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It's a contract season for Utah Jazz wing Brice Sensabaugh. For the player, that means his performance will likely correlate very strongly with the cash sum of his second NBA contract. For the organization, that means the period between now and February's trade deadline is a critical information-gathering, decision-making stretch.
At the end of this season, the Jazz will be forced to either give their three-year player a pay raise or let him walk for nothing.
So what is a player like Brice Sensabaugh worth to a franchise like the Utah Jazz?
That all depends on how this season pans out. The Jazz have dawdled at the bottom of the Western Conference standings for the past few seasons, picking up the pieces and clearing away the debris from the Donovan Mitchell-Rudy Gobert core demolition. The Jazz haven't reached the playoffs since that All-Star tandem were shipped to the American Midwest -- Mitchell to Cleveland and Gobert to Minnesota. But they've reached that hingepoint in the rebuild's timeline.
On the heels of NBA Draft Lottery reform designed to dissuade teams from tanking, the Jazz have leaned full-on into "win-now" mode. They've developed and nurtured young talent like Keyonte George, Cody Williams, Isaiah Collier, and (of course) Brice Sensabaugh. They've drafted potential stars in the past two drafts: Ace Bailey and Darryn Peterson. They traded for all-star and all-defensive standout Jaren Jackson Jr at last season's deadline.
But as young prospects develop into NBA rotational pieces, the question becomes how much money you're willing to invest into those corners of your depth chart.
And Sensabaugh is a fascinating dilemma in that regard.
The Jazz are going to pay to keep Keyonte George -- he's become one of the most enticing young guards in the league, growing into an exceptional scorer in his third-year leap, and the ideal backcourt mate with Darryn Peterson.
That leaves less money for Sensabaugh, who has likewise performed incredibly well in his role (14.9 points per game on 36.5% three-point shooting is delectable). At his young age and clear aptitude at putting that ball through the cylinder, he's going to get a second contract. But do the Jazz see him as a foundational piece for this new competitive era, or would they get more value from him as a trade piece?
Until we see how the Jazz fare on the court, that's a challenging question to answer. He might be the most promising bench scorer in the league today, cut from the Lou Williams, Jamal Crawford cloth, but how deep into Ryan Smith's pocketbook do the Jazz want to dig to keep him in Salt Lake City? If the Jazz win plenty of basketball games, he may be worth the price. If not, watch for the Jazz to be potential sellers at the deadline.
Continue reading...
At the end of this season, the Jazz will be forced to either give their three-year player a pay raise or let him walk for nothing.
So what is a player like Brice Sensabaugh worth to a franchise like the Utah Jazz?
That all depends on how this season pans out. The Jazz have dawdled at the bottom of the Western Conference standings for the past few seasons, picking up the pieces and clearing away the debris from the Donovan Mitchell-Rudy Gobert core demolition. The Jazz haven't reached the playoffs since that All-Star tandem were shipped to the American Midwest -- Mitchell to Cleveland and Gobert to Minnesota. But they've reached that hingepoint in the rebuild's timeline.
On the heels of NBA Draft Lottery reform designed to dissuade teams from tanking, the Jazz have leaned full-on into "win-now" mode. They've developed and nurtured young talent like Keyonte George, Cody Williams, Isaiah Collier, and (of course) Brice Sensabaugh. They've drafted potential stars in the past two drafts: Ace Bailey and Darryn Peterson. They traded for all-star and all-defensive standout Jaren Jackson Jr at last season's deadline.
But as young prospects develop into NBA rotational pieces, the question becomes how much money you're willing to invest into those corners of your depth chart.
And Sensabaugh is a fascinating dilemma in that regard.
The Jazz are going to pay to keep Keyonte George -- he's become one of the most enticing young guards in the league, growing into an exceptional scorer in his third-year leap, and the ideal backcourt mate with Darryn Peterson.
That leaves less money for Sensabaugh, who has likewise performed incredibly well in his role (14.9 points per game on 36.5% three-point shooting is delectable). At his young age and clear aptitude at putting that ball through the cylinder, he's going to get a second contract. But do the Jazz see him as a foundational piece for this new competitive era, or would they get more value from him as a trade piece?
Until we see how the Jazz fare on the court, that's a challenging question to answer. He might be the most promising bench scorer in the league today, cut from the Lou Williams, Jamal Crawford cloth, but how deep into Ryan Smith's pocketbook do the Jazz want to dig to keep him in Salt Lake City? If the Jazz win plenty of basketball games, he may be worth the price. If not, watch for the Jazz to be potential sellers at the deadline.
Continue reading...
