Hoops Rumors Originals

Following a first-round postseason exit in 2022, the Jazz traded away Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell, kick-starting the tear-down of a roster that had made six consecutive playoff appearances at that time. Three years later, Utah has stockpiled a ton of future draft picks and opened up far more cap flexibility going forward, but the current roster looks even less equipped to get back to the playoffs than that post-Gobert/Mitchell squad did entering the 2022/23 season.

The Jazz’s lack of forward progress is understandable to a certain extent. Although Gobert and Mitchell were traded during the 2022 offseason along with Bojan Bogdanovic and Royce O’Neale, it took a couple more years for Utah to sell off most of its remaining productive veteran rotation players, including Mike Conley, Malik Beasley, Jarred Vanderbilt, Kelly Olynyk, and Simone Fontecchio.

With several of those vets still on the roster and the Jazz having done well to acquire players like Lauri Markkanen, Walker Kessler, and Collin Sexton in the Gobert and Mitchell deals, the team outperformed expectations during the first half of the ’22/23 and ’23/24 seasons, necessitating more trades as the front office looked to improve its position in the lottery and snag a high draft pick.

However, after winning 37 and 31 games in those two years, the Jazz picked just ninth overall in 2023 and 10th in 2024. Utah still loaded up on rookies in both drafts, having also selected 16th and 28th in ’23 and 29th and 32nd in ’24, but without a pick in the top half of the lottery, the team came out of those drafts with plenty of question marks instead of an obvious franchise cornerstone.

While Isaiah Collier and Kyle Filipowski displayed some promise as rookies this past season, No. 10 overall pick Cody Williams was one of the NBA’s least effective rotation players, and 2023 first-rounders Keyonte George and Brice Sensabaugh were major defensive liabilities for a team that ranked dead last in the league with a 119.4 defensive rating. 2023 lottery pick Taylor Hendricks, meanwhile, had an up-and-down rookie season, then suffered a season-ending leg injury during his third game of his sophomore year.

With so many veterans having been traded away and so many of the Jazz’s young players not giving the team positive minutes, the front office finally got the bottom-out year it was looking for this past season — Utah’s 17-65 record was the worst of any NBA team in ’24/25, as well as the worst mark in team history.

Unfortunately, after not getting any luck from the back half of the lottery in 2023 and 2024, the Jazz didn’t fare any better in 2025, falling from No. 1 in the pre-lottery standings to No. 5 in the draft, a worst-case outcome (albeit one that had a 48% chance of happening).

A report in March indicated that the Jazz view the last three years as their “tear-down” period and that, in their eyes, the rebuild is just now getting started. With no reason to want to take a significant step forward in 2025/26 (Utah’s 2026 first-round pick will be sent to Oklahoma City if it lands outside the top eight), the Jazz will likely approach this offseason with the expectation that they’ll be spending at least one more year near the bottom of the NBA standings.

The Jazz’s Offseason Plan

Having slipped to No. 5 on lottery night, the Jazz likely don’t have a path to landing a potential franchise player like Cooper Flagg or Dylan Harper. Still, it’s worth giving the Spurs a call about No. 2 to see what it would take, since a San Antonio team that already employs De’Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle may be willing to listen to pitches for Harper. In all likelihood though, the Jazz will end up staying put at No. 5, so which target makes the most sense in that spot?

ESPN’s most recent mock draft sent Oklahoma point guard Jeremiah Fears to Utah. As Jonathan Givony acknowledged in that piece, it’s not an ideal fit, given that the Jazz spent first-round picks in both 2023 (George) and 2024 (Collier) on point guards, but this rebuild isn’t far enough along – and neither George nor Collier is established enough – for the front office to prioritize fit over the best player available. If Fears is the player atop the Jazz’s board when they’re on the clock, they should take him.

There will be other candidates in play. While Ace Bailey and V.J. Edgecombe are widely considered the next-best prospects after Flagg and Harper, Utah could pounce if one of them slips to No. 5. If not, Texas shooting guard Tre Johnson is worth a long look. He and Fears both probably have more offensive upside than any of the youngsters Utah drafted in 2023 or 2024.

Khaman Maluach, Kon Knueppel, Noa Essengue, and Derik Queen are among the other prospects who could be on Utah’s radar, but I suspect the Jazz may ultimately end up choosing between whichever two players from that Bailey/Edgecombe/Fears/Johnson group are still on the board at No. 5.

In addition to picking at No. 5, the Jazz hold the No. 21 overall selection, giving them multiple first-rounders for a third straight season. While it’s possible they won’t be eager to incorporate two more first-year players into a roster that’s starting to tilt pretty heavily toward guys on rookie scale contracts, I think that would be more problematic if several of their 2023 and 2024 picks had already established themselves as reliable rotation pieces. But since many of those young players will still have to fight to earn regular minutes, it doesn’t hurt to add another one to that competition.

The Jazz’s pick at No. 21 will depend on how the first two-thirds of the first round play out, but there are several interesting names who might be available in that range, including big men Asa Newell and Maxime Raynaud.

As Utah continues to build out its base of young talent, the front office will also have major decisions to make on several of its veterans, starting with a pair of young vets: Markkanen, who just turned 28, and Kessler, who will turn 24 in July.

Markkanen signed a long-term extension with the organization last summer and is under contract through 2028/29. Kessler only has one year left on his rookie deal, but could end up being locked up for even longer than Markkanen if he and the Jazz are able to work out a rookie scale extension during the 2025 offseason.

The question is whether Markkanen and Kessler, both of whom have been the subject of trade rumors in the past year, are viewed as long-term keepers or whether Utah will consider moving either of them this summer.

I’d bet on Markkanen sticking around for now. He’s coming off an injury-plagued season in which his shooting averages plummeted to 42.3% from the floor and 34.6% on three-pointers, well below his career rates and even further below the numbers he put up during his first two years in Utah.

Markkanen is owed $196MM over the next four years and his trade value is the lowest it’s been since his breakout All-Star season in 2022/23. Now isn’t the time to move him, even if his presence raises the Jazz’s floor and might compromise the club’s ability to vie for a top-four pick again in 2026 — as this year’s 17-win performance shows, he only raises that floor so much in a competitive Western Conference.

Kessler is arguably a more interesting case. If they want to keep him beyond the 2025/26 season, the Jazz will likely have to pay big money to do it. The young center has impressed as a rebounder and rim protector and has made some strides on the offensive end over the course of his three NBA seasons.

He has a stronger résumé than Onyeka Okongwu did when he got a four-year, $62MM extension from Atlanta two years ago. Recent deals for Wendell Carter (three years, $58.7MM), Jakob Poeltl (four years, $78MM), and Nic Claxton (four years, $97MM) could be used as comparables during the Kessler negotiations. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if he gets a bigger deal than all of them.

If the Jazz aren’t convinced that Kessler is their center of the future, this offseason is probably the time to make a move. Would the Lakers be willing to part with the same package (Dalton Knecht, an unprotected first-round pick, and a pick swap) that they agreed to send the Hornets for Mark Williams before health concerns scuttled that deal? It seems very possible, and they wouldn’t be the only team with legitimate interest.

The idea of trading a 24-year-old center who has been the most impressive of any Jazz players on rookie scale contracts doesn’t sit especially well with me. After all, Kessler is clearly young enough to be part of Utah’s next playoff team. But that next playoff team might still be years away from materializing, and under this Collective Bargaining Agreement, clubs have to be careful about which players they invest heavily in. That decision is looming on Kessler, so we should find out soon whether or not Utah is comfortable signing him to a lucrative four- or five-year deal.

The Jazz’s other three veterans – Sexton, John Collins, and Jordan Clarkson – will all be on expiring contracts in 2025/26, assuming Collins exercises his $26.6MM player option, which seems like a relatively safe bet. I’d view all three as trade candidates, though it will be difficult to extract a ton of value for Sexton or Clarkson, both of whom are undersized, offense-first shooting guards who can be attacked on defense and are earning more than the mid-level. Utah could maximize its return on either player by taking back unwanted multiyear salary from a team seeking more flexibility going forward.

Collins is the most intriguing player of this trio to me. He had a couple disappointing seasons after signing a five-year, $125MM contract with Atlanta in 2021, but he has arguably become undervalued in Utah. Although he was limited to 40 appearances in 2024/25, Collins played some of the best basketball of his career, averaging 19.0 points and 8.2 rebounds per game with an impressive .527/.399/.848 shooting line.

And Collins wasn’t just putting up empty stats on a bad team. Utah had a -0.9 net rating during his 1,220 minutes on the floor, including a 113.3 defensive rating. By comparison, during the 2,741 minutes he wasn’t on the floor, those numbers nosedived to -12.9 and 121.1, respectively.

I’m not sure whether the Jazz view Collins as a player who has a long-term future in Utah, especially since he’s at his best playing power forward, which is Markkanen’s natural spot. But if they can’t find an appealing trade offer for him and he’s willing to take a pay cut on his next contract, signing him to an extension wouldn’t be the worst outcome for the franchise.

Salary Cap Situation

Guaranteed Salary

• Lauri Markkanen ($46,394,100)
• Collin Sexton ($18,975,000)
• Jordan Clarkson ($14,285,714)
• Taylor Hendricks ($6,127,080)
• Cody Williams ($5,742,480)
• Walker Kessler ($4,878,938)
• Keyonte George ($4,278,960)
• Kyle Filipowski ($3,000,000)
• Brice Sensabaugh ($2,693,760)
• Isaiah Collier ($2,638,200)
• Total: $109,014,232

Non-Guaranteed Salary

• KJ Martin ($8,025,000)
• Svi Mykhailiuk ($3,675,000)
  • Mykhailiuk’s salary will become guaranteed if he remains under contract through June 30.
• Johnny Juzang ($2,840,518)
  • Juzang’s salary will become guaranteed if he remains under contract through June 30.
• Jaden Springer ($2,349,578)
  • Springer’s salary will become partially guaranteed for $400,000 if he remains under contract through July 25.
• Elijah Harkless (two-way)
• Total: $16,890,096

Dead/Retained Salary

• None

Player Options

• John Collins ($26,580,000): Bird rights
• Total: $26,580,000

Team Options

• None

Restricted Free Agents

• None

Two-Way Free Agents

• Micah Potter: Bird rights
• Oscar Tshiebwe: Non-Bird rights

Because he’s no longer eligible to sign a two-way contract, Potter’s qualifying offer would be worth his minimum salary (projected to be $2,461,463). It would include a small partial guarantee.

Draft Picks

• No. 5 overall pick ($9,069,840 cap hold)
• No. 21 overall pick ($3,512,520 cap hold)
• No. 43 overall pick (no cap hold)
• No. 53 overall pick (no cap hold)
• Total (cap holds): $12,582,360

Extension-Eligible Players

• John Collins (veteran)
  • Extension-eligible until June 30 if player option declined or in July if player option exercised.
• Walker Kessler (rookie scale)
• Collin Sexton (veteran)

Unless otherwise indicated, these players will become eligible for extensions at some point in July.

Unrestricted Free Agents

• None

Cap Exceptions Available

The Jazz project to operate over the cap but below the first tax apron.

• Non-taxpayer mid-level exception: $14,104,000
• Bi-annual exception: $5,134,000
• Trade exception: $3,564,000

Unless otherwise indicated, trade exceptions won’t expire before the regular season begins.