Jazz Urged to Start Walker Kessler, Cody Williams for 2024-25 Season

The Utah Jazz have an array of options when it comes to their lineup decisions next year.

Feb 27, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler (24) dunks against the Atlanta Hawks in the second half at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports / Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports

The Utah Jazz have an interesting crossroads approaching them for the coming NBA season, one that splits between being a team that prioritizes winning games now and being a squad that fully invests in the rebuild process. It's a position they've been in the middle ground of for the past two seasons, but now, we may be getting a clearer direction for this team in the 2024-25 season.

After an offseason that remained mostly quiet for the Jazz other than adding a few new names to their young core, Utah looks geared up to be more invested in their youth movement than they have been during the first two seasons of their rebuild. Their recent roster construction could be signaling what's to come with this team across the coming season, and it may look a bit different than we're used to.

In what could be a year the Jazz heavily lean into their youth and development, Bleacher Report's Dan Favale pounds the table for Utah to do just that: prioritize their young talent.

When describing a few lineup changes around the league he'd like to see for next season, Favale pinned the Jazz as a key candidate to make some adjustments-- most notably, starting Walker Kessler in place for John Collins, and even finding some increased run for rookie Cody Williams.

"Thirty-one different starting units graced the floor for the Utah Jazz last year. Similar experimentation could define this season... Utah has tons of players entering their rookie and sophomore campaigns, and Kessler is only heading into Year 3. Playing a bunch of them, together, may not result in the prettiest product. But it'll yield plenty of information. Besides, the Jazz can still have the best of both worlds. Markkanen and Sexton can stick in the new iteration, Kessler isn't exactly inexperienced, and George spent plenty of time in core lineups as a rookie. Starting those four with Hendricks or Williams (an actual wing!) does a nice job juggling the future with the present and balancing offensive and defensive skill sets."

- Dan Favale, Bleacher Report

This season, the Jazz will have nine players the age of 25 or under with a chance to secure a significant role in the rotation, giving Utah a grand opportunity to capitalize on youth much more than they've been able to in the past two years of their rebuild. In Favale's proposition, it's a full investment into their future cornerstones, while also setting some time aside for their current cornerstone in Lauri Markkanen.

A lineup headlined by Kessler, Markkanen, Williams, as well as Keyonte George, and Collin Sexton, doesn't quite scream win-now, but it has a clear direction. After treading water for the past two seasons, the Jazz could be en route to finding their way to a top pick in a loaded draft class.

Expect the Jazz to remain flexible in their lineup plans for next season, with the chance of seeing a variety of combinations to be thrown into the fold as the year moves forward.

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