The Utah Jazz are looking forward to Taylor Hendricks' return next season. As awful as his season-ending injury was, especially since the season was so young, many can't wait to see the youngster get back on the court. However, it appears his recovery will be much similar to infamous former Jazz star Gordon Hayward.
Deseret News' Sarah Todd gave the latest details on Hendricks' recovery. While Hendricks is expected to be ready for training camp, it will take him longer to be completely back to his former self.
"When Utah Jazz decision makers talk about when they expect Taylor Hendricks to be fully back to normal, they say 18 months post-surgery," Todd wrote.
She elaborated further by revealing what exactly they mean by that.
"That’s not when they expect him to be good. That’s not when they expect him to realize his potential. That’s not when they expect to know if he can continue improving.
"No. That’s when they expect Hendricks should be playing normal minutes, feeling like he can run and jump and block and dunk without any sort of trepidation and maybe getting back to the point he was at before the injury."
Hendricks suffered an injury much like Hayward did in literally his first regular season game after leaving the Jazz. Those injuries are as freaky as they are precious when recovering from them. It may be frustrating for the Jazz to wait longer to see what Hendricks can do, but everyone must remember how long it took Hayward to return to normal.
Much like Hendricks, Hayward was ready to go for training camp a year after he broke his leg and dislocated his ankle in 2017. However, anyone watching could see that he was not the Gordon Hayward who made a name for himself in Utah. There's no better evidence of that than Boston benching him not too long after the 2018-19 season started.
He occasionally had his scoring outbursts, but it was clear Hayward could not consistently play at the level he could when he was at his peak in Utah, and was not close to the player he was. That changed the following season, where he looked much more like himself two years removed from the injury.
Jazz fans should expect Hendricks to follow a similar path. There will likely be times where they'll wonder why he's on the court, but much like Hayward, he just needs baby steps to return to what he was.
Even though no one really knew what Hendricks' career trajectory was to begin with before he got hurt.
The 1 key difference between Hendricks & Hayward
Hendricks looked raw in his rookie season, but he actually looked much more prepared for NBA competition. However, when he got hurt, it was hard to get a feel for what he was going to be as an NBA player. He was projected as, well, a project.
Hayward, by comparison, was coming off an All-Star campaign where he signed a max contract in the offseason. Everyone knew the kind of player he was when he got hurt. Hayward may have never made another All-Star game, but he did get most of his mojo back.
Because it wasn't clear what lied ahead for Hendricks, there's no telling what mojo he could have had before he got hurt. Hendricks is still a project that will take extra time. Even if Year 3 may not treat him too well, if he breaks out in Year 4, it will all be worth it.