Utah Jazz: In case you didn’t know, Jarrell Brantley has been lighting up G-League
Utah Jazz second-round pick Jarrell Brantley has looked like an absolute stud in the G-League and has potential for a bright future in the NBA.
During Utah Jazz preseason, there wasn’t a lot to be overly excited about considering that the team went winless against NBA competition. However, while Quin Snyder experimented with different lineups and players got used to one another, there was one surprising guy that had some nice flashes that stood out. The man I speak of is Jarrell Brantley.
Brantley played extremely tough during preseason and had some great moments of both hustle and defense, including some nice minutes against Giannis Antetokounmpo. Yes, it was preseason and, no, Giannis probably wasn’t going full bore, but Brantley still showed that despite some rawness, he has the tools to become a legitimate NBA player once he irons out some kinks.
As a two-way player with the Jazz, he’ll have a significant opportunity to do so while he plays with the Salt Lake City Stars. And although he hasn’t exactly been at the top of the minds of Utah Jazz fans, especially as the team undergoes a frustrating two-game road losing streak, behind the scenes he is absolutely on fire.
In Brantley’s last three games, he’s putting up 21.7 points per game on 57.1 percent shooting from the field and an improving three-point shooting mark of 33.3 percent. While doing so, he’s also managed to pull down 8.7 rebounds and dish out five assists and nearly two steals per game, proving himself as an absolute Swiss Army Knife as he takes command in several aspects.
Most recently, in Tuesday’s showdown against the Rio Grande Vipers, Brantley exploded for 31 points while going 12-of-19 (63.2 percent) from the field. He was a plus-14 on the night and instrumental in the win, the Stars’ fifth in a row.
Now, of course, this is G-League competition that we’re talking about. When current Jazzman Georges Niang was playing for the Salt Lake City Stars, he absolutely lit it up as well, but we’ve seen him struggle so far this season for the Jazz against heightened talent. In other words, while Brantley’s play is encouraging, it doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to entirely translate over to the NBA level.
Still, it’s exciting to see a second-round pick that came all the way at number 50 show so much promise. Brantley was an intriguing part of the roster during preseason, and his dominance in the G-League has been an exceptional sight to behold thus far. Considering that the Jazz find themselves somewhat light in the frontcourt, especially as Ed Davis continues to be out with a fibula fracture, Brantley could very well see himself getting his number called should occasion require.
Even if that does end up being the case, though, don’t expect Brantley to be lighting it up for the Jazz on any sort of consistent basis and especially not any time soon. He’s an intriguing prospect, to be sure, who’s making mince meat out of G-League competition, but he still has a long ways to go and a lot of rough edges to smooth out before he can be a rotation NBA player.
Nevertheless, based on everything we’ve seen out of him thus far in his young professional career, he could very well be on a trajectory to become exactly that.
