Underrated Jazz Rookie Gets Glowing Praise From Will Hardy

The Utah Jazz did some experimentation during what would ultimately be a 122-125 loss to the Washington Wizards.

During a game where Utah suffered from countless inactives, missing key rotational players like Lauri Markkanen, Keyonte George, and Walker Kessler, it forced the Jazz and Will Hardy to be a bit more creative than usual in their rotations, lineups, and overall gameplan approaching the contest.

One way the Jazz switched things up was by giving rookie Kyle Filipowski some extended run at the center position. After spending most of his first year in the league lined up alongside Kessler or another anchoring force behind him at the five, the Duke product got his time to shine as the man in the middle for Utah on Wednesday.

And despite the night not ending in a win, Filipowski held his own. In 29 minutes, he posted 23 points, 13 rebounds, and a block on 10-17 shooting from the field –– his second-highest scoring and rebounding total on the year.

Following the loss, Coach Hardy dished some strong praise to his rookie big man for stepping up to the task,

"It's a big lift in his responsibility, because with more minutes there's so many more situations that are going to happen. We changed the coverage a couple of times, we changed it late in the game, and I thought Kyle did a pretty good job of communicating that to his teammates. There haven't been, I don't think any moments this year, where it's a close game, late, and Kyle's in at the five. So, it's really good for him to be in those moments because communication is key."

Filipowski has the means to play the five thanks to his size and length to match up with opposing bigs on the other end, but is likely best suited more consistently as a primary four while having a defensive anchor filing in behind him.

Yet, without Kessler active, it left the rookie to fill the vacancy in the starting center, and he didn't look back –– even getting run at five during crunch time minutes.

🗣️ FLIP DUNK 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/bG6FFUOSmR
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) March 6, 2025

Since being picked up by the Jazz with the 31st-overall selection in last summer's draft, Filipowski has continued to make statement after statement as an appealing piece of Utah's young core. He's averaging 7.9 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 1.9 assists on 51.7% shooting from the field through 52 games.

Now, Hardy is making sure to give the 21-year-old his due credit, while also handing him increasing responsibility through his first-year pro. As his rookie season has progressed, Filipowski has developed from being in and out of the Jazz's G League rotation to making his 13th career start on Wednesday night. An impressive climb up the ladder for the former Blue Devil.

Filipowski's next chance to show out comes on the Jazz's next road stop against the Toronto Raptors at 5:30 PM MT.

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