Utah Jazz Mailbag: How Many Losses Is Too Many?

SALT LAKE CITY – Welcome to the KSL Sports mailbag where this week we ask if it’s possible for the Utah Jazz to lose too many games this season.

Each week we will send out a prompt on X asking for the questions you have about the Jazz.

Then, we’ll respond to as many as we can in that week’s mailbag.

Mailbag: Can Jazz Lose Too Many Games?

Is there such thing as too many losses? Can it hurt player development if they just get killed all the time?

— Brandon Brinton (@BrandoKazooie) November 4, 2024

Question: Is there such a thing as too many losses? Can it hurt player development if they just get killed all the time?

Answer: I have mixed feelings on this discussion, and I don’t believe there’s a true consensus in the NBA on what the best way is to develop young players.

There is a difference between simply losing, and being blown out so badly that the final 12 minutes of every game are more akin to a summer league contest than actual NBA basketball.

Allowing young players to get reps in closely contested games would ideally expedite their learning curve.

Competing in high-leverage moments should provide more accurate data on how they measure up to those elite players in the biggest moments, versus taking on the other team’s third stringers who are either trying to run out the clock, or compete for their next contract elsewhere.

Related: Keyonte George Leads Jazz To Season’s First Win

Key tied a career-high with 33 🔑
John brought the energy ⚡️
Young Bull had his horns down 😈
Walker owned the paint 🎨
the rooks were ballin’ 🤑
and the squad came together for the first W of the young season 🤝#TakeNote presented by @LVT_USA pic.twitter.com/bfKZrVoJJM

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) November 5, 2024

The flip side of the argument is that if the young players were mature enough to compete in those high-leverage moments, they wouldn’t find themselves in double-digit blowouts most nights, and that simply learning how to keep the games closer is an important part of their development.

Here’s another dilemma.

Late in close games, NBA teams generally defer to their veteran players. So even in these hypothetical moments, someone like Lauri Markkanen, Collin Sexton, or Jordan Clarkson may find themselves getting more reps in place of the Jazz’s rookies and sophomores.

While that may still help someone like Keyonte George who would likely still be on the floor in those late-game situations, it might come at the expense of the team’s rookies who aren’t on the court at all in the fourth quarter.

Truthfully, I think all of those arguments are an overly nuanced way to discuss player development.

A simpler way to look at it is this: Do you think Cody Williams is a better player today with 150 minutes of NBA basketball under his belt, or was he better before the season started?

While playing in more closely contested games may have more per-minute value, I don’t think there’s any substitute for simply being on the court as much as possible.

Will Hardy could lean heavily on his veterans to keep games closer, and use it as an opportunity to get a more specific look at the few young players who crack his rotation. But that would come at the cost of the team’s least experienced players, and doesn’t get them any closer to a championship.

So for now, even if 20-point blowouts aren’t rendering the most accurate data points, the amount of information they’re getting still holds value.

Yo @BensHoops Question for ya: given this season was all about young guys progressing, where does Taylor’s injury rank in terms of emotionally deflating impact? For me it’s right up there with Memo’s Achilles, Mitchell’s ankle, AK’s back, and Conley’s hamstring,

— Alex (@AEC_PA) November 4, 2024

Question: Given this season was all about young guys progressing, where does Taylor’s injury rank in terms of emotionally deflating impact?

Answer: There is no doubt that Taylor Hendricks’s broken leg was a major blow to the Jazz’s season, as the forward was arguably the team’s most prized young asset.

Hendricks is the highest lottery pick the Jazz have made over the last two seasons, and with his elite physical tools and unicorn potential, his development could lift the team’s overall ceiling.

Now, compared to the other injuries you mentioned, Hendricks’s situation is a bit different.

Each of those injuries occurred to veterans who were top-four players on playoff rosters. Due to timing, and the inability to backfill their production, those setbacks didn’t leave the Jazz any room for error.

Related: Taylor Hendricks Suffers Gruesome Leg Injury

Contrast that with this season when the Jazz are entirely set up to allow for error. While losing Hendricks is far from ideal, it does allow more space for a rookie like Kyle Filipowski to enter the rotation who otherwise would have been G League bound.

Flip’s got 𝗙𝗜𝗩𝗘 early 📝 pic.twitter.com/a6Ye46Uw7l

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) November 5, 2024

Essentially, the Jazz were better prepared to deal with this type of setback because their short-term expectations weren’t high to begin with, as opposed to losing an All-Star right before a playoff run.

That isn’t to say it won’t have long-term implications, however.

Assume Hendricks is out for at least the next 12 months. When he returns, he’ll likely need at least a full season to regain his confidence, and then he can pick up where he left off before the injury.

That means Hendricks’s injury may delay his development by as much as two years, and by that point, the Jazz simply might not have the same allowance for development for young players that they have today.

That’s far from ideal for a lottery pick who needed as much room to grow as Hendricks, and for the Jazz who were hoping he could develop into a high-level NBA player.

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Ben Anderson is the Utah Jazz insider for KSL Sports and the co-host of Jake and Ben from 10-12p with Jake Scott on 97.5 The KSL Sports Zone. Find Ben on Twitter at @BensHoops or on Instagram @BensHoops.

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