It was an eventful past week for the Utah Jazz amid their busy trade deadline, where we saw the team decide to make two deals with the Detroit Pistons and the Toronto Raptors. After weeks of speculation, Kelly Olynyk, Simone Fontecchio, and Ochai Agbaji were ultimately the names on the roster that was shipped off on Thursday.
These two moves effectively open up some minutes down the rotation for the Jazz's youth movement. First-round pick Taylor Hendricks has been relegated to the G-League for most of the season due to Utah's deep roster limiting his opportunity, but these recent departures tend to change the landscape of things.
Jazz coach Will Hardy spoke at the podium with the media for the first time after the team's recent trades where he had an interesting tidbit on Hendricks beginning to get more involved in Utah's nightly game plan.
"Taylor's life is very different now." Hardy voiced. "Taylor's going to be a part of our rotation. He's going to be playing every night. How much he plays every night will be determined by how well he plays. But, his responsibilities now are far different. He's being counted on every night. He's going to be held to a very high standard in terms of how he performs on both sides of the ball. It's not necessarily about making or missing shots, but it's about how he goes about his business, how he executes on both ends."
Hendricks was selected ninth overall in the 2023 NBA Draft but has spent the majority of his time in the G-League with the Salt Lake City Stars. In the 14 games he's appeared in, his numbers have consisted of 4.8 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 0.5 assists on 38.1/35.1/75.0 shooting splits.
Now, with the departure of Olynyk, Fontecchio, and Agbaji, his chance to get more involved can elevate substantially.
"I'm excited for Taylor," Hardy said. "I know this is what you want. You want to be in the rotation with the NBA team. But, he's in the process now of getting fully caught up to speed on all the things we're doing, and the most important thing is that he conducts himself in a way that earns the respect of his teammates every day."
The rookie appeared in the Jazz's last game for 17 minutes on Thursday vs. the Phoenix Suns, where he posted three points, eight rebounds, and one assist. It's the first time Hendricks has managed to secure NBA minutes since January 12th. Moving forward, it seems the days of his frequent DNPs are no more.
The same could also be said for 28th overall pick Brice Sensabaugh. He suffered a similar fate in his rookie season by only appearing in four total games. With three rotational pieces out of the picture, it's the perfect time to begin further implementing him going into the second half of this season.
The next game for the Jazz will be on Monday night vs. the Golden State Warriors where Hendricks and Sensabaugh hope to create some momentum entering the upcoming All-Star break.
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