Jazz Summer League Begins Today! Here’s 3 Things Fans Should Watch For

A nice perk of being a Utah Jazz fan comes with seeing your team on the summer league stage before most of the league. Today, that starts with the Salt Lake Summer League, as the Jazz will face off against the Oklahoma City Thunder at 7 PM in the Delta Center.

There’s going to be a lot of young talent on the court for Utah, so it’s the perfect chance for fans to get acclimated as to how this roster will likely look moving into next season. With the sizeable amount of players on the official roster looking to suit up for the Jazz in the Summer League (potentially 9), this almost looks like a team that would play in an October pre-season game.

With that, here are three things Jazz fans need to keep their eye on entering a crucial time for their young players and new rookies:

1. The health of Taylor Hendricks and Brice Sensabaugh

We recently got word of a couple of missed practices between the two rookies in the days leading up to Summer League. It’s not known yet as to if they’ll be ready by tip-off, but you’d assume the Jazz are doing what they can to get them some early action on the court.

Hendricks is currently dealing with recovery on his right knee, as well as dealing with a hamstring strain. As for Sensabaugh, he’ll be returning from his season-ending knee injury in March. While it’ll extremely exciting to see how these new players will end up fitting onto a Summer League roster, prioritizing the long-term health of your important future players is of more importance.

Fans should stay posted to Twitter for when any updates drop on these two’s playing status

2. The performance of players on non-guaranteed contracts

Out of every player on the Summer League roster, five are entering this upcoming season on non-guaranteed deals. Vernon Carey Jr. and Luka Samanic are both playing for a more solidified spot on the team next, both signed to a traditional NBA deal. On the other hand, Johnny Juzang, Micah Potter, and Joey Hauser all are looking at two-way contracts for next season; all playing to try and build up their value for longer, more significant deals in the NBA.

However, the future of all of these guys in Utah is in question when you consider the current 15 players signed for next season without any free-agent additions. If Utah were to make any signings or changes to their current roster, it creates a tough decision for the front office on how to slim the team down.

This just means fans will be in for a more high-level, high-competition play on the court this summer, and who won't appreciate that?

3. How the starting lineup/rotation shakes out

While we have the list of player names on the rosters for this July, we haven’t gotten word on how they’ll end up as a fit together in the lineup. There are a lot of guys you could throw in as a starter, giving coach Evan Bradds a wide variety of ways to go about his game plan.

Will Hendricks and Sensabaugh be limited due to injury? How much will the coaching staff focus on playing the team’s main roster? Is there a player the Jazz are looking to focus on playing who may be under the radar? There’s a lot to wonder about, but all will be answered soon.

The Salt Lake City Summer League officially kicks off tonight at 5 PM MST with the Memphis Grizzlies and Philadelphia 76ers, but then we’ll get a much-needed taste of some Jazz basketball at 7 PM for the first time since April.

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