Jazz Facing Exciting Question Mark Entering 2024-25, per The Athletic

The Utah Jazz have a very unique obstacle this season.

Utah Jazz players Taylor Hendricks, Keyonte George, Brice Sensabaugh, Cody Williams, Isaiah Collier, and Kyle Filipowski. / Daniel Dunn/Darren Yamashita/Rob Gray/Imagn Images

The NBA is trying to get a bead on the Utah Jazz entering the 2024-25 season. Is this a team still knee-deep in a rebuild, or are the Jazz actually trying to compete this year?

The team has sent some mixed signals, not the least of which was extending Lauri Markkanen on a five-year, quarter-billion-dollar (nearly) contract. Such a deal smacks of a team trying to win now.

In that vein, The Athletic's John Hollinger outlined what he sees as a significant challenge for Utah this year. On one hand, this team has (count 'em) six recent premium-round picks vying for playing time on the court, and has seemed content to keep acquiring and throwing darts at the draft board.

And yet, how do six young players, five of whom are first-rounders, drafted within the last two years find their way onto the court so that the Jazz can even begin to ascertain where they're at on the rebuild continuum?

"Utah’s bevy of recent draft picks will get plentiful chances to prove themselves. Between Cody Williams, Keyonte George, Taylor Hendricks, Isaiah Collier, Brice Sensabaugh and Kyle Filipowski, that’s six first- or second-year players vying for developmental time. Can any of them play?"

"Figuring out the answer to that question is probably the biggest story for Utah this season, especially with three more firsts on the way in June. (In addition to their pick, the Jazz will have likely late first-rounders from Cleveland and Minnesota.)" Hollinger wrote.

Yeah, it's a pickle, and it would indicate that Jazz CEO Danny Ainge and GM Justin Zanik have the presence of mind to accept and expect that 2024-25 will be a growth year. Aka, a developmental year, aka — ya'll ain't making the playoffs year.

But those six premium-rounders represent half a roster of talent. If Jazz head coach Will Hardy can't find a way to make hay with that half-dozen, along with a proven star like Markkanen, and a few other well-placed vets, then perhaps he's unfit for the job.

Hyperbole aside, the Jazz could still opt to zig when the NBA expects them to zag. Utah has the resources to target "elite talent," per Hollinger, as unlikely as it may seem.

"The Jazz also have some more aggressive scenarios where they could make a play for elite talent using their hoard of future firsts and expiring contracts. Realistically, that type of move seems unlikely until the offseason, especially with a possible lottery prize like Flagg (or, in a deep draft, other elite talent like Baylor’s VJ Edgecombe and Rutgers’ Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper) in the offing," Hollinger wrote.

For now, the Jazz are poised to see how this throwing of the darts shakes out. With Markkanen there to help steward the youngsters, perhaps it's in Utah's best interest to throw caution to the wind, and play these six first-rounders until they come together as a team and it translates to wins.

Let the chips fall and charge it to the game.

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