How rookie Juwan Morgan went from undrafted free agent to playoff contender for the Utah Jazz

SALT LAKE CITY – Juwan Morgan still remembers the tweet he posted on the morning of June 21, 2019.

The night before, Morgan had not been among the 60 players selected in the annual NBA draft, though immediately, The Athletic’s Michael Scotto told him that the former Indiana Hoosier would sign a free agent deal with the Utah Jazz.

“It only takes one … see you soon,” Morgan tweeted.

The Jazz then became the ‘one’ team that would eventually bet on Morgan, the team that would give him a chance to pursue his NBA dreams as they signed him to an Exhibit 10 (summer) contract. Fourteen months later, the 23-year-old from Waynesville, Missouri, proved the first four words of his tweet to be true, that all he needed to make an impact in the NBA was a shot.

After starting the 2019-2020 season with the Salt Lake City Stars of the NBA G League, Utah signed him to a standard contract, and although he was used very sparingly in the regular season (he spent a lot of time with the Stars), said Jazz head coach Quin Snyder called on him to play some center against small frontcourts, especially the Houston Rockets.

Then this week, Snyder’s faith in the 6-foot-7, 232-pound Morgan went to a whole new level as he put himself in the starting lineup for the first two games of the Utah playoff series. against the Denver Nuggets in place of Mike Conley. Even when Conley returned to the starting lineup for Game 3 on Friday, Morgan remained in rotation, logging 22 minutes from the bench.

The son of military parents, Morgan knew that the route to his dreams through the Beehive State would have to be filled with a great deal of hard work, given that he had to prove himself as a developed player. At the same time, he trusted that when he put that work in, “good things will come.”

“I feel that once I get the chance and can put the work in, I feel like giving myself the best shot I’m there every day,” he told the NBA’s bubble at Walt Disney World this December by phone this week.

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No, it’s not uncommon for a developed player to make an early impact (this season alone, for example, Miami Heat rookie Kendrick Nunn started 67 regular season games and averaged 15.3 points for the fifth-best team in the Eastern Conference), and part of the reason Snyder started Morgan is because of his size and so Jordan Clarkson could stay in his sixth man role, but it’s still remarkable that Morgan got the nod over one of the three Utah picks of second round of a year lyn.

“When you’re with someone and you continue to see them perform in practice and work, you build trust and confidence,” Snyder said earlier this week. ‘He’s a player you can trust because of the way he plays. He is pure and consistent, strong with the ball, rebounds. There are a lot of little things he does to influence the game, especially in a situation like he is in the place where he starts a game. ‘

Perhaps it comes as no surprise that Stars head coach Nathan Peavy, who was promoted on August 13 after being the assistant coach for the past three seasons, also pointed to Morgan’s work ethic as the biggest driving force in the development of the rookie so far.

“He was just always dedicated, always putting in a lot of work, very focused on his craft,” Peavy said. “He just showed a great maturity for learning the game, picking things up quickly, learning Jazz structure and also the Stars.

‘You saw how he handled things and then you started to see the progression, but the progression happened very fast. I think this was the biggest thing for Juwan, he just improved as soon as he came to us, and that’s just a big testament to him. ”

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Primarily an interior designer in high school, Peavy said Morgan showed almost immediately that there was more to his game that could be developed.

“He has very good basketball instincts and just an overall great feel for the game,” Peavy said. ‘When he started with us in the Stars, we knew we had a special player. He was a very good passer from his position and he rebounds at both ends. ”

Asked to play center for the Stars, Peavy acknowledged that Morgan was a bit undersized, but he made it out with his toughness, physique and athleticism. As it turned out, Morgan’s ability to play the position gave the Jazz an option to better match against the Rockets.

Of Morgan’s 88 regular season minutes before the NBA was suspended in March, 20 came in two February games against Houston.

“I think his development speaks for itself, to come in as an exhibition 10 without design with our (G League) team and continue to improve where we draw him with the Jazz and then his chance to play situationally in games especially if (center) positive, ”said Snyder.

Morgan said when he arrived, he could immediately see how much the Jazz and Stars had invested jointly in player development, and supported a reputation the organization had built in recent years.

“They take their G League development really seriously, and they pay attention to everything you do,” Morgan said. ‘They always told you what they wanted to see you do and then helped you adapt it to games, so it was never just going out and doing something just to say you did some work.

‘From top to bottom, from the Jazz to the bottom of the Stars, everyone always had the same philosophy, only making sure everyone was on the same track. I really appreciated that, because that meant they were in constant communication. ”

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By at least advancing in the series against the Nuggets, it looks like Morgan may have earned a place in Utah’s rotation. Before the game, Snyder did not go so far as to say that it would be permanent through the rest of the season, but he again expressed confidence in the rookie.

“Juwan Morgan has played really well several times this year, and I think the primary thing is that we have confidence in Juwan in whatever capacity we use him,” said Snyder. ‘I think the playoffs, more than anything, are situational, and (he starts) was for many reasons a situation that we felt Juwan could really contribute. Those situations present themselves going on. We will not shine him to use him. ”

While Morgan is working to make his mark in the league beyond just this series as this season, he acknowledges that he needs to keep getting better. Specifically, both he and Peavy said he needs to improve his perimeter skills, with Morgan mentioning that the “separating factor” between it may be hanging in the league or not.

Just like he always has been, Morgan is envious of continuing with the work of doing everything to have a long NBA career.

“I can not be satisfied,” he said. ‘I’ll still prove myself every day. I will never go hard in practice as in a game. I think that’s one reason people stay in the league for so long is because they get better every day. They never become independent. ”