Three thoughts on the Utah Jazz’s 86-76 summer league win over the Toronto Raptors from Salt Lake Tribune Jazz beat writer Andy Larsen.
1. Taylor Hendricks’ redemption
I had more than a few readers comment to me as Taylor Hendricks put up a terrific game Wednesday. After all, Monday’s Triple Team noted I was “worried” about Hendricks, and said “There needs to be a drastic improvement in basketball IQ and his overall level of play to pencil him into the Jazz’s rotation for next year.”
Well, Wednesday certainly qualified!
Hendricks played extremely well against the Raptors, scoring 23 points, shooting 9-10 from the field, adding nine rebounds, a block and a steal. He knocked down 3-4 from deep, which was nice to see after some more ugly misses on Monday. The highlights are worth watching.
So what was the difference?
His summer league coach, Sean Sheldon, said, “I think he was just more aggressive and more physical right from the start. ... How you stick in a rotation, how you stick in the NBA, is just playing like how he did tonight.” Hendricks himself, meanwhile, said that the key for him was “I let the game come to me a little bit more.” It’s an interesting dichotomy.
Hendricks has to be an opportunistic scorer, because he really doesn’t have the ability to shake defenders loose and create advantages for himself. But he also has to be very aggressive in those moments, when the ball is kicked out to him: He needs to shoot quickly, attack quickly, or move the ball quickly. In transition, he needs to sprint and get ahead of the break, where his athleticism in the open floor can take over. Getting in the right spots to attack is key — and sometimes, I see his teammates still have to direct him on the floor.
The same is even more true on the defensive end, where positioning is even more critical. When Hendricks is in the right spots, he can be hugely impactful, but he needs to be aggressive in order to do that.
In the end, I hope that this performance can be a springboard for Hendricks to show his potential, a film session he can watch and repeat. Remember, I loved the Hendricks pick; I thought he might have been the fourth or fifth-best prospect in the draft class of 2023. Getting to this level more consistently will mean a successful NBA career.
2. Kenneth Lofton Jr.’s summer league
The basketball world loved Kenneth Lofton, Jr.’s first two summer leagues, and with good reason: He was a bullyball forward who showed he knew how to score, pass, and rebound. The bulkiest player on the floor in any game, his body made him a fun watch, too.
This summer league, though? Lofton’s really disappointed. The biggest problem has been how much Lofton has demanded the ball in his hands. He’s calling for every inbound to bring up the ball like a point guard, then holding it too much at the top of the key. Too frequently, he calls his own number for a bowling-ball drive into the paint with defenders around. Wednesday’s performance was the peak of the genre, as he finished 1-8 from the floor with five turnovers in his 20 minutes.
I get that Lofton is fighting for his NBA life, so he’s eager to show what he can do. But this is the exact wrong way to show it. When NBA decision makers are looking to add to the end of their rosters, they’re looking for players who can play a role, not future ball-dominant chuckers.
The shame is that Lofton, at his best, can be a good and creative passer; that’s the skill the Jazz were most hoping he could display in this summer league. Maybe he’s heard that, and that explains his current fixation. But they’re also looking for a player who can play as part of their system, and too often, Lofton has hijacked the offense.
3. Revisiting the Ochai Agbaji trade
A lot of Jazz fans were stunned when the Kelly Olynyk and Ochai Agbaji for the No. 29 pick trade was announced last February. After all, the team told reporters in the summer of 2023 that Agbaji was one of the nearly untouchable pieces on the roster, along with Lauri Markkanen and Walker Kessler. Then, coming up to the deadline, they said they hoped to get a first-round pick in exchange for Olynyk. It was a significant surprise when they packaged both of those two pieces for a bottom pick in the 2024 first round.
As of right now, though, that trade looks like an excellent deal for the Jazz. Agbaji, nearly invisible in his time on the court with the Jazz in his sophomore season, was even less impactful in the two months he had with the Raptors. His summer league performances have been similar, and he’s already 24 — the same birth year as, say, Darius Bazley.
The Raptors re-signed Olynyk, but it’s far from clear the Jazz would have been able to keep the Canadian. It may not have even made sense for them to at $13 million per year for the next two seasons.
Meanwhile, Isaiah Collier — who the Jazz used that No. 29 pick on — looks like a pretty good prospect; one who certainly has his faults, but his combination of speed, power, and shooting is really interesting. I might pick Collier to outplay Agbaji in the 2024-25 season, let alone in the future, despite that Collier is five years younger.
It can be so easy to overvalue your own assets. Maybe the fact that the Jazz didn’t draft Agbaji, but merely traded for him, helped. But regardless, at this moment, the deadline deal looks like a smart move from the Jazz’s front office.
Editor’s note • This story is available to Salt Lake Tribune subscribers only. Thank you for supporting local journalism.
