Offseason Approach

Nail the draft pick and move things forward despite Lottery misery

Actual Cap Space

-$23.9 million

Practical Cap Space

-$10.6 million

Projected Luxury Tax Space

$22.6 million

Under Contract (15)

Jordan Clarkson
Isaiah Collier
Kyle Filipowski
Keyonte George
Elijah Harkless (two-way)
Taylor Hendricks
Johnny Juzang (non-guaranteed)
Walker Kessler
Lauri Markkanen
K.J. Martin (non-guaranteed)
Svi Mykhailiuk (non-guaranteed)
Brice Sensabaugh
Collin Sexton
Jaden Springer (non-guaranteed)
Cody Williams

View Roster

Potential Free Agents (3)

John Collins (unrestricted – player option)
Micah Potter (restricted – two-way)
Oscar Tshiebwe (restricted – two-way)

Dead Cap (0)

None

Projected Signing Exceptions

Non-Taxpayer MLE ($14.1 million)
Bi-Annual Exception ($5.1 million)

Notable Trade Exceptions

P.J. Tucker ($3.5 million)

First Round Draft Picks (pre-lottery, as of April 11)

#5
#21

Notable Extension Candidates

John Collins (veteran extension – if option is picked up)
Walker Kessler (rookie scale extension)
Collin Sexton (veteran extension)

Analysis

The 2024-25 season for the Utah Jazz went about as planned. Instead of being competitive until the trade deadline, the Jazz pivoted to ping pong balls early this season. Call it lessons learned from the last two years. With Cooper Flagg the ultimate prize in the 2025 NBA Draft, Utah wasn’t going to win a bunch of games, miss the postseason and come away with a mid-lottery spot.

Now, the Jazz find themselves near the top of the lottery. Nailing that pick will set the course for years to come.

Not to be flippant, but nothing else for Utah is nearly as important as adding a franchise player in the draft. There are other decisions to made, but they all pale in comparison.

In an ideal world, the Jazz would land the first overall pick and would select Flagg. He’d fit in perfectly in a frontcourt that includes Lauri Markkanen and Walker Kessler. Flagg and Kessler can cover for Markkanen on defense. Markkanen and Flagg bring the shooting that is needed around Kessler.

If the ping pong balls don’t bounce Utah’s way, they could still come away with a top-three pick. That means Dylan Harper or Ace Bailey are probably next on the list. While a considerable drop-off from Flagg, both players are terrific talents. Harper would go a long way towards stabilizing the backcourt for years to come, while Bailey would give Jazz more scoring punch on the wing.

If the lottery really doesn’t go Utah’s way, they can still come away with a solid wing or guard in VJ Edgecombe, Tre Johnson or Kasparas Jakucionis. No matter where the Jazz are picking, they have to nail the pick.

The reason for that is that the roster lacks high-end upside outside of Markkanen. Even then, the talented forward is more of an All-Star talent vs an All-NBA one. Right now, the Jazz have a solid group of players – some with untapped upside – but they don’t have a superstar level player. That’s what this draft can bring to Utah.

Beyond the draft, the immediate roster decisions are pretty straight forward. The Jazz have only three pending free agents, John Collins (who has a player option) and two-way big men Micah Potter and Oscar Tshiebwe.

Despite missing a lot of games (whether due to real injuries or draft position purposes), Collins got back to being the guy he was a few years ago in Atlanta. He was solid around the rim, hit nearly 40% on 3.7 three-point attempts per game. Collins also did a nice job on the boards and had some good individual moments on defense.

Given the market this summer, it’s likely Collins will opt in for the final year of his deal for $26.6 million. From there, expect Utah to look for a trade, especially if they come away with Flagg for another forward/big in the draft. Given teams are always looking for stretch bigs than stay on the floor in the playoffs, and Collins having an expiring deal, the Jazz should find a decent market for him.

Potter can’t do another two-way deal with Utah, so he’s either joining the main roster (unlikely) or heading to free agency (likely). Tshiebwe is a really interesting player. He’s a dominant rebounder, which has carried over from the G League to the NBA. He doesn’t do a whole lot else though. Don’t be surprised if he’s back with the Jazz on another two-way deal.

From there, Utah has to decide on a handful of players who have non-guaranteed contracts Johnny Juzang seems should stick, as he provides solid value for slight above a minimum contract.

K.J. Martin, Svi Mykhailiuk and Jaden Springer have all had moments. All are carrying deals that are likely a touch bigger than what the Jazz would like to have on the books. In addition, because they’ve made a number of draft picks in recent years – with even more picks coming in the future – roster spots are becoming an issue for Utah. Call each of these a true 50-50 decision, with Martin and Mykhailiuk being potential trade chips if their deals are allowed to guarantee.

That’s it for immediate decisions before free agency opens. The Jazz have most of their roster on long-term or rookie scale deals. That leads us to the handful of players who aren’t locked in long-term and the possibility of extensions.

Walker Kessler is the key guy here, as he’s eligible for a rookie scale extension. Kessler has had a very nice bounce-back season for Utah. After a surprisingly good rookie year, the center had a sophomore slump and was pulled in and out of the starting lineup regularly.

This year, Kessler has returned to form. He’s done an outstanding job on the boards on both ends, he’s had a good individual defensive season and he’s shown improved skills on offense. (We aren’t buying this late-season three-point launching though. Let’s just say, there might be some ulterior motives involved there!)

Kessler will be 24 next year, so he’s headed into the prime years of his career. As a rim-protecting, rebounding big, Kessler has a lot of value. Look for an extension in the range of four-years, $120 million for Kessler. That’s not a max, but it reflects the value the big man has. Utah has seen what messing around and letting a good player reach restricted free agency has done in the past. That’s a mistake they aren’t likely to repeat.

The other two extension-eligible players are Collins and Collin Sexton. Nothing is likely to happen there. Both will be headed into their walk years and into unrestricted free agency in 2026.

The Jazz roster is full of potential. It was a bummer that Taylor Hendricks suffered that serious leg injury just as he was getting all the minutes he could handle. If he’s able to return to form, Utah has a fun mix of guards and forwards to develop around Markkanen and Kessler.

It’s hard to pin so much on the bounce of lottery balls, but that’s where the Jazz are. If things go their way, they could be a playoff team as soon as next season. If they don’t, front office and ownership have to have some serious conversations about the roster and how long of a rebuild they are in for. Because, hey, A.J. Dybantsa is playing right down the road and he could be the next big thing in terms of Utah basketball.

Updated Analysis Post-Draft Lottery:

The Lottery was a disaster for the Jazz. There’s no other way to put it. They went in dreaming of Cooper Flagg, but prepared to “settle” for Dylan Harper, or if things went poorly, V.J. Edgecombe or Ace Bailey.

Now? It’ll very likely be none of those players. Because Utah dropped the maximum of four possible spots, they likely won’t come away with any of those top choices. The team could still draft Tre Johnson for perimeter scoring, or Kasparas Jakucionis or Jeremiah Fears to be their long-term point guard, or they could go for some all-around upside with Egor Demin or Derik Queen.

The issue is that none of those players are Flagg, or Harper, or even Bailey or Edgecombe. That’s a brutal blow for a team that has effectively punted on three consecutive seasons. Next year’s draft class is loaded at the top too. But will Jazz fans have the stomach for a fourth year of playing for lottery odds? Based on initial reactions online, that’s a no-go. That means picking an immediate contributor this year or packaging this pick in a trade for a win-now veteran.