The Utah Jazz officially get their summer league action up and rolling on this holiday weekend, facing off against the Atlanta Hawks at 3 p.m. MT in the Jon M. Huntsman Center at the University of Utah–– the first of three games for the Jazz’s own Salt Lake City Summer League hosted every offseason.
When it comes to the Jazz and what will be in store for the afternoon ahead, there will be a handful of notable storylines worth keeping a close watch of.
It’s the first time that Utah has taken the floor to play in a live game since the end of the regular season in April. It won’t exactly be a true regular season game here in Utah, but there’s still several notable players who will get some eyeballs drawn their way, and a good bit to unpack in game one of three before heading to Las Vegas next week.
Let’s break down three things to watch for the Jazz’s first summer league outing of the offseason against the Hawks:
1. Darryn Peterson’s Debut… Obviously
The biggest story of the Jazz’s first summer league matchup will undoubtedly be surrounding how second-overall pick Darryn Peterson performs in his first-ever time on an NBA floor.
How many minutes Peterson plays, or how extensively the Jazz decide to implement him in the game plan, remain to be seen.
But considering he’s one of only three guys on a traditional contract to be suiting up for the summer action this year, it’s hard to expect anything less from a few eye-catching highlights and flashes of exactly why Utah opted to invest in him with a top-two pick.
Two aspects of his game that’ll be worth keeping an eye on in particular, though: how the Jazz use him offensively both on and off the ball, and how quickly Peterson adjusts on the defensive end. The second-overall pick has expressed his desire to be a true two-way player at the next level, and now comes his first chance to showcase how strong he can be on both ends.
2. Cody Williams’ Growth Heading Into Year 3
There are three young pieces on the Jazz’s main roster taking the stage in this one, and throughout summer league in the weeks ahead: Darryn Peterson, Ace Bailey, and Cody Williams; the most experienced of the bunch, and also has a case for the most compelling name to watch throughout Utah’s time in SLC and Las Vegas.
Williams has spoken about some of the strides he’s made this offseason already: ball handling, his mid-range and interior scoring, and you can already see some of the physical improvements he’s made to his body as well; he’s stayed busy in the weight room.
All of those factors will be huge for him to hone in on in his third-year pro, and could land him significant opportunities in the rotation, if he can continue showcasing his upside on the defensive end as well.
Utah’s summer league opener will be a great checkpoint to gauge where Williams is at in this stage of the offseason, and offer a bit more clarity about what’s in store for him once the regular season arrives this fall.
3. How the Jazz’s UDFA Pickups Perform
Outside of the Jazz’s big names taking part in the summer league action, Utah will have a couple of notable undrafted free agents making their unofficial NBA debuts in this one as well: center Micah Handlogten out of Florida, and forward Jaxon Kohler out of Michigan State.
Currently, both are signed onto Exhibit 10 contracts, meaning both are slated to be on the roster through summer league and camp, and will try to expand that opportunity into a more concrete spot on the roster with a two-way or traditional contract. That’s what makes these showings in SLC and Las Vegas so important for each.
If either shows out, that’ll put them on the Jazz front office’s radar, and might unravel into a roster spot for next season. Currently, Utah has two spots open–– one traditional and one two-way–– meaning that the climb to truly establish themselves is there for the taking. Time will tell if they can take advantage of it.
Fun fact: each of Handlogten and Kohler has some eye-catching ties to Utah of note: Handlogten’s father, Ben, played for the Jazz for two seasons back in 2003-04, and Kohler was born within the state of Utah down the road at American Fork back in 2003.
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