There’s been a lot of talk lately about what the Rudy Gobert to Minnesota trade will do for the Timberwolves’ chances of competing in the NBA’s Western Conference.
But Kansas fans are no doubt more interested in what happens with Gobert’s former team in Utah.
That’s because the all-pro center’s departure from the Jazz lineup may have opened up an opportunity for former Jayhawk Udoka Azubuike.
I caught up with Azubuike briefly last month, when he was back in Lawrence for the Rock Chalk Roundball Classic. And in addition to looking like he was in the best shape of his life, the former KU center said he had enjoyed his time in Utah so far.
Like at Kansas, Azubuike has been plagued by injuries since turning pro after the 2020 season, but he has played enough and shown enough flashes to at least earn an opportunity for more minutes now that Gobert is gone.
Part of the Gobert trade, which included a ton of players and picks headed to Utah, included rookie big man Walker Kessler, a 7-foot-1 center out of Auburn, who was drafted No. 21 overall in the June draft.
Kessler will certainly get a chance to compete for major minutes in the Utah front court, but it remains to be seen how quickly he’ll make the adjustment to the NBA game. As a sophomore at Auburn, he really broke through last season, becoming one of the nation’s best big men while dominating around the rim on both offense and defense.
His shot-blocking prowess is probably his biggest strength, but he’s also mobile and a good finisher around the rim, with the ability to step outside and shoot 3s from time to time.
Azubuike’s biggest asset, of course, is his pure power. Although he improved as a defender throughout his time at Kansas — particularly on the perimeter — his ability to punish the rim and rebound at a high rate helped elevate him into the first round in the 2020 NBA draft, where Utah selected him with the No. 27 overall pick.
Many reports out of Utah have indicated that the Jazz liked Azubuike as a backup to Gobert because he knew his role and was happy to execute it.
The injuries — a severe ankle sprain in Year 1 and surgery to repair multiple ankle and foot ligaments in his right foot in Year 2 — and time away from the court have done him no favors in terms of adjusting to the NBA game and finding a role. But he has shown in the past that big things can happen if he can stay healthy. Utah picked up his option for Year 3 last October, so it’s clear the Jazz are at least willing to see if that can be true in the NBA, as well.
In his first two seasons with the Jazz, Azubuike has appeared in 32 games, with six starts while averaging roughly 8 minutes per game. At the time of his season-ending surgery in March, Azubuike was averaging 4.7 points and 4.2 rebounds in 11.5 minutes per game.
More important than any of those numbers, though, are the numbers he put up during the 2021 Summer League season. In three games last summer in Salt Lake City, he averaged 13.7 points, 10.7 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game while being named one of the standouts of the entire Summer League. In his four contests in Las Vegas, Azubuike averaged 13.8 points, 8.8 rebounds and 2.5 blocks.
The team option has him scheduled to make $2.17 million in Year 3, and he’ll enter Year 4 facing another team option. That suggests that the Jazz might want to see what they have in Azubuike now before they have to decide whether they want to pay him nearly $4 million for the 2023-24 season. They already have committed $4 million to him during his first two seasons in the league.
It’s worth noting that Utah added 7-foot-6, 311-pound center Tacko Fall to its Summer League roster this offseason. And many reports have Utah in the mix for several free agent big men as well as linked to a possible trade for Phoenix center DeAndre Ayton.
Who knows how any of that works out. But regardless of who is or isn’t on the Jazz roster next season, it’s clearly a big year for Azubuike’s NBA future.
