The Utah Jazz have spent four straight seasons stuck in the kind of losing that wears on everybody involved. Since 2022-23, they haven’t cleared 37 wins in a year, and the last two seasons have both ended with fewer than 25 victories. Over that four-year stretch, Utah has gone 107-221.
That kind of run is rare in franchise history. The Jazz have only had four or more straight losing seasons twice before, and the last time came in the early 1980s. So yes, the pressure to turn this around is real - and this season looks like the cleanest chance they’ve had since the rebuild started.
On paper, this group has more juice than the Jazz have carried in a while. Utah is young, but it’s also loaded with talent. Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson give them two All-Star-level players at the top, and the roster is packed with recent first-round picks, including two top-five selections from the last two drafts and six first-round picks from the last four years who could be in the rotation.
That matters because the ceiling is no longer just about development. This team has enough offensive talent to finish in the top half of the league on that end, and Jackson Jr. gives them a real foundation to grow defensively in the frontcourt. If one or more of the younger pieces take a step forward, this is the kind of roster that can move in a different direction fast.
The organization has already signaled that it’s ready for that shift. Utah’s trade deadline deal to bring in Jackson Jr. from the Grizzlies came with the cost of giving up the rights to its first-round pick in 2027. Add in the way the draft lottery odds have changed for this season, and the usual incentive to lose games isn’t really there anymore.
That leaves the Jazz with something they haven’t had in a while: a deep rotation, a strong top five, and a reason to chase wins instead of position. Will Hardy is there, eager to start winning games, and the roster has the kind of young talent that can bother opponents every night.
If a few things break their way once October arrives, Utah has a real shot to climb into the top eight in the Western Conference and finish above .500 for the first time since 2022.
In Other News...
Colorado Gets A Rare Homecoming Spotlight With NBA Stars Returning
Colorados Homecoming Weekend is getting an unusually bright spotlight this fall, with the CU Events Center set to host an NBA preseason game on Oct. 4. The matchup gives the University of Colorado a rare chance to stage a major pro basketball event on campus, and it brings the Denver Nuggets and Utah Jazz into the same building as part of a neutral-site showcase.
For Utah, the evening carries an added layer through Cody Williams, one of the former Buffaloes now in the Jazz system. He will be on the floor opposite KJ Simpson, another Colorado alum with the Nuggets, turning the exhibition into a reunion that underscores how far the programs recent talent has traveled. It also comes at a time when CUs arena future remains a live topic, with renovation discussions still in the background and the possibility that events like this could help shape what comes next. [Read more 🡒]
Jazz Draft History Shows How Fast This Rebuild Is Taking Shape
The Jazzs rebuild has moved quickly enough that their draft history already reads like a snapshot of the franchises direction. Over the last five years, Utah has made 10 notable first-round picks, using the draft as the main engine for reshaping the roster and building around a new core. Some of those selections have already become central to the teams future, while others served as trade chips in deals that changed the shape of the roster just as much as the players themselves.
Darryn Peterson and Bailey stand out as part of the long-term foundation, the kind of picks a front office points to when a rebuild starts to feel real. Other first-rounders, including Clayton and Taylor Hendricks, have already been moved elsewhere, a reminder that not every selection is meant to stay in place. The bigger question for Utah now is less about whether the draft has mattered and more about how many of these pieces will still be part of the next version of the Jazz once the rest of the plan comes into view. [Read more 🡒]
Jazz Are Chasing Something Their Last Contenders Never Found
The Jazz spent part of the offseason in Finland, where Ryan Smith said several members of the organization got together with Lauri Markkanen, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Keyonte George in what amounted to a low-key effort to get better acquainted before the season begins. Markkanen sounded genuinely energized by the visit, and for a team trying to push forward, those kinds of moments matter almost as much as any workout or pickup run.
It also fits the broader challenge in Utah, where the current group is trying to build something sturdier than the chemistry that came undone with Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert. The Jazz have talent, but they also know that talent alone does not guarantee a long runway together, and these offseason connections are part of the attempt to make sure the locker room grows in the same direction as the roster. [Read more 🡒]