First-time All-Star Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen is thinking beyond the Most Improved Player award, for which he is a clear frontrunner, writes Nick Friedell of ESPN.
Per Friedell, Markkanen’s main priority this year is helping Utah qualify for the play-in tournament. At 33-35, the Jazz currently occupy the Western Conference’s tenth seed.
“I talked about the responsibility, and I’m enjoying the challenge, and if those individual goals happen, if we keep winning games and I keep doing my thing [that would be ideal],” Markkanen said. “I go every single day to keep working, and I hope that happens, but we’ll see. Just try to get these wins together and keep going from there, but obviously it would be a cool trophy to have at home, but that’s not the main goal right now.”
There’s more out of Utah:
- Jazz guard Jordan Clarkson sat out Saturday’s game against the Hornets with a right thumb sprain, per Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune (Twitter link). It marked his fifth absence in Utah’s past six games.
- The Jazz still aren’t sure whether or not Talen Horton-Tucker is a point guard, but when he has games like he did on Saturday – when he scored 37 points, dished out 10 assists, and pulled down eight boards in leading Utah to victory over Charlotte – his designation doesn’t much matter, writes Eric Walden of The Salt Lake Tribune. As Walden notes, Horton-Tucker may be finding his niche as a play-maker during what has been an uneven first season with the Jazz. “I am incredibly hard on Talen, I have been all season; he knows that that is because I believe in him, in his talent, his ability,” first-year Jazz head coach Will Hardy said. “He’s still young — he just turned 22 — and he has some real physical gifts that were on display tonight.”
- The recent performances of a revitalized Horton-Tucker could help set him up nicely for the rest of his NBA career, Sarah Todd of The Deseret News opines. Horton-Tucker has an $11MM player option for 2023/24, and is still hoping to prove his value beyond the end of his current deal.
Not buying it on Tht, Jazz would love for him to opt out thus the current mins spike
As a Lakers fan, I want THT to stay in Utah. He has a good future with the guys over there and his been playing out of his mind the last 3 games. Utah has 6 guys to build around and THT should be part of that. It would be a mistake for Utah to let him go for nothing.
Well its a player option that he will surely pick up
Usually that’s a blatant signal the teem would chose the opposite course of action
My greatest achievement so far has been marrying the woman of my dreams.
Lakers greatest achievement so far has been divorcing Westbrook of their dreams.
Jazz greatest achievement so far has been divorcing Westbrook of their dreams, too.
would you consider trading your wife for the number one pick?
Every day I am more convinced that Sillivan is a Russian chat bot.
THT still gets a lot of hate post think it’s all because of the hype he created in LA at times.
End of the day he was the 46th draft pick, drafted in as one of the youngest in his class I believe. No one cares about Isiah Roby who was drafted 1 spot ahead of him and is now 25. Why cause no one expects much out of guys in the second round and as soon as they show something and get hype people have to start hating.
THT is only 22 let the kid hoop in peace
All true but it’s not going to help without a jumper
Draft history is a tad irrelevant imo, he’s playing under an 11 mill slot (past RFA status) , there’s certainly expectations there
Id say the LA hype was very good for his pockets if anything
Bro LeBron hardly had a jumper at 22
The issue is he is a early maturing male. He’s been the same size and body since like 10th grade. Different but similar is Jalen Suggs. They were strong mature older in mind and body guys earlier than there peers. What’s likely in these scenarios is they have lower ceiling compared to there greener peers. THT is 22 going on 28.
Great quote and synopsis paystheprice, So True
His greatest strength was catching the league off guard, mainly the fact his wingspan is crazy for his height. Once the scouting report was out, he suffered and never adapted
Nobody in the leagues going to tolerate sub 44%/28% in todays game for long
He’s going to have to find a niche soon like Lemon Pepper did or he won’t be in the league at 30
The difference I see with THT, is that he’s really benefitted from playing for a coach that allows these guys to make mistakes without pulling them out of the game. THT likely hasn’t had that for extended periods of time.
I can see growth in THT’s game. He’s not just using the spin move and difficult layups. He’s been getting better and expanding his game, getting more confidence. I’d say he’s making better decisions, too.
Watch the NBA’s 3:53 player highlight of the Charlotte game. He’s shooting jumpshots, making 3’s from all over, and getting other players involved. Add extra confidence and he looked like a dominant PG in this game.
Earlier in the season, I felt THT had too much tunnel vision. He’d make goofy mistakes after he’d get trapped. Clarkson had that same problem last year. Coach Will Hardy has helped both these guys become more like PGs. Pretty impressive coaching, by him, and growth from these players and so many others on the roster.
Additional growth can still happen in the vision department. If he wants to continue to play PG then sometimes it requires more probing dribbles where you scan the defense and movement going on.
Attacking the basket every time can limit the maneuvering room for more than one big. THT just needs more variety to his passing and I think he could continue to play PG.
He definitely knows how to score. However, mixing it up, like he did in Charlotte, will help his inside game a ton. They won’t be able to sag off of him anymore on defense.
I do see a future big role with this team. The only variable that could change that is the draft. What players become available when they pick and for trade? However, those players likely would need time to get to where THT will be by the end of the season.