On the eve of the NBA regular season, the Utah Jazz made an expected move, picking up rookie scale contract options on 4 of their players - Walker Kessler (4th year option), and Keyonte George, Taylor Hendricks, and Brice Sensabaugh (3rd year options).
As expected, this gives the team and the players job security beyond the current season, as each player now has two contract years guaranteed instead of one.
What should we expect out of each of these players in 2024-25?
Walker Kessler
Entering his third season, Kessler will be playing for a big extension that could be offered as early as next year. He has looked better in the NBA preseason and, despite some trade rumors, is poised to have the breakout season that was expected a year ago.
While Walker Kessler won't be receiving supermax money a year from now, he could likely clear 4 years, $160 million in his next deal, as capable centers are often overpaid. Producing double-doubles at a steady rate and cleaning up a few things would make him that valuable and force the Jazz front office to bring an offer in that range.
Brice Sensabaugh
After an uneven rookie season where he went back and forth between the G-League and the Utah Jazz, Sensabaugh might be the lucky candidate to have had his 3rd-year option picked up. But looking at the long view, if the Jazz are one of the worst teams in the NBA this year, he should get a lot more playing time than last season.
More playing time and a regular role would allow him to establish as an NBA player, rather than a G-League one.
Physically, Brice looks better in the preseason than he did at the end of last year, and if he can play both the 2 and 3 spots, there's no reason he shouldn't carve out a bigger rotation role for the 2024-25 Utah Jazz.
It's likely he will end up with a 4th-year option picked up a year from now, unless he has a huge 2nd season, forcing the Jazz to start him and move Collin Sexton.
Taylor Hendricks
The second-year forward is primed for a breakout in 2024-25 and appears to be penciled in as a starter alongside Lauri Markkanen in the Utah Jazz frontcourt. This bodes well for Hendricks, who should see a minutes jump and enough reps to iron out the offensive issues we saw from him last season.
He already looks very capable on the other side of the ball and could become an All-NBA defender with disruptive range at all three frontcourt spots. Seeing him as a small-ball 5 in short bursts could be an experiment for Will Hardy to try this season, as Taylor's versatility would allow him to really grow if used in an Andrei Kirilenko-type role as a defender.
Keyonte George
And last, but definitely not least, Keyonte George had his 3rd year option picked up in what might be the biggest bargain for the team ($4.278 million for 2025-26).
With a solid preseason behind him, George is likely to be the starter at the point for the Jazz from opening night onward. And with rookie Isaiah Collier slated to miss time early, George should log 30+ minutes a night without issue.
If he can improve on his 39% field goal percentage and pull that up around 44%, he should make a big leap this year and become one of the better young guards in the league, and put himself in line for a big payday in a few years. Seeing him average 17/4/7 is a very real possibility in Year 2.
Well, the season tips Wednesday night, and we should start to see how the team looks and if the young guys are up to the task. Three of these players should be in the starting lineup so we will find out soon enough. Let's go Jazz!