The Jazz started the season short handed due to injuries which gave undrafted rookie guard Wesley Matthews his big chance to shine and he has run with it. Matthews has played in 24 games (16 starts) for the Jazz this season and he is averaging 26.2 minutes, 8.6 points, 1.9 rebounds and 1.2 assists per game. The Jazz have quite a find in Matthews and he will continue to get his minutes as long as he keeps playing well.

22-year old point guard Eric Maynor was just supposed to sit and learn behind Deron Williams this season. But, Williams recently had to miss a couple of games due to a sickness in his family putting Maynor in the starting lineup and he played very well. Maynor has played in 8 games (2 starts) for the Jazz this season and he is averaging 13.5 minutes, 6.4 points, 1.1 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game. Look for the Jazz to give Maynor a few more minutes than he was getting when Williams returns. 23-year old SG/SF Wes Matthews has been a huge surprise for the Jazz so far this season. The undrafted Matthews has played in 10 games (2 starts) already for the Jazz this season and he is averaging 20.1 minutes, 7.6 points, 1.3 rebounds and 0.6 assists per game. The Jazz would probably be better off with Matthews coming off the bench but due to injuries he’s been forced into the starting lineup where he is holding his own so far this year.

Rookie C/F Kosta Koufos has played in 11 games for the Jazz this season and he is averaging 14.1 minutes, 3.9 points, 3.1 rebounds and 0.4 assists per game. He came out early from Ohio State so it might take a little while until he’s ready for the speed of the NBA game. He will have time to develop as the Jazz’ won’t have that many minutes available for him when they get healthy in the front line.

The Jazz were a very veteran laden team so their weren’t many minutes available for the teams’ rookies. Guard Morris Almond was the Jazz’ first round pick and he only got to play in garbage time. He played in 9 games (0 starts) for the Jazz this season and he averaged 4.3 minutes, 1.4 points, 0.2 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game. Almond only shot 26.7% from the floor but in fairness to him it was probably hard for him to find a rhythm due to his lack of playing time.

Center Kyrylo Fesenko also rarely got a chance to play so it’s also hard to evaluate his performance. Fesenko played in 9 games (0 starts) for the Jazz this season and he averaged 7.8 minutes, 1.6 points, 2.8 rebounds and 0.2 assists per game. He only shot 37.5% from the floor but he didn’t get to shoot the ball much.

The Jazz have not gotten much from their rookies this season. First round pick Morris Almond has been nailed to the bench so far this season. He has played in only 6 games (0 starts) and he is averaging 4.2 minutes, 0.5 points and 0.2 assists per game. Center Kyrylo Fesenko also hasn’t done much this season. He has played in 7 games (0 starts) this season and he is averaging 9.1 minutes, 1.4 points, 3.3 rebounds and 0.3 assists per game. It will be interesting to watch these two guys’ careers as they likely won’t break into the Jazz’ rotation for quite some time.