The Utah Jazz roster is basically finalized and one name deserves to start the season with the squad

Luka Samanic should start the season with the Utah Jazz.

The Utah Jazz roster is essentially set. While we’re still waiting to see who is going to start for the Utah Jazz, and who’s going to be part of their bench rotation, the final 18 names have been selected. The squad will be made up of 15 players on various NBA contracts and three more on two-way contracts.

The players with fully guaranteed contracts include Ochai Agbaji, Jordan Clarkson, John Collins, Simone Fontecchio, Keyonte Ggeorge, Taylor Hendricks, Talen Horto-Tucker, Walker Kessler, Lauri Markkanen, Kelly Olynyk, Brice Sensabaugh, and Collin Sexton. Omer Yurtseven, Kris Dunn and Luka Samanic have partially guaranteed contracts, and they make up the 14th and 15th spots on the main roster.

Josh Christopher, Johnny Juzang, and Micah Potter represent the team’s two-way contracts and have the ability to play for the Jazz and their G-League affiliate the Salt Lake City Stars.

Yet, of all the fringe players on the team with something to prove, it’s Samanic who should be given that shot. (Dunn isn’t a fringe player in our opinion, he should be starting).

He joined the Jazz late in the 2022-2023 campaign and played well enough to be brought back for the current season. Yet, he averaged less than 10 minutes per game this pre-season, and due to that Samanic likely forced opportunities for himself. He shot just 35% from the floor, and 38% from three, so clearly he wasn’t hitting his shots.

But, he did also go full ham with his rebounding, averaging about 1.22 rebounds per minute played. Not only was he rebounding well, but he was also passing well, going 3-1 for every assist to turnover until the last game; when he had one assist for every three turnovers.

Clearly a bad game for Samanic, but the quality of play is there. Sure, his shooting needs to improve but he’s only 23 and he’s clearly a versatile player who doesn’t need to score to impact the team’s success. If he has more bad games as the season progresses, sure, move on from him, but it’s hard to say that a player who played as well as he did last season, shouldn’t make the team because he looked bad in one game.