The Utah Jazz have guaranteed part of Luka Samanic’s contract for the 2023-2024 season
According to Tony Jones of The Athletic (via Sports Illustrated), the Utah Jazz have opted to pick up the first portion of Luka Samanic’s contract for the 2023-2024 season, ensuring he’ll be on the team to start the season. The Jazz picked up the option, which will pay Samanic an additional $400k to start the season. If he’s still on the roster come Jan. 10, he’ll receive the entirety of his $2.066 million deal.
And this is a good thing for all involved.
The Utah Jazz are not as deep at the power forward or center positions as we’d like. Yes, the team has Kelly Olynyk, Walker Kessler, and John Collins, but after that, it’s a crapshoot. We think Taylor Hendricks can be good, but at the rate of failure that NBA rookies actually have, it’s impossible to say.
It’s not optimistic to say that Hendricks could be a bust, but it is honest. Now, we think he’ll be a fine player, but that potential exists.
So if Hendricks isn’t the guy, what happens if anyone ahead of him gets hurt? Sure, you can move Lauri Markkanen back to power forward but that’s going to upset the flow of the offense. That’s why Samanic being on the roster is smart. He’s shown flashes of what many thought he could be, and if he continues to improve could be a very real contributor to the offense this year.
Defensively he’s fine, but if he’s paired with Ochai Agbaji, Kris Dunn, and Walker Kessler in a lineup, then Samanic may find the next gear.
Now, will he end up being the guy everyone hoped he’d be with the San Antonio Spurs? Not likely but hey, anyone is possible. But having him does give the Jazz some depth among the bigs, and that’s not nothing.