The Utah Jazz made their big move for Jaren Jackson Jr. only a few months ago, and the early returns have been rough.
Utah paid a steep price to land the former Defensive Player of the Year, sending out three first-round picks - including its own 2027 first - along with Walter Clayton Jr., Taylor Hendricks, and a couple of veterans. At the time, it looked like the kind of aggressive swing that could reshape the frontcourt and tighten up the defense.
Instead, 12 games into the 2026-27 season, the Jazz are 1-11, Jackson Jr. is sidelined with a torn MCL for the next several weeks, and the whole deal is already drawing second thoughts.
That said, the full verdict is still unfinished. Jackson Jr. has barely been on the floor for Utah because multiple knee injuries have interrupted his first stretch with the team. Across seven total games with the Jazz between the last two seasons, he has still put up numbers that look a lot like the player Memphis knew: 18.9 points, 4.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and around a steal and a block per game.
When he’s available, there’s still a chance he can give Utah the two-way impact it was chasing. But right now, the Jazz are staring at a roster that has not produced, and the cost of the trade is hard to ignore.
Utah has been stuck near the bottom of the league on both ends, sitting in the bottom five in offensive and defensive rating. On top of that, the team is now forced to keep moving through this season without its own first-round pick.
The lottery setup changes the math a bit. Utah’s upcoming pick wouldn’t carry the same value it would have last year, since the Jazz can’t land a top-five pick in consecutive drafts. Even so, being buried near the bottom of the standings still dents the odds.
With the season going the way it has, it’s fair to wonder whether Utah would rather have kept the young talent and draft capital. Walter Clayton Jr. has looked improved in his new spot with the Dallas Mavericks.
Taylor Hendricks still offers upside on both ends. And the Jazz also gave up a valuable 2031 Phoenix Suns pick that is widely viewed as one of the more attractive future assets around the NBA.
There’s also the Walker Kessler angle. If Utah hadn’t gone after Jackson Jr., it could have had a clearer path to re-sign Kessler, which might have helped solve some of the big man and rebounding problems that have shown up early this season.
None of that changes the fact that hindsight is doing a lot of the heavy lifting here. Utah could still turn things around over the course of an 82-game season, get healthier, and make this look very different by spring.
But at this moment, the Jackson Jr. trade has not pushed the Jazz forward the way they hoped. They’re 10 games under .500, dealing with injuries, and waiting for a stretch of wins that might make the deal look better than it does right now.
In Other News...
Walker Kessler Is Making Utahs Brutal Start Even Harder To Ignore
Utahs rough opening has made every comparison sting a little more, and the latest one is especially hard to miss. The Jazz are sitting at 1-11, tied for the worst mark in the Western Conference, while Walker Kessler is helping the Los Angeles Lakers surge to the top of the conference with an 11-2 start.
Kesslers early impact in Los Angeles only sharpens the contrast for a Utah team still trying to find its footing. It is far too soon to treat November as a verdict on either side, but the optics are obvious: one franchise is searching for answers, and the other has found a way to make the move look even better. [Read more 🡒]
Jazz Face Another Frontcourt Problem Before Rockets Clash
The Jazz head into their second NBA Cup game against the Rockets still trying to patch together a frontcourt that has been hit hard by injuries. Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr. remain sidelined, and Jusuf Nurkic is still out as well, leaving Utah short on size at a time when every rotation decision matters a little more in tournament play.
There is at least one bit of relief in the backcourt, where Keyonte George has been cleared to return after dealing with an ankle sprain. Even so, the bigger concern remains up front, where the Jazz are waiting on more clarity for Nurkic and hoping the rest of the roster can absorb the absence of so much front-line production for another night. [Read more 🡒]
Isaiah Collier Is Making The Jazz Revisit An Early Decision
Isaiah Colliers first season in Utah has already turned into a small front-office test case. The Jazz passed on his fourth-year team option for the 2027-28 season, a move that reflected how uneven his early stretch had been and how crowded the backcourt picture already looked with other young guards in the mix.
Lately, though, Collier has started to look more like a player worth reconsidering. His recent games have shown better scoring efficiency and steadier playmaking on a per-36-minute basis, which is exactly the kind of late-season progress that can make an early decision feel a little less settled. Whether Utah ends up wishing it had kept the option alive is still an open question, but Collier has at least made the discussion more interesting. [Read more 🡒]