{"id":175057,"date":"2025-09-23T00:27:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-23T00:27:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/175057\/"},"modified":"2025-09-23T00:27:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-23T00:27:09","slug":"could-brice-sensabaugh-be-the-utah-jazzs-breakout-player-in-2025-26","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/175057\/","title":{"rendered":"Could Brice Sensabaugh be the Utah Jazz\u2019s breakout player in 2025-26?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">I love \u201cIce Brice.\u201d Maybe too much.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">While Kyle Filipowski was the Jazz\u2019s shining star of the 2025 Summer League, it was Brice Sensabaugh who stole the show in his lone two summer games.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Against the Grizzlies in July, Sensabaugh dropped a wildly efficient 37 points on 6 of 9 shooting from 3-point range. He was such a level above everyone else on the floor that the Jazz decided they had seen enough, and took his name off their summer league roster going forward.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">It was easy for him. Catch and shoot? BANG! Step back? BANG! Pull up? BANG! It was so clear that he did not belong on the floor.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">But so what? He\u2019s a third year player. He\u2019s supposed to be that dominant against summer competition.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Well this wasn\u2019t some random game where he got hot. This was an extension of his play at the end of last season.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">In six games in April \u2014 all six games were starts \u2014 Sensabaugh proved that he can be an NBA starter. Or at least a legitimate piece on an NBA team.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">Through those six games, Sensabaugh averaged 17.2 points per game on 42.4% 3-point shooting. He also averaged a respectable 5.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists in that span. In March, Sensabaugh shot 50.5% from deep in 17 games. He could possibly be the best shooter on the team.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">I see a role opening up for Sensabaugh with Jordan Clarkson, who has been the Jazz\u2019s premier \u201cflamethrower\u201d since he was traded to Utah in 2019, finally leaving the franchise. Regardless if Sensabaugh will be in the starting five, he will be getting a bump from the 20 minutes a game he played last season.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">In that summer league 37-point performance, Sensabaugh played that Clarkson role perfectly, riding his hot hand and not thinking twice about whether or not it was a \u201cgood shot.\u201d \u201cM-V-P\u201d chants rained down in the Huntsman Center, and the Jazz got the win.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"_1eezmj01\" href=\"https:\/\/platform.slcdunk.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/145\/2025\/09\/gettyimages-2208345931.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;crop=0,0.0039920159680662,100,99.992015968064\" data-pswp-height=\"4174.666666666666\" data-pswp-width=\"6262\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\"><img alt=\"(Photo by Alex Goodlett\/Getty Images)\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"fill\" class=\"w91vxg0\" style=\"position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-image:url(&quot;data:image\/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' %3E%3Cfilter id='b' color-interpolation-filters='sRGB'%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'\/%3E%3CfeColorMatrix values='1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 100 -1' result='s'\/%3E%3CfeFlood x='0' y='0' width='100%25' height='100%25'\/%3E%3CfeComposite operator='out' in='s'\/%3E%3CfeComposite in2='SourceGraphic'\/%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'\/%3E%3C\/filter%3E%3Cimage width='100%25' height='100%25' x='0' y='0' preserveAspectRatio='none' style='filter: url(%23b);' href='data:image\/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mN8+R8AAtcB6oaHtZcAAAAASUVORK5CYII='\/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot;)\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/gettyimages-2208345931.jpg\"\/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>(Photo by Alex Goodlett\/Getty Images) Getty Images<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">I believe in Sensabaugh. I 100% think that he can be a huge piece for the Jazz when this rebuild takes shape and the Jazz start producing more and more wins.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">But much of the outcome of my possibly misplaced faith hinges on whether or not Will Hardy will give him the minutes. It would not surprise me if the season starts and Sensabaugh is still in his same role, or maybe even a lesser one, which I think would be a mistake.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">He will definitely need to step up his defensive abilities, as at times his lateral quickness and defensive awareness is a huge hindrance on his game.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">But Sensabaugh doesn\u2019t need to be this elite player. He needs to lean into his role as a sharp-shooter, and he should be taking seven to eight 3-pointers a game, as opposed to his five in 2024-25.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">I am hoping that by the end of the season we know for sure that he will be a key puzzle piece in the next chapter of Utah Jazz basketball.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1nfb3k4i _16w9vov1 _16w9vov0 ls9zuh1\">When it comes to \u201cIce Brice,\u201d I\u2019m all in.<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"duet--article--comments-link _1jdgahs9\" href=\"http:\/\/www.slcdunk.com\/jazz-analysis\/64448\/could-brice-sensabaugh-be-the-utah-jazzs-breakout-player-in-2025-26#comments\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">0 Comments<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"I love \u201cIce Brice.\u201d Maybe too much. While Kyle Filipowski was the Jazz\u2019s shining star of the 2025&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":175058,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[64914,355,99,64915,95103],"class_list":{"0":"post-175057","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-jazz-analysis","9":"tag-nba","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-the-downbeat","12":"tag-utah-jazz-player-analysis"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175057","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=175057"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/175057\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/175058"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=175057"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=175057"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=175057"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}