Jazz Handling of Two Rookie First-Rounders Triggers Deja Vu for Fans

A little over a year ago, the Utah Jazz played a preseason game against the Portland Trail Blazers. Despite it being just the second chance we had, at the time, to see the new-look team, there was another event on TV that felt more important in the grand scheme of Jazz basketball. 

That night, Victor Wembanyama and Scoot Henderson squared off in one of, if not the, most exciting matchups of highly touted pre-draft prospects in my lifetime. After trading away Donovan Mitchell, Rudy Gobert, Bojan Bogdanovic, and Royce O’Neale, it felt like the Jazz were headed for a bottoming out in hopes that they would land one of these two sensational prospects. That was not the case.

Just a year later, the Jazz exceeded expectations on so many levels. It felt like every time this team was doubted last year, it would win enough games to stay in the play-in race. 

Those wins pushed the Jazz out of Wembanyama and Henderson sweepstakes in the draft, but they were still able to come away with three first-round picks in 2023, including a top-10 selection. Each of Utah's three first-rounders figures to be a valuable piece for the Jazz, hopefully sooner rather than later.

Jumping back to that preseason game from last fall, Jazz coach Will Hardy emptied his bench to the point that 18 players saw the court. Among the last off the bench was rookie Ochai Agbaji, a lottery pick acquired in the Mitchell trade.

Agbaji went on to play only 23 minutes throughout the whole preseason. Agbaji started the regular season outside of Hardy’s rotation and bounced back and forth between the G-League and the NBA throughout his first couple of months. 

It wasn’t until after celebrating New Year's that Agbaji became a permanent part of the rotation. Once he got minutes, he developed rapidly. He's a great example of how important play-time is in a young player's development.

Fast forward a year, and the Jazz are in a similar boat. Taylor Hendricks, Utah’s highest draft pick in nearly a decade, has only played 17 minutes through two preseason games. 

Of the 14 Jazz players to log minutes this preseason, Brice Sensabaugh, Utah’s 28th overall pick, is not one of them. In fact, Sensabaugh is the only healthy first-round pick who has yet to make his preseason debut. 

While it’s not surprising these two have yet to earn minutes, it’s a little shocking how little we’ve seen of them.

Hardy has been clear that he doesn’t believe in just handing minutes to rookies. As one of the best young coaches in the league, Hardy deserves the benefit of the doubt, but still, it’s a hard sell for fans who want to see the first-round picks in action. 

The preseason is a valuable tool to let young players make mistakes and improve during exhibition games. It’s less consequential than actual NBA games, which is why so many young players have gotten extended runs across the league, and many of them have played well.

Regardless, Jazz fans will likely have to practice patience as Hardy and his coaching staff opt to unleash Hendricks and Sensabaugh into NBA action on their own time. Both youngsters will probably follow a familiar path as they’ll likely spend time in the G-League acclimating to the game. 

But, as Agbaji showed us just last year, both Hendricks and Sensabaugh should be worth the wait. Hopefully, we won’t have to wait until January to see what these two can do, though.

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