Utah Jazz's Biggest Remaining Question for 2024-25 NBA Season Revealed

The Utah Jazz are still at a crossroads ahead of the next NBA season.

Mar 27, 2024; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; San Antonio Spurs center Victor Wembanyama (1) drives against Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen (23) during the fourth quarter at Delta Center. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-USA TODAY Sports / Rob Gray-USA TODAY Sports

It was a productive summer for the Utah Jazz during an offseason that added some fresh and appealing young talent while also managing to retain All-Star Lauri Markkanen on a near-max contract to keep him in Salt Lake City for the long haul.

However, there are still a few glaring question marks remaining for this roster as it enters the third season of a rebuild, and eyeing a few more on the horizon.

While the Jazz have consistently been able to build a solidified young core over the past three summers, this roster still stands a few steps away before becoming a serious threat in a loaded Western Conference.

Utah is projected to sit around 28.5 wins for the upcoming year, pinning them as one of the lower teams on the totem pole, but also with a group of veteran players with a slim chance to make a Play-In push.

As a result of the Jazz's crossroads, Bleacher Report's Grant Hughes labeled their biggest question ahead of the next season as "Will They Pull the Plug Again?" effectively asking if this front office will make some more moves to tear down the roster and bottom out in the standings:

"The Utah Jazz are going on two straight seasons in which their talent performed a little too well in the early going, which necessitated some pretty deliberate late-season tanking. Are they going to take that approach, which hurt their chances at the top pick in the last two drafts, for a third season in a row?... Utah seems to want it both ways. It's loaded with young players who need developmental reps, and it could steer into a terrible record by granting George and the rest big roles from start to finish. But it also has many capable veterans who've played well enough to keep the team in the playoff hunt."

- Grant Hughes, Bleacher Report

The Jazz have a solid group of young players but also hold some veterans who can contribute to wins, like former Sixth Man of the Year Jordan Clarkson, Collin Sexton, John Collins, and, of course, Lauri Markkanen.

Their mix of young and experienced talent may inevitably give them a bit of a boost in the record books for the coming year. And, as a result, lessen their odds in the Cooper Flagg sweepstakes. Utah could opt to try and move vets like Collins or Clarkson before the year begins, but the market may not be in their favor to get a deal done.

Instead, this roster may look similarly constructed to years past as a team that can put up good but not playoff-worthy numbers through half the season, then ship off some pieces at the deadline to bottom out for better lottery odds.

It may be the underwhelming route the Jazz have taken the past two seasons, but it looks to be shaping up for a third without any drastic changes.

The goal for the Jazz moving forward should be to prioritize their young pieces and development while also gunning for some top lottery odds to further build upon an already appealing young core. Candidates like Keyonte George, Walker Kessler, Taylor Hendricks, and the team's three rookies can enter this season with a significant role from the jump and hopefully fast-track this rebuild to success.

The concept sounds good in theory, but we'll see how attainable it is.

Follow Inside The Jazz on Facebook and Twitter/X, and subscribe to YouTube for breaking Jazz news videos and live streams!