The Utah Jazz should not be playing Talen Horton-Tucker over Brice Sensabaugh

The Utah Jazz are 1-10 in their last 11 games when Talen Horton-Tucker takes the floor for the squad. He was once a starter for the team, averaging close to 30 minutes a night while being the team's starting point guard next to Jordan Clarkson. A move that many at the time thought was foolish and short-sighted. It's a move we still believe to be foolish and short-sighted, but now, as the kids say, we have receipts.

From his terrible shot selection to the alarming rate of turnovers, and his highly inefficient shooting, Horton-Tucker has proven one thing; he should not be playing. The argument for playing him is the old "it'll increase his trade value" but to that, we respond; no it won't. To think NBA teams aren't smart enough to know that Horton-Tucker is what he is and that seeing him put together even more awful outings is somehow going to help his stock is beyond us. Not to mention, his contract is over this summer. So there's no point in watching him play any longer.

He's not going to start playing differently over the last 26 games as opposed to the first 56. He is what he is. So it makes no sense that Brice Sensabaugh is still sitting behind Horton-Tucker. The tank is on, people. We are not making the playoffs and the front office and coaching staff have all but said that, much to the annoyance of the roster.

And since that is the reality, we need to find out what this team can be next year, and that means focusing on the talent the Jazz want to retain. Horton-Tucker is a free agent this summer, which means there's no purpose in playing him minutes. He's gone. He's a nearly $12 million contract the team just doesn't have to carry any longer.

It's time to play Sensabaugh alongside his fellow rookies. If the goal is to see what Taylor Hendricks and Keyonte George can do for the club, then they need to start including Sensabaugh in the conversation. He's as much of a part of the future as his fellow classmates, and Jazz head coach Will Hardy needs to realize that Horton-Tucker is providing nothing of value for the club.

Play Sensabaugh, even if it's just for 15 minutes a night.