A little while ago, a certain Utah Jazz writer thought that Keyonte George's hot stretch in February may not bode well for Brice Sensabaugh's future in Utah. Well, since then, not only has Sensabaugh made this Jazz writer look dumb, but as more time has progressed, it's only looked dumber because Sensabaugh is figuring out his niche with the Jazz.
Over the course of March, Sensabaugh has turned more to his three-point shooting, and it's paying off. Per his ESPN Game Log, Sensabaugh is shooting nearly 52% from three this month on 5.3 attempts a game. While his three-point shooting has been pretty good this year, that percentage at that volume is spectacular.
Because he's figuring himself out as a three-point sniper, The Salt Lake Tribune's Andy Larsen compared Sensabaugh to a former Jazz fan favorite.
"Sensabaugh’s path to success is pretty similar to that of a former Jazzman: Georges Niang. Like Niang, Sensabaugh is pretty slow. You wouldn’t count on him to make defensive stops. Brice Sensabaugh weighs six more pounds than Niang, while standing an inch shorter," Larsen wrote.
Niang was a fan favorite with the Jazz. He wasn't a first-round pick like Sensabaugh was—he wasn't even drafted—but he came onto the scene in Utah by working from the G-League onward to become a valued floor spacer on the Jazz from 2018 to 2021.
The Jazz turned Niang's three-point shooting into a weapon, and it looks like they are doing the same with Sensabaugh. Getting that kind of player in the late first-round is a pretty big deal because more often than not, late first-round draft picks don't pan out into anything.
Even if the Jazz have found some steals late in the draft besides Sensabaugh recently, that notion isn't any less true.
Sensabaugh could be more than that too
Larsen added that Sensabaugh believes he can be a weapon from three, but also believes that's just the start.
"I asked Sensabaugh of the idea of making the 3-point shooting his defining NBA characteristic, or whether he’d prefer to go after a more diverse game. And to his credit, he does see himself starting down the 3-point specialist path, then working to showcase his other skills as they improve over time," Larsen wrote.
Larsen also noted what differentiates Sensabaugh from Niang and in a good way.
"The biggest difference in the above Sensabaugh vs. Niang comp is in that first column: age. Sensabaugh has so much more room to grow. He’ll need to maintain this level of shooting, but if he does, he has a definite path in the league," Larsen wrote
Sensabaugh is only 21 years old, while Niang started to find his footing when he was 25. That age gap is important because Sensabaugh's ability to do what Niang did while much younger breeds optimism that he can be more than that.
It's not guaranteed that Sensabaugh will be able to expand his game much further than what he showed in Year 2. However, it's still noteworthy that Sensabaugh has proven that he has at least one skill that is NBA caliber and then some. That should be enough to keep him around for years, since said skill is highly valued today.
If he ultimately is just the next Niang, that's a win the Jazz will definitely take. And hey, Sensabaugh turning into another Niang is much more preferable for the Jazz's future than turning into another Rodney Hood. That's the bottom line.