Takeaways on all the featured Jazz players at Las Vegas Summer League

LAS VEGAS — Summer League teams often are filled with potential G League players and undrafted prospects that flank a couple of high-profile rookies or second-year players. Teams use the offseason showcases to fill out their G League rosters and players are competing for those contracts, two-way deals or auditioning for international opportunities.

But this year, the Utah Jazz Summer League roster had quite a few players of interest who will be on the Jazz roster for the 2024-25 season. For my final dispatch from Las Vegas, here are some thoughts on all of those players.

• Taylor Hendricks had an up-and-down Summer League. There were some games that he was considerably forgettable and then there were games like the one against the Toronto Raptors on Wednesday where he led the pack with 23 points on 9-of-10 shooting with nine rebounds. Honestly, that’s the type of game he should be having at Summer League, which makes the other games feel a little bit worrisome.

What’s clear in the games in which Hendricks does well is that he needs to be smart and aggressive on the boards. When he’s crashing the glass with intent and from solid angles, he’s able to get a few easy buckets from offensive rebounds, which then makes him more comfortable and in rhythm everywhere else. Defensively, the instincts are there, but he still has a lot of system learning to do and work figuring out how to optimize his size.

• I’m coming away from Las Vegas more excited about where Cody Williams is and what he can offer. The biggest thing he’ll need to work on is his body — to get ready to compete against NBA-level strength — but there’s so much to like about his game in its current state. He’s a lot smarter than I was expecting. It’s not often that you see a rookie who doesn’t get sped up and is able to play a number of positions and score from all three levels.

• Isaiah Collier is obviously a downhill threat and his speed and strength are his strongest attributes. Those things are what make him a dangerous point guard from both a scoring and facilitating standpoint. At the NBA level, he has got to figure out how to use those tools and not get stuck in the trees down low and how to score over bigger players. The good thing is that even though he struggled at times in that respect, he’s fully aware that he needs to change his game a little bit. Self awareness in the NBA is incredibly important.

• I’d still like to see Kyle Filipowski — and Walker Kessler for that matter — have the chance to work as a secondary playmaker a little bit more. It’s an interesting wrinkle that could really benefit the Jazz in the future and I don’t think I saw enough of it during Summer League to have any final thoughts. That being said, Filipowski seemed to get more comfortable and confident with every game.

His handle is not exactly where I thought it was going to be, but it’s not horrible. He needs to ramp up the conditioning through the rest of the offseason (82 games and altitude are right around the corner) and he might need a little bit of time to settle in, but I think there’s a lot of opportunity for Filipowski to flourish in the NBA.

• Darius Bazley , heading into his sixth NBA season, is an absolute basketball soldier. Defensively he’s great and he never tries to do too much. He is a player that completely understands his role and is willing to play hard no matter how big or small the opportunity.

• Kenneth Lofton Jr. is at his best when he’s playing a balanced game — scoring when he has a mismatch, passing over the top of defenders, bullying the competition on the glass. But too often this summer he just dominated the ball, and not in a good way. There is a place for Lofton in the NBA if he’s willing to play a role, but not if he is going to take horrible shots and pretend that he’s the point guard.

• I kind of expected to see more from Taevion Kinsey considering his familiarity with the Jazz and the two-way opportunity that they’ve given him. There were a handful of fun moments from him throughout Summer League, but he was largely forgettable during the games.

• Keshawn Justice played with the SLC Stars last season, but I’d be lying if I said I’d taken notice of him prior to this summer. That being said, he was the only non-rostered player that stood out, and he really stood out. He’s tough defensively, can knock down shots, never tried to do too much (which cannot be said for everyone) and made smart decisions with the ball. Though 24, I wouldn’t hate the idea of the Jazz giving a two-way to him.

• Fans might have noticed that two-way guard Jason Preston was missing through most of Summer League despite being on the roster. He was listed as “not with team” for personal reasons and there was a ton of wild speculation about what those reasons could be. Well, congratulations are in order because Preston missed some of week because he was getting married.