Udoka Azubuike might just need a chance
Thanks to the time spent in the G-League and a foot injury, potential star Udoka Azubuike has not really had a chance to shine yet. In college, he showed he could be a double-double machine with elite defense on one of the best teams in the country, so even though he has played two poor seasons, fans shouldn’t despair yet.
Azubuike is a foreign seven-footer who cannot and will not hit shots from deep. He could be an elite rebounder and interior defender. I hope this sounds familiar to Jazz fans because the vision is there.
If he can put it all together, fans should be elated. He has shown he can perform on the big stage, and if it translates to the NBA then the Jazz are certainly looking at a better-than-average starting center. That may not sound exciting, but the average starting center in the league is who? Jakob Poeltl? Jusuf Nurkic? Azubuike can be better than them, he just hasn’t been given a chance.
In his seven career games with more than 15 minutes of play, he has put together an eight-point, six rebound average. That’s a small sample size, but with Gobert gone, Whiteside unsigned, and Kessler unproven, I think Azubuike will finally get his chance.