The Utah Jazz have assembled a pretty impressive crop of young talent over the last three years, but everyone should know by now that with how many youngsters on their current roster, not all of them will be long-term fixtures with the team. In fact, there are three players on the roster who will be pressured to perform sooner rather than later if they want to stick around.
The likes of Ace Bailey, Kyle Filipowski, and Brice Sensabaugh are safe on the roster (though who knows if that will be the case in a year), but these three Jazzmen definitely need to show some improvement this season.
1. Keyonte George
The reason why the notion of some of the aforementioned Jazzmen being on the hot seat is possible is because last year, no one thought George would be on a list like this. After how last season went for him, he is absolutely under the most pressure.
George has shown flashes of the player the Jazz envisioned him as, but has never been able to find any consistency. It appears as though he wants to be more of a leader this season, which could lead to better basketball from him. However, George needs to show better efficiency and more consistency if he wants to be part of this youth movement.
He's got a lot to prove, as he underwhelmed so much to the point that Utah replaced him with Isaiah Collier in the starting lineup. That is firmly in the past, but now George will have perhaps his last chance to show the Jazz that his scoring abilities is here to stay.
2. Cody Williams
Usually sophomores aren't typically under that much pressure after a rookie season, but Williams was so bad his rookie season that he's under a lot of pressure to show that he has some NBA-caliber skills to his game.
Williams had an exciting Summer League, which has led to an uneven preseason. Because Utah has more youth on the roster, the team might not give him as many opportunities as last season. However, the team will still give him opportunites to prove himself.
Of all the Jazz youth, Williams is among the least proven as he was basically invisible last season. With a year under his belt and more muscle, he should be given a fair shot. However, if it's more of the same from him, or if he continues to demonstrate he's not ready, the Jazz may decide they'd rather develop someone with more potential.
3. Taylor Hendricks
Hendricks is coming off a traumatic leg injury that he did not deserve. He has actually been pretty impressive in the preseason. The only reason why he's listed on here is because it's hard to see where he fits in the Jazz's rotation at the moment.
Right now, the starting frontcourt is likely to be Bailey, Lauri Markkanen, and Walker Kessler. The Jazz also have Sensabaugh, Kyle Anderson, and Jusuf Nurkic in their frontcourt rotation. Hendricks is Utah's prized lottery pick from two years ago who definitely deserves the chance to show what he can do.
The pressure isn't on him to perform, as, again, he's coming off such an awful injury, but rather for him to show that he fits in their rotation. It's a tall order, but with Hendricks looking pretty good during the preseason, the optimism is definitely there even if many will be watching if he can reach his potential.