Final games of the season are extremely important for Jazz’s non-guaranteed players

The Utah Jazz injury report on Wednesday night listed nine players as “out” for various reasons, leaving just nine players available for the team’s game against the Portland Trail Blazers.

These games are important for all of the young players, in as much as any game rep is important for continued development, and Wednesday’s game proved to be an excellent night for Kyle Filipowski.

The rookie started the game in place of Walker Kessler (who has a broken nose and is in the concussion protocol), and finished the night with a career-best 30 points and 18 rebounds in the Jazz’s 133-126 overtime win. It was his shot that forced overtime and Filipowski became the first rookie in Jazz franchise history to log a 30 and 15 game.

These are the types of games that are actually really valuable when it comes to experience and learning how to execute in the clutch.

“All of these guys are playing for their own careers, especially the young players,” Jazz head coach Will Hardy said. “They’re trying to establish themselves as NBA rotational players with us. But more than that, they want 29 other teams to also be interested in them.”

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There is some truth to the Jazz’s young players needing to prove themselves and prove that they deserve a second contract, but the reality is that the majority of them are on guaranteed deals or at least guaranteed through next season.

But the non-guaranteed players — Johnny Juzang, Jaden Springer, Svi Mykhailiuk, KJ Martin Jr. — who could be waived before next season begins, need every last minute they can get. So on a night when the majority of the roster is sidelined, it meant heavy minutes for Juzang, Mykhailiuk and Springer (Martin has been sick so did not play on Wednesday).

And let’s be clear, the Jazz have four draft picks this year (two in the first round and two in the second) so there is a real chance that they waive all of the non-guaranteed players just to make room for a whole new crop of young players to evaluate.

So these last few games are the final chance for these players to make a real impression.

“Yeah, I mean, I want to be here and I think we’ve got something special going on and I want to be a big part of it, feel like I could be a big part of it,” Juzang said. “And at least for me I think regardless of whatever situation you’re in, every night you step out there, you’re playing for respect and you’ve got the name on the back of your jersey. So it’s always there.”

It’s a name that the players hope will not be forgotten if they are waived. They hope that if the Jazz decide to move on from them that someone will have seen how they competed in a close, overtime battle and how they’ve stayed ready all season and they’ll get another shot at this NBA thing.

With two games left and nothing guaranteed (pun intended), four Jazz players are literally playing for their NBA careers and hoping that these are not the final two games for them.