Utah
Jazz’s Taylor Hendricks Reveals Huge Goal for Next Season
While it wasn’t a year in which Utah Jazz forward Taylor Hendricks got many extensive reps on the floor due to his brutal ankle injury suffered earlier in the season, it seems his recovery and shift back to basketball form is ramping up rather nicely, with the 21-year-old apparently on an upward trend physically, prepared to get back to 100% later this July.
And with Hendricks’ return to the lineup soon to come, it looks like his sights are set high to make an immediate impact when he’s back on the floor next season for Utah.
Hendricks recently sounded off on a bit of his personal expectations for his third year in the league next season during his end-of-season presser, where he noted his ultimate goal of becoming an impactful two-way force in the Jazz’s lineup.
“Just to be that go-to defender; be our best all-around defender,” Hendricks said. “Blocking shots, guarding on the perimeter. And then, just being very solid offensively, someone that Coach Hardy can trust.”
For the Jazz, finding that number-one, versatile defender on the roster will be insanely critical for their success on the floor moving forward. Utah has had their immense struggles on the defensive side of the ball for the past two seasons, falling in as one of the worst-ranked defensive teams in the NBA, making the need for high-level, tenacious defenders that much more important.
This year’s draft does present an opportunity to land those aspired defenders, but when looking at what the Jazz have on their current roster with a guy like Hendricks, there’s a golden opportunity for him to emerge as that defensive piece, and especially so when he’s back to full health.
Before getting injured this season, Hendricks was averaging 1.7 steals and 1.3 blocks per game, and while it does come off an extremely small sample size of three games, the Jazz forward has clearly exhibited since being drafted that he has the length, versatility, and defensive skillset to hone into one of the best overall on or off-ball matchups in the NBA.
Offensively, Hendricks has the chance to elevate into an increased, more impactful role as well. Especially with his size and appealing floor spacing, he can develop into a dangerous mismatch for opposing defenses with the right tools.
Utah may not have big plans for him to develop into a top two or three scorer on the roster at his best, but as a connecting piece with productive traits on both sides of the floor, Hendricks’s archetype can be a huge asset to have within any NBA rotation.
And when asking Hendricks himself, he clearly has the confidence he can put those pieces together to do so ahead of next season. If he can, it’ll be an immense boost to what this Jazz unit can put out on both ends of the floor for, not just the coming year, but for the foreseeable future too.
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Here’s who will lead Utah Valley University as its next president
Jon Anderson will be charged with moving the Orem school forward following the death of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk on campus last year.
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Incoming UVU President Jon Anderson poses for a photo with his family after an event announcing his selection at Utah Valley University in Orem on Friday, July 17, 2026.
Utah
Beaver County residents set up thousands of sandbags ahead of flashfloods
BEAVER COUNTY, Utah — A massive community effort is underway as volunteers and Beaver County crews distribute thousands of sandbags to protect homes from the potential path of floodwaters.
After the Cottonwood Fires, residents have been waiting for weeks for relief to come in the form of rain, though officials now warn it may come all at once with an increased risk of flooding and debris flow.
Emergency Service Director Les Whitney believes that the fire has left plenty of debris to bring trouble for residents.
“We got a lot of water. We’re bringing debris with it, so tree branches, tree limbs, logs, lots of different size firewood, and that’s all in the creeks. We’re worried about that plugging up our bridges and stuff, so we have heavy equipment and excavators located in strategic places so that we can keep those bridges open,” said Whitney.
An estimated 140 homes and condominiums were spared from the flames, but remain in the paths of floodwaters.
Residents can also pick up sandbags at the Beaver County Sheriff’s Office or at the Beaver County Rodeo Fairgrounds.
Utah
Utah man arrested again for allegedly abusing dog twice in three months
EAGLE MOUNTAIN — An Eagle Mountain man currently on pretrial release in 4th District Court who is accused of abusing his dog has been arrested again for allegedly punching the same animal.
Keith Reaves Davis, 43, was booked into the Utah County Jail on Wednesday for investigation of aggravated cruelty to an animal.
Utah County sheriff’s deputies were called Wednesday afternoon to a grocery store on a report that a man was beating his dog after it had gotten off its leash and was stopped by a bystander, according to a police booking affidavit.
“I reviewed security camera footage from the grocery store, and an individual matching the description of the suspect was seen holding the dog in the air by one paw and repeatedly striking the dog on the right hind leg area. I observed the male strike the dog several times before dropping the dog from approximately 1-2 feet. The strikes appeared to be as hard as the male could hit,” the arresting deputy wrote in the affidavit. “The dog did not cry out or whimper as if the dog was accustomed to the abuse.”
When questioned, Davis “admitted to striking the dog because it was not behaving,” the affidavit states.
An animal control officer who responded to the scene to take custody of the dog noted it was the same dog he had taken from Davis exactly three months earlier during another animal abuse investigation.
In that case, Davis was charged in 4th District Court with aggravated cruelty to an animal, a class A misdemeanor; and public intoxication, a class C misdemeanor, after deputies received a tip from a neighbor that a dog was being abused at Davis’ home, according to charging documents. When questioned, Davis “acknowledged hitting his dog as punishment,” the charges state.
Deputies also reviewed videos that the neighbor had filmed. The neighbor told investigators “there was blood from the dog on the ground of the garage and (the neighbor) can hear the dog screaming as if it’s being hurt. Deputies got the videos from the (neighbor) and you can hear very loudly the dog screaming and crying with a lot of loud banging noises. In one of the videos, you can hear the dog sounding like it is being choked by a collar and is grasping for air,” a police booking affidavit states.
Davis’ next court hearing in the April case is scheduled for July 28.
In their latest booking report, sheriff’s deputies note that they “believe further harm will be inflicted on this dog if it is released back to the male a second time,” and have recommended the dog not be returned to Davis.
The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.
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