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Las Vegas • Joel Bolomboy can see a path to regular-season playing time. Because of this, it's difficult for Utah's rising second year power forward not to get ahead of himself.

As such, Bolomboy finds himself repeating the same mantra before every Jazz summer league game: Handle business first, look at the future after the summer ends. And then assess where he's at on the Jazz's depth chart.

"I have to make sure that I can control what I can control," Bolomboy said.

Still, it's hard not to think of the possibilities. Last year, the former Weber State star was little more than the 15th man on Utah's roster. He spent most of his time with the Salt Lake Stars of the now G-League honing his skills. In the time he spent with the Jazz, he watched and learned. He played in 12 games, averaging a little over four minutes and a little less than two points. He distinguished himself as a hyperathletic power forward with an improving jumper. The Jazz liked him and his potential enough to give him a two-year guaranteed contract.

Now it may be time for Bolomboy to contribute to Quin Snyder's rotation.

Because Gordon Hayward left in free agency, because Boris Diaw may not be retained, because Jeff Withey is a free agent, Utah's frontcourt rotation is depleted from last season and uncertain.

There is still time for the Jazz to maneuver, and they will probably add a big man. Derrick Favors, Joe Johnson and Rudy Gobert are the three frontcourt pieces definitively under contract for next season. And Johnson is a natural small forward, where he and Joe Ingles are the two who play that position by trade.

So, depending on what happens in the next few weeks, the Jazz may need Bolomboy to play significant minutes.

"During this week, we want Joel to focus on the little things," Utah's summer league coach Zach Guthrie said. "We're not worried about his field goal percentage. We want him to focus on setting screens and getting rebounds. We want him to play good defense and get his teammates open. Those are the things that translate to NBA minutes for us. Those are the things that we're holding him accountable on, not the box score stats."

Donovan Mitchell, the Jazz lottery pick, garnering most of the headlines. Point guard Dante Exum turned heads last week at the Huntsman Center, showing significant improvement. Many have been focused on Tony Bradley and what the first-round pick out of North Carolina has shown.

That's left Bolomboy often a forgotten commodity, which is fine with him. He played the same role last year.

But the Jazz are invested in his development and progress as much as anyone on the summer league roster. And in truth, Bolomboy's performance this week has been up and down.

On the positive side, he's a terrific athlete and has the makings of a good defender. Against the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday at Cox Pavilion, Blazers rookie Caleb Swanigan scored 16 points and grabbed 13 rebounds. He was a handful for any Jazz player to guard — outside of Bolomboy, who was the only big man on the roster who could impede his progress to the rim.

"I've known Caleb for a long time, and I know his talent and his work ethic," Mitchell said. "To see Joel give him a hard time defensively was really impressive. I haven't seen many people do that to Caleb."

At the same time, Bolomboy is not playing with instinct. He's been hesitant offensively, passing up open 3-point looks the Jazz coaching staff wants him to let fly. He hasn't been confident in the post, and playing in pick and roll is difficult for him.

Those are all things he has to improve for Snyder to put him on the floor in a competitive situation. And that's why he's playing summer league. The staff wants Bolomboy to experiment with his game, to test his limits and trust the progress in his skill set.

If he can do that the rest of the week, Bolomboy could put himself in the conversation for a rotation spot. Utah's roster is unsettled, and the Jazz could make moves.

But being in the conversation, for Bolomboy, is at least a good thing.

"I think going into the summer I've been trying to find a rhythm," Bolomboy said. "I just have to hang in there and keep playing hard, and the results will come. I want to have momentum going into training camp and so on."

tjones@sltrib.com Twitter: @tribjazz —

Joel Bolomboy

• Heading into his second season out of Weber State.

• Played in 12 games as a rookie, spending most of his time with the G-League's Salt Lake Stars.

• Is one of two power forwards on the roster with a guaranteed contract for next season. Derrick Favors is the other.

• Averaged seven points and 6.5 rebounds in the Utah Jazz summer league last week.

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