Three thoughts on the Utah Jazz’s 110-102 loss to the Dallas Mavericks from Salt Lake Tribune Jazz beat writer Andy Larsen.
1. Just devastated about Taylor Hendricks
Taylor Hendricks' development was perhaps the Jazz‘s best early-season story.
After starting last season in the G-League, the Jazz were entrusting him with a much larger role this year: he was moved into the starting lineup, and entrusted to guard the opponent’s best player. He defended Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving tonight, along with Memphis’ Ja Morant opening night — pretty impressive assignments for a 20-year-old.
And then his world changed. A slip of a foot, a loss of balance, a body‘s weight landing exactly where it shouldn’t. A broken leg, a dislocated ankle.
If similarly devastating injuries that came before his are any guide, Hendricks is in for a very lengthy rehab process. He’ll likely miss the whole season, and in fact, the better question might be whether he has to miss time next season as well.
What had been a pretty impressive trajectory — Hendricks looked really poor at the beginning last year, and had already developed into a useful role player in under 12 months — now has to take an extended pause.
The situation reminds me a bit of Dante Exum‘s, nine years ago. Like Hendricks, the Jazz had drafted Exum in the lottery to jump-start a rebuild. Like Hendricks, Exum suffered a devastating injury after a rookie year that proved just how raw he was. Like Hendricks, Exum had earned his first NBA role with excellence on the defensive end, while showing just flashes of being able to be much more. Ironically, Exum was on hand to witness this injury, now in his role as a Dallas Mavericks bench player.
The hope, though, is that this recovery process turns out much better than Exum‘s did. Exum‘s mobility was hampered by the injury, and he never really regained head coach Quin Snyder’s trust on the court. Hendricks might be in a better position than Exum, thanks to his additional length and noted work ethic, however.
But just the fact that we‘re talking about this with regards to Hendricks depresses me. So much of this season should have been about discovering where Hendricks was going with his game, how he was going to craft his unique talents. Heck, before tonight‘s game started, I asked Will Hardy about what Hendricks’ next step as a defender was.
“I think Taylor‘s understanding of his own abilities has to continue to grow,” Hardy said.
Now, that understanding — for Hendricks and for everyone else — will be delayed. His third year will be about a return to action, and only really in his fourth year will it be fair for us to understand what he really can bring to the floor. For a player with his potential, for a person with his kind-hearted authenticity, it’s a devastating blow.
2. What changes in the rotation now?
There‘s now a gap in the Jazz’s starting lineup. What should be done to fill it?
One obvious candidate: John Collins. He‘s been a starter most of his career, and makes $26 million per year. His shooting ability gives you offensive spacing around Lauri Markkanen, Collin Sexton, and Keyonte George, which should juice that lineup probably even more than Hendricks did.
The problem is that the frontcourt of Markkanen, Collins, and Kessler was a tire-fire last year, as all three players probably spent too much time in the paint with no real concept of how to guard together. It also puts all three of your reasonably good screening scorers in one lineup, leaving you with a hole in the second group.
So I anticipate the Jazz will go in a different direction: starting Cody Williams. Williams, like Hendricks, is a low-usage player right now, perhaps more theoretical than actual. But like Hendricks, Williams can defend reasonably well and can make jump shots.
The question is whether the Jazz would prefer to keep Williams' minutes low early in the season — the team has usually preferred to use big-minute roles as a carrot-stick to incentivize rookies to play the right way early in their careers. But in this situation, graduating Williams as essentially a like-for-like substitute for Hendricks makes enough sense that it‘s probably worth skipping the show. After all, are you really worried Williams won’t focus on his development?
There are other options, I suppose. Brice Sensabaugh is generally considered a small forward. Johnny Juzang might be the best shooting option. Kyle Filipowski could bring Kelly Olynyk-esque playmaking to the starting unit, something they need. But overall, I expect the decision to come down to Collins versus Williams, and choosing Williams seems like the best option for the other players in the starting lineup.
3. Defending Luka Doncic with Lauri Markkanen and Walker Kessler
With Hendricks out, it was Lauri Markkanen who was assigned next to defend Mavs superstar Luka Doncic.
In the past, I‘ve been a bit critical of Markkanen’s isolation defense — he can be flat-footed at times, and be driven past by quicker guards. Doncic, though, doesn’t really beat you with first-step foot speed, instead with his herky-jerky movements and deceleration. Markkanen did a nice job staying in front of Doncic, short circuiting any attempts of the Mavs of taking advantage of him on the perimeter.
So the Mavs countered how you’d expect: they forced the Jazz to switch. Doncic brought out Walker Kessler next, and tried to isolate on him. Kessler has looked uncomfortable in these moments before, so I understand the thinking.
But in truth, Kessler did a pretty impressive job staying in front of Doncic and forcing him to take the toughest shots on the floor — out of rhythm midrangers.
To be sure, Doncic can make more of these than he did tonight. In fact, 5-22 was Doncic‘s worst shooting night since his rookie season, according to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon. Some of the credit for that should go to the Jazz’s defense, though.
I’m curious if more teams test Kessler in this way, and whether or not the development sticks. Certainly, him becoming a more versatile defender would position Kessler as more than just a strategically sound option in the regular season, but as a big difference maker in the playoffs, too. In general, Kessler has just looked so strong this year.
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