Even though the Utah Jazz are going to be one of the worst NBA teams, this will still be a pretty exciting season all things considered. Much of that is because of the addition of golden prospect Ace Bailey and the well-anticipated return of Taylor Hendricks. However, a concern the Jazz should have is the possibility of both becoming just okay NBA players.
The Deseret News' Sarah Todd brought this up while talking about the two of them and explained why that would be a problem.
"Let’s imagine a world where Hendricks and Bailey turn out to be average NBA players. That would be really, really bad for the Jazz. It would mean that they came away from the 2023, 2024, and 2025 drafts with nine players and zero stars. At that point, the total future of the franchise could completely be on the shoulders of whoever the Jazz pick in the 2026 draft," Todd wrote.
Bailey and Hendricks are Utah's two highest picks in the last three years. There's no telling how NBA-ready either of them is, but they project to have the highest ceilings out of all of the Jazz's young talent. Todd acknowledges that it's not like Utah is completely deprived of young talent, but they lack that centerpiece that Bailey and/or Hendricks could potentially be.
"Certainly there is still hope that some miraculous improvement will happen with Keyonte George, Isaiah Collier or Cody Williams, and there is definitely still room to grow for Kyle Filipowski and Brice Sensabaugh, but you’d be hard pressed to find many people who really think any of those guys are going to turn into franchise cornerstones," Todd wrote.
It's possible that somebody else from the Jazz's youth movement may sprout, but the truth of the matter is that Bailey and Hendricks are both seen as players with the potential to be something special.
So if neither of them turns out to be a star, Utah could have a problem. Todd acknowledged that there's no pressure on both of them for now - especially for Hendricks, given what's happened to him - but this is an elephant in the room the Jazz shouldn't ignore.
This conundrum also adds more excitement to this coming season
As of now, there shouldn't be any pressure for Bailey or Hendricks to become stars right away. In fact, their growth would fit snugly into the Jazz's tanking plans, but seeing if they have the potential to be something special in a season that should feature plenty of losing should make them look forward to this season.
This year, it's all about the kids. Neither Bailey nor Hendricks should be expected to take the world by storm this season, as that wouldn't be fair; however, there will be plenty of spotlight on whether they can be as good as the Jazz hope they can be.
No one is saying they won't, but no one should act like the Jazz wouldn't have a problem if they don't.