SALT LAKE CITY — Of the 17 players on the Utah Jazz roster (including two-way players), a whopping six of them are in their first season in the NBA, and for the most part each has gotten just spot minutes here and there.
However, newest rookie Rayjon Tucker has had a more consistent role over the last week after being signed from the G League’s Wisconsin Herd just over two weeks ago on a night the Jazz made a series of transactions to reshape their bench.
“It’s a blessing. That’s the biggest thing. As all basketball players say, you come in here and put the time in on the court, and just to kind of see your work and your patience finally come to fruition, it’s a blessing.” — Utah Jazz’s Rayjon Tucker
No, it’s not as though the 6-foot-3 Tucker has been occupying a major chunk of playing time, but in the last three games entering Friday night’s contest against his hometown Charlotte Hornets, the guard has played and averaged 6.3 minutes.
Most of that time has come as he’s checked into each game at the start of the second quarter and played the first few minutes of the frame.
“It’s a blessing,” he said Friday morning after Utah’s shootaround. “That’s the biggest thing. As all basketball players say, you come in here and put the time in on the court, and just to kind of see your work and your patience finally come to fruition, it’s a blessing.”
Having joined the Jazz carrying a reputation of being an excellent athlete and scorer, Tucker has wanted to focus on the defensive end of the floor with the thought that opportunities to score will come.
In Utah’s three games before Friday, he was averaging a modest 1.7 points, a rebound and 0.3 assists per contest.
“It’s been good,” he said. “Just trying to get in the groove, feel everything out what coach (Quin Snyder) wants. Go out there and play defense and we’ll worry about the offense later.”
Despite Tucker being known for his abilities on the offensive end, it’s his attention to defense that has most caught Snyder’s eye.
“I think that is a focus for him,” Snyder said. “I feel like that is an area that if you can defend, you can find a way to get on the floor at various times...being able to go in and perform and compete in a short period of time is important because you never know what the game is going to call for.”
Although Tucker said Friday that Charlotte “was definitely the team I watched growing up,” he didn’t feel any different about preparing to play the Hornets than any other opponent.
“Definitely not,” he said. “It’s another basketball game. I’m a hooper, so it’s just another game to me.”