Grading Jazz Drafting Taylor Hendricks No. 9 Overall

What are the Utah Jazz getting in Taylor Hendricks and how does he fit?

Author:
Alex White
Updated:
Jun 23, 2023 5:59 PM EDT
Original:
Jun 23, 2023

In this story:

Utah Jazz

After weeks of speculation about who the Utah Jazz would come away with, we finally have our answer. With the 9th pick in the 2023 NBA draft, the Jazz selected Taylor Hendricks, the mobile big man out of UCF.

Let’s talk about the strengths and weaknesses of the newest Jazzman.

Stats: 15.1 PPG, 7.0 RPG, 1.4 APG, 1.7 BPG, 0.9 SPG, 47.8% FG, 39.4% 3P, 78.2% FT.

Measurables- 6-foot-9, 214 pounds, 7-foot-0.5-inch wingspan.

Offensive Skill Set

Taylor is a really good shooter who’s able to get his shot off over defenders. Because of his size he’s rarely bothered by late closeouts.

On top of that, Taylor can make a defense pay as either a roll man or as a pop threat in different actions. When he’s able to play off of two feet, he is a solid athlete.

The biggest area of concern for Hendricks is his lack of creation skills with the ball in his hands. With a roster that consists of play finishers like Walker Kessler, Lauri Markkanen, and Ochai Agbaji, the Jazz have a lack of on-ball creators on their roster.

Hendricks is the third piece of a gigantic frontcourt trio alongside Kessler and Markkanen. The Jazz should be able to play 48 minutes with at least two of these guys on the court.

Taylor figures to be an immediate contributor for the Jazz.

Defensive Skill Set

I touched on the Jazz's new frontcourt trio already but defensively is where it has a chance to be really good. Hendricks is a very good rim protector because of his length and ability to play vertically.

Defensively Hendricks is able to hold his own when he gets switched onto smaller players though this is not something I expect him to do consistently. He guarded a lot of bigs at UCF so it’ll be interesting to see how Jazz coach Will Hardy distributes the defensive matchups.

Overall, Hendricks moves his feet well, protects the rim well, and has great defensive instincts.

Bottom Line

Hendricks is viewed as one of the higher-floor prospects in the class. He will immediately provide length, shooting, and defense to a Jazz team that hopes to be competitive next year.

Welcome to Utah!