Utah Jazz Committed to Competing Next Season, With One Big Caveat

Throughout this offseason, the Utah Jazz have made their mindset clear for how this coming season will look, and it'll be primed to be set up a bit differently than what we saw across their last campaign.

Rather than being a blatantly tanking team that's resting multiple contributing veterans and manipulating lineups down the second-half stretch of the season as they did during their 2025-26 season, the Jazz have turned another direction this summer. Utah shipped out those contributing veterans in the form of Collin Sexton, John Collins, and Jordan Clarkson and has since put together a young lineup centered on development, while also gearing up to be more competitive and perhaps try to win more games than last season.

And according to Deseret News' Sarah Todd, seeing the Jazz attempting to be more competitive next season is something that's been echoed inside the building, as well as publicly.

"In addition to what’s been said publicly, privately there have been team sources who have said similar things," Todd wrote. "There is a general consensus that the Jazz will fully compete, but that the team is so young and raw that it will probably end up at the bottom of the standings no matter what."

On paper, cranking up the competitive nature of this team, even if it may not result in a playoff appearance, is a much stronger approach for the Jazz to enter this season with than they did previously. A tanking team can only get you so far, and as shown through the end of last season, that strategy became miserable to endure for both those in the building and fans alike, so establishing that aspired winning culture has to start somewhere.

However, those competitive efforts will come with one major aspect to keep in the back of mind that could shift that thought process: the Jazz's 2026 first-round pick.

Currently, the Jazz's 2026 first-round pick is top-eight protected in the hands of the Oklahoma City Thunder, meaning that if Utah's selection falls to pick nine or lower, that pick goes to the reigning NBA champions.

Obviously, not ideal, really, for anyone in the league.

Those protection parameters do vanish following the end of this season, before that first round pick turns into a second-rounder. But, as Todd mentioned, that pick might be the one outlier that shifts the Jazz towards turning their focus closer to their lottery odds than being as competitive as they can be.

"As a reminder, the Jazz owe the Oklahoma City Thunder a top-8 protected pick," Todd continued. "If the pick doesn’t convey to the Thunder in 2026, the obligation extinguishes. This is the last year the Jazz will be held hostage by that pick, and frankly, I just don’t buy that the Jazz are going to let the reigning NBA champions have a lottery pick. If the Jazz look like they are in danger of winning too many games, I would be willing to bet that there will be some deliberate tanking that would happen."

Nov 27, 2024; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Utah Jazz guard Isaiah Collier (13) talks with head coach Will Hardy during a timeout against the Denver Nuggets during the first half at the Delta Center. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Creveling-Imagn Images | Christopher Creveling-Imagn Images

Needless to say, that pick is a big factor for the Jazz to take note of this season, especially towards the latter half of the year, meaning that if Utah winds up being too competitive, having those extra wins on the board may inevitably end up hurting the Jazz and their rebuild more than assisting it.

Odds are, regardless of whether the Jazz try to remain competitive from the beginning to the end of the year, it still might not result in rising above those top eight draft spots. Yet, as Utah continues to try and keep the rebuild moving on a positive slope, it's hard to believe this group fumbles their opportunity to land another top young prospect if they have a route to do so, even if it shows some shades of last year's roster.

More Utah Jazz Content