by Alma Bean
After having an offseason with a plethora of moves for the Utah Jazz last year, Utah still managed to have a decent turnover with the roster going into the upcoming season. Here’s what you should know about the 2023-24 Utah Jazz roster.
Backcourt
Utah’s backcourt is one of the biggest question marks going into the season. Without having a true number one ballhandling option, Utah’s backcourt looks to be spreading the wealth distributing the ball. Below is Utah’s current backcourt:
| Name | Position | Age | Height | Weight | College | Salary |
| Agbaji, Ochai | Guard | 23 | 6’5 | 215 lbs. | Kansas | $4,114,200 |
| Clarkson, Jordan | Guard | 31 | 6’5 | 195 lbs. | Missouri | $23,487,629 |
| Dunn, Kris | Guard | 29 | 6’3 | 205 lbs. | Providence | $2,586,665 |
| George, Keyonte | Guard | 19 | 6’4 | 185 lbs. | Baylor | $3,889,800 |
| Horton-Tucker, Talen | Guard | 22 | 6’4 | 234 lbs. | Iowa State | $11,020,000 |
| Juzang, Johnny* | Guard | 22 | 6’7 | 215 lbs. | UCLA | Non-Guaranteed |
| Sexton, Collin | Guard | 24 | 6’2 | 190 lbs. | Alabama | $17,325,000 |
With the current backcourt, Dunn is the only player that is a distribute-first, score second player. Dunn has the ability to score at will, averaging 13.2 PPG, while able to produce 5.6 APG and 4.5 RPG. George showed promise during the summer league running the point in six games (3 in Salt Lake, 3 in Las Vegas). George was able to score 18.7 PPG while tallying up 5.3 APG and 3.7 RPG. Both Dunn and George show prowess on defense with Dunn averaging 1.1 SPG and George with 1.3 SPG in summer league. Though both have favorable numbers, contracts are a factor.
Clarkson and Sexton combined for $40 million of Utah’s cap space and having one of them sit on the bench could lead to some confusion for the fanbase. With the large cap hit, it wouldn’t be surprising to see both players in the starting lineup. Of the two, Clarkson has shown improvement when he is the main ballhandler over the last year. Last season, Clarkson averaged a career-high in assists with 4.6 per game and even averaging 5.2 APG during the FIBA World Cup for the Philippines this past summer.
Horton-Tucker as a starter last season showed that he was a viable option to run point, averaging 18.3 PPG, 5.2 RPG and 5.9 APG. Though these numbers look great, the big knock on his numbers were his turnovers. As a starter, the closest that any other player is to Horton-Tucker in turnovers is Clarkson and Dunn with three turnovers per game.
Having a looming question mark over the backcourt will be interesting to watch as the season progresses. Although unknown on how Utah head coach plans to spread out minutes amongst the seven guards, keeping opposing teams on their toes with rotations doesn’t sound like a bad thing.
Frontcourt
Going into this season, Utah has an All-Star small forward, a high risk/high reward power forward, and an All-Rookie center looking to be the defensive anchor of this team. Below is Utah’s current frontcourt:
| Name | Position | Age | Height | Weight | College | Salary |
| Collins, John | Forward | 25 | 6’9 | 226 lbs. | Wake Forest | $25,340,000 |
| Fontecchio, Simone | Forward | 27 | 6’7 | 209 lbs. | N/A (Italy) | $3,044,872 |
| Hauser, Joey* | Forward | 24 | 6’9 | 220 lbs. | Michigan State | Non-Guaranteed |
| Hendricks, Taylor | Forward | 19 | 6’9 | 210 lbs. | UCF | $5,569,920 |
| Kessler, Walker | Center | 22 | 7’0 | 245 lbs. | Auburn | $2,831,160 |
| Markkanen, Lauri | Forward | 26 | 7’0 | 240 lbs. | Arizona | $17,259,999 |
| Olynyk, Kelly | Forward | 32 | 6’11 | 240 lbs. | Gonzaga | $12,195,122 |
| Potter, Micah* | Center | 25 | 6’10 | 248 lbs. | Wisconsin | Non-Guaranteed |
| Samanic, Luka | Forward | 23 | 6’10 | 227 lbs. | N/A (Croatia) | $2,066,585 |
| Sensabaugh, Brice | Forward | 19 | 6’6 | 235 lbs. | Ohio State | $2,448,600 |
| Yurtseven, Omer | Center | 25 | 6’11 | 275 lbs. | Georgetown | $2,800,000 |
Starting the 2023-24 season, a major change that’s expected is the starting power forward position. Last season, Olynyk owned that position as long as he was healthy. Serving multiple roles ranging from operating pick-and-rolls as both the facilitator and roller. With the acquisition of Collins, given his contract and score-first mentality, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Olynyk being the veteran mentor for the bench unit.
Fontecchio is going to be in limbo with the current roster that Utah has. Before the start of last season, Utah head coach Will Hardy mentioned that he plans lineups game-by-game rather than having a true starting five and rotation. In Fontecchio’s rookie campaign he was able to get six starts averaging 10.8 PPG, 2.2 RPG and 1.2 APG. With Fontecchio being known as a spot up shooter with the Italian national team, his percentages were less than impressive.
Shooting 33 percent from the perimeter and 36.9 percent from the field, fans were expecting him to shoot similarly to his performances in this year’s FIBA World Cup. This summer during the elimination rounds of the FIBA World Cup, Fontecchio averaged 21 PPG, 5 RPG and 3.3 APG while shooting 71.4 percent from beyond the arc and 51.6 percent from the field. This season will be a make or break for Fontecchio as he is going into the final year of his contract.
Rookies
For the first time since 2004, Utah had three first round picks going into the 2023 NBA Draft. Though there was a lot of speculation on whether or not Utah would use all three picks, Utah lowered the anchor and kept all three picks. Drafting three players that are able to stretch the floor on offense and defense while playing multiple positions will be a blessing in disguise.
With the ninth pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, the Utah Jazz selected Taylor Hendricks from UCF. In his only season at UCF, Hendricks averaged 15.1 PPG, 7.0 RPG and 1.4 APG. A large part of Hendricks’ success in college was his ability to block shots averaging 1.7 BPG. Even with being a force on defense, his opponents had to respect him on offense since he was shooting 39.4 percent from the perimeter and led UCF shooting 47.8 percent from the field. His contributions to UCF led to him being a Kyle Macy (Freshman of the Year) award finalist, along with being selected to the AAC Second Team All-Conference and unanimously selected to the AAC All-Freshman Team. Hendricks’ versatility will make his transition into the NBA a little easier, but Hardy will need to mold his raw talent to have his career thrive.
With the 16th pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, the Utah Jazz selected Keyonte George from Baylor. The exciting, fast-paced guard will bring the same type of swagger that Sexton brought to Utah last season. Having that energy through your full roster will prove to drive this team towards success. In his one season at Baylor, George averaged 15.3 PPG, 4.2 RPG, 2.8 APG while shooting 33.8 percent from the perimeter and 37.6 percent from the field.
George made an immediate impact as a five-star recruit and the third ranked player in the 2022 class according to ESPN. On top of George having the most 20-point games (12), three pointers made (77) and second most points by a freshman (506) in program history, George was also named Big 12 Freshman of the Year, All-Big 12 Newcomer Team, All-Big 12 Freshman Team and All-Big 12 Second Team. Though George fell to the 16th pick, these accolades should make Utah fans excited for this young man’s future.
With the 28th pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, the Utah Jazz selected Brice Sensabaugh of the Ohio State University. The 2021-22 Florida Gatorade Player of the Year and Mr. Basketball started his season at OSU off the bench. Once averaging 14.3 PPG off the bench, he moved into the starting lineup a month into the season. From that point on, Sensabaugh became the first freshman since D’Angelo Russell to lead OSU in scoring. He was even second on the team in rebounds per game (5.4) and gained accolades such as All-Big Ten Third Team, Big Ten All-Freshman, and a Julius Erving award finalist which goes to the top small forward in men’s collegiate basketball each season. The 6’6 forward showed that he can be a threat on the offensive end, shooting a respectable 48.2 percent from the field and a team-high 40.5 percent from the perimeter. Sensabaugh’s raw talent should have Utah fans excited for his development, but don’t be surprised to see him have a similar path as teammate, Ochai Agbaji, spending some time in the G League to receive minutes that he deserves.
Expectation
After finishing last season with a 35-47 record when most experts didn’t expect Utah to win more than 25 games, I’d tell fans to keep an eye on the Play-In Tournament. After having one season under their belt with a new head coach, a young core and a positionless type of gameplay, the roster should feel freer and lose operating in Hardy’s system. Being a team with a lot of assets and a drive to compete, Utah should continue to turn heads as the season progresses.
The biggest question mark for the upcoming season that should even excite Utah fans is who will struggle to get minutes? Utah’s depth is strong enough to compete with every team in the league to where some players will see limited action. Having a game-by-game plan should allow everyone on the roster to shine and either prove why Utah’s depth should be respected or provide teams with potential trade options.
Prediction
Even being a month away from the start of the regular season, there is still a lot of unknown factors that can happen throughout the league. Based off the current schedule and roster construction, expect to see Utah in the Play-In Tournament with a 42-40 record. It won’t be easy, but if Utah can capitalize on their schedule from the In-Season Tournament to the NBA All-Star Break, they should be in good hands to control their own fate for a postseason run.
Featured image courtesy Scott Winterton, Deseret News
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