots. Some of it was just missing shots, and I’m totally okay with shot variance. But honestly, I was a little discouraged by his jogging up and down the floor at some points in the game. He looked tired.
Here’s Samanic’s deal: he’s a skilled enough player to be a rotation NBA player — if and only if he’s a plus NBA athlete. If he can keep guys in front, and be a threat in transition, he’s a great minutes filler. If he’s not able to do those things, there are other, more compelling wing players to play
• Vernon Carey, Jr. had a weird game. Clearly, he was trying to do a little bit too much, forcing shots and dribble moves that shouldn’t be forced. He struggled at turning good opportunities into points, too. On the defensive end, I think he bit on every single pump fake. But then sometimes he showed decent quickness to get back in the play. He’ll need to be better than this to make the Jazz forget about trading Damian Jones yesterday.
• The same can be said for Micah Potter, who showed his ability to hit the three ball and be a connector on offense — and then made at least three horrible decisions in trying to do too much with his passes. Frankly, a 25 year old probably just has to be a brighter spot than this in summer league to stick, and Potter has his work cut out for him.
• Joey Hauser, who was signed to a two-way contract by the Jazz, really struggled in his first game. He’s fully a 3-point shooter hope with limited skills elsewhere, so will just have to make more than 1-5. Maybe another day.
• For OKC, Jalen Williams, last year’s runner-up in Rookie of the Year, was by far the best player on the floor tonight. So smooth on both ends, made everyone else look silly. He’s going to be a great NBA player.
• Chet Holmgren had an awful first four minutes in his return from a year-long absence — and then kind of settled down, found how he could impact the game (by rim protecting and attacking closeouts rather than by iso scoring), and ended up making a big impact. He got really, really beat up tonight; the Jazz ran through every screen he set, chucked his every roll, and even elbowed him in the face on one drive. I’ll give him major props for fighting through that despite the No. 2 pick pedigree.
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