The Utah Jazz has four fringe players that may end up being key players for the team's future. We know about the 2023 trio of rookies; Keyonte George, Brice Sensabaugh, and Taylor Hendricks, as well as second-year player Walker Kessler, but the team has four other young players who have as much to prove as the previously mentioned names; Micah Potter, Darius Bazley, Luka Samanic, and Kenneth Lofton.
Potter's been around for a while, at least with the Jazz, and is getting some minutes now that the season is essentially over for the Jazz. He's playing well, however, most recently going 4-4 against the Atlanta Hawks, dropping 11 points in the process.
Bazley was a first-round pick out of high school/G-League in 2019, going 23rd overall to the Oklahoma City Thunder. He's had a hard go of it since, spending a portion of his career so far on four different teams (Thunder, Phoenix Suns, Philadelphia 76ers, and the Brooklyn Nets) before arriving in Salt Lake City. He's not shown to have much of a shot, being wildly inconsistent from all three levels.
For Samanic, inconsistency is the same issue that he has. Being drafted 19th overall in 2019 by the San Antonio Spurs, Samanic hasn't had an easy go of it in the NBA, bouncing around a bit since his rookie year. Now, with the Jazz, he's struggling not only to find minutes, a role but also his shot. He's shooting just 37% from the floor this season, a far cry from his 2022-2023 season average of 46%. He's not much of a three-point shooter to begin with, so being unreliable to score from within the paint is not going to help him stick around.
Lastly, Lofton has been a bit of a victim of his size. An undrafted center out of Louisiana Tech, Lofton has a lot of supporters due to his physicality and his ability to move taller centers off the block down low. His height, however, has held him back. Maybe not in terms of performance, but a lot of his past coaches thought his 6'6 frame was too short to play center. Yet, he's played well in the G-League this season, making his arrival in Salt Lake City something many fans were looking forward to.
Of the four, Potter seems to have the most possibility to stick around, as he's the right height, has a good set of skills, and just needs reps to expand his productivity. Yet, Lofton is intriguing as heck. He may be shorter than others, but guys like Ben Wallace were short too for his position and he's a Hall of Famer. Giving Lofton the chance to play and becoming a long-term asset for the Jazz is imperative, especially since the team is going to be in need of bench players next season.