Jazz's Biggest Rest-of-Season Goal Revealed

It's been a year full of growth and development for the Utah Jazz during the 2024-25 campaign.

Moving out of the All-Star Break, the Jazz stand just above the floor of the NBA's league standings at 13-41, primed to be atop this year's draft lottery instead of nearing the Play-In Tournament in a tough Western Conference.

However, without much high stakes to hang onto, that doesn't mean it's a totally lost season for the Jazz in the final stretch of the year. With just under two months to go, Utah can still use these final 28 games to their advantage, effectively putting themselves in a better positon for this summer and 2025-26.

In the eyes of Bleacher Report's Eric Pincus, the Jazz should be looking to do more of the same from this season coming out of the All-Star Break –– use these final games as an opportunity for the development of Isaiah Collier and Keyonte George, even if it may not equate to many wins.

The Jazz can let Keyonte George, Isaiah Collier and other young players grow with high usage without concern for winning games," Pincus said. "The team may miss the No. 1 seed (in the lottery) Washington Wizards, but Utah is all but a lock to be in the 2-4 range. The goal would be No. 3, with slightly better odds of 14 percent instead of 12.5 at No. 4. Landing the top overall pick would lock in Duke's Cooper Flagg in Utah, arguably the Jazz's overarching goal for the entire season."

While the Jazz haven't been able to move too far into the competition space this season, the team has been able to see a good chunk of positive growth from Keyonte George, and especially so from rookie guard Isaiah Collier, who's jumped into the starting lineup before Utah entered the All-Star Break.

And for the final portion of this season, allowing both guards, along with the rest of the Jazz's young core to develop, collect heavy minutes, and get more experience under their belt would be a great way to finish off the season.

Playing multiple young and inexperienced players with heavy rotational minutes never usually makes for a consistently strong team on a night-to-night basis. However, in due time, allowing that heavy exposure to take place on the floor can play a massive role in the future development of this young core.

This part of the year is perfect to let players like George and Collier, along with guys such as Cody Williams, Brice Sensabaugh, Kyle Filipowski, and Johnny Juzang get expanded roles and minutes that they wouldn't have seen otherwise this season.

Having a collection of playable veterans on the roster makes that tougher, but it's a necessary component of letting your young talent grow.

Especially for a Jazz team set to embark on a pretty difficult schedule following the All-Star Break (9th-toughest in the NBA), it could be an extra challenge for a notably young group of players. But, in that process can lead to the Utah front office's ultimate goal being obtained: getting the top draft odds necessary to land the prized number-one selection.

Time will tell if those dreams can come to fruition for the Jazz, but in the meantime, expect this team to let their youth movement flourish in the coming weeks of the season.

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