The Utah Jazz’s rough opening has not shaken ownership.
At 1-7 through eight games of the 2026-27 season, Utah has landed far short of the preseason buzz that surrounded the roster. A group that looked like a possible breakout team has instead stumbled into one of the league’s most disappointing starts, with the Jazz sitting in the bottom 10 in both offensive and defensive rating.
That kind of beginning usually brings heat, and it has already sparked criticism of the coaching staff’s decisions and the front office’s approach over the summer. But Ryan Smith isn’t buying into the panic.
In a recent interview with Chandler Holt of KSL Sports, the Jazz owner made his stance plain when asked about the people running the team.
"Will's our guy. Austin's our guy.
We're not changing anything," Smith said. "We're gonna work together and go through this.
We have incredible people."
"These are championship pedigree people. They know what it looks like."
Smith also pointed to the bigger picture, saying the organization still views this as a long-term build rather than something that should be judged by eight games. He said the Jazz are still in the process of growing from a rebuilding team into a winning one in the Western Conference, and that transition was never going to happen overnight.
There are reasons the start has been so choppy. Utah has been without two frontcourt starters, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Jusuf Nurkic, because of injury. The defense has not taken the leap the team hoped for, and the shooting has been ice-cold, with the rotation hitting just 31.4% from three-point range.
Even with those issues, Smith said he expects improvement once the roster gets healthier.
"Now, we need to start turning it up, and we're going to. It'll be very different once we get a couple of these guys back from a consistency standpoint."
"We're not happy with the start by any means. But there's only so many levers you can pull given where you're at in the season. We're definitely looking at this as a two, three, four year [journey], and our goal is to win a championship."
For now, the message from ownership is patience. No changes are coming to Will Hardy or Austin Ainge, and the Jazz are staying the course despite the ugly record.
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Mykhailiuk was brought in to help stabilize the perimeter, but the offense has not come around and the defensive fit has been just as shaky. Utah is weighing whether to trim his minutes and lean on other options for now, a reminder that on a roster searching for answers, even one cold stretch can ripple through the rest of the rotation. [Read more 🡒]
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Will Hardy pointed to those same problem areas afterward, and it is not hard to see why. Utah did not generate enough extra chances, and the ball security issues kept putting the defense back under pressure, leaving the Jazz with another frustrating example of how physicality and discipline can decide a game long before the final buzzer. [Read more 🡒]
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Markkanen is listed as questionable because of a right wrist sprain, the same issue that has already interrupted his season. For a Jazz team trying to stop the slide and get back on track, his status looms large because so much of the offense flows through him when he is on the floor, and Utah will be watching closely before tipoff to see whether it can count on one of its most important pieces. [Read more 🡒]