End-of-Season Grades: Evaluating Luka Samanic

We’re a couple of weeks removed from Utah Jazz basketball, and it feels like a good time to go back and grade each Jazzman’s season. While nobody looks at a 51-loss season as some grand success, several players had promising individual campaigns, gave us flashes of a promising future, or some combination of both. The next man up on our list is Luka Samanic out of Croatia.

In his first full season with the Jazz, Samanic was out of Will Hardy’s rotation for much of the year. In his 43 games, he averaged 4.1 points and 2.4 rebounds per game. Unfortunately for him, he struggled to be productive in his sporadic minutes amongst a crowded Jazz frontcourt.

Later in the season, once injuries started thinning out the Jazz rotation, Samanic put some nice games together with his extended minutes. His best game of the year came late in the season in a win against the Houston Rockets, where Samanic put up 22 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 assists. He ended the night as the Jazz’s leading scorer as they finally snapped a 13-game losing streak.

He remains an intriguing option, given his size, athleticism, and flashes of shooting. He’s a capable finisher around the hoop when he can get downhill, given his length, athleticism, and soft touch. Samanic shot an impressive 73.5% at the rim this season.

Luka Samanic with the SLAM pic.twitter.com/Bk1AcG21Un
— Jazz Clips (@UtahJazzClips) April 10, 2024

While the sample size was small, Samanic hit just 13/64 shots from three-point range this season, good for just over 20%. Unfortunately, that level of inefficiency will have to be improved if Samanic is to stick in the NBA in the future. For his career, he’s just a 24.7% shooter from deep- while his shot looks good, and he’s a willing shooter, the results have not been there.

Still just 24 years old, Samanic’s best basketball is in front of him. As a 6’10 forward who can put the ball on the floor, post up, and rebound the ball well, the allure is still there. Overall, Samanic could never get into a true rhythm for the Jazz this year, and his numbers suffered because of it. He is still a talented young player with an intriguing and unique set of skills. Samanic will head for unrestricted free agency this summer. A return to the Jazz seems unlikely with roster spots already looking limited.

Grade: C

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