Free agency has already put the Utah Jazz in a tricky spot, and the Walker Kessler sign-and-trade to the Los Angeles Lakers only sharpened the problem. The frontcourt suddenly looks thin, and if the Jazz are serious about staying in the Western Conference race, they need another center who can hold up over a long season.
Utah did get a deal done with Jaxson Hayes later on Wednesday, which helps, but the current center picture still carries plenty of risk. A depth chart built around Jusuf Nurkic, Hayes and Filipowski is not the kind of setup that matches up well with the best bigs out West. And if Nurkic misses time, the Jazz could be looking at a serious setback in their push to get back to the playoffs, with a fifth straight lottery trip suddenly in play.
With that in mind, there are a few names the Jazz should have on the board, whether through free agency or trade.
Nick Richards sits at the top of the list. If he leaves Chicago this offseason, it would be his fourth NBA team.
The Bulls have added Nic Claxton and kept Zach Collins, which makes Richards look like the odd man out. At $5,000,000 in 2025-26, he checks a lot of boxes for Utah: affordable, younger than Jusuf Nurkic, and with more starting experience than Jaxson Hayes.
Richards could even start, which would let Nurkic settle into a reserve role and keep Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr. from spending too many minutes at center.
Another name worth watching is Goga Bitadze, even though he is not a free agent. Orlando’s decision to re-acquire Nikola Vucevic to back up Wendell Carter Jr. points to a reduced role for Bitadze in 2026-27, and that opens the door for a trade.
Utah has several ways to build a package, including outside shooting, frontcourt depth, backcourt help or expiring salary. Filipowski would likely have to be part of the deal, plus another player to make the money work.
That would sting, but Flip is also expected to have a smaller role in the Jazz frontcourt this season, especially with Jaren Jackson Jr. likely to get some small-ball center minutes.
Andre Drummond is another free-agent option who brings a different kind of value. He’s a former All-Star, still capable of backing up a center spot and even starting if needed.
Utah lacked that kind of insurance a year ago. His defense and leadership would add some life to a team that needs more presence in the paint.
Age is the obvious question at 32, but Drummond has averaged 17.5 minutes per game over the last five seasons while posting 7.3 points, 8.3 rebounds and 0.7 blocks.
Drew Eubanks is already a familiar face in Utah after spending roughly half of the 2024-25 season there. He averaged 5.2 points and 3.7 boards with Sacramento last year and would project as a third center for the Jazz.
Kelly Olynyk is another player Jazz fans know well. “The Klynyk” was in Utah from 2022 to 2024, and since then he’s bounced to three different teams.
His ability to play either the four or the five would fit this roster, and his passing and skill could be useful for a young group. The fact that he spent a year going up against Victor Wembanyama in practice could also pay off if Utah is trying to climb back into the playoff picture in the West.
The Jazz have to move fast if they want to firm up this rotation before the market thins out. Right now, they need one more center to make the whole picture feel a lot less fragile.
In Other News...
Another Blockbuster Just Made The Walker Kessler Trade Look Better
A fresh wave of offseason fireworks gave the Jazz another reason to feel good about the Walker Kessler move. Bostons decision to send Jaylen Brown to Philadelphia for Paul George and a package of picks reset the market in a hurry, and it invited a quick comparison with Utahs own trade of Kessler to the Lakers, a deal that brought back a significant haul of future assets. For a Jazz team still sorting through its long-term frontcourt plans, the optics matter almost as much as the return itself.
Utah also did not leave itself exposed if the Kessler situation had gone a different direction. The Jazz had a fallback path in place, including the possibility of landing Jaren Jackson Jr. and bringing back Jusuf Nurkic, which underscores how deliberate the front office was in handling the stretch. With another major trade now hanging over the league, the Kessler deal looks less like a simple move and more like one piece of a wider offseason strategy. [Read more 🡒]
Jazz Still Have One Last Chance To Maximize The Kessler Deal
The sign-and-trade sending Walker Kessler to the Lakers is expected to be finalized once the July 6 moratorium lifts, but Utahs front office still has a narrow window to see whether the framework can be made more useful before it becomes official. From the Jazzs side, this is less about simply moving Kessler and more about whether the deal can be shaped to create a better financial and roster outcome, especially with the team looking for every bit of flexibility it can find.
Utah does not have a clean block of mid-tier salary sitting between Darryn Peterson and Lauri Markkanen, which makes ordinary trade matching tougher and leaves the club leaning on consolidation or outside help. That is why the possibility of folding the move into a broader structure matters, because even a modest add-on could change the cap math and open the door to extra assets before the agreement is locked in. [Read more 🡒]