One Jazz Offseason Move We Loved Most (And One We Still Don't Understand)

The Utah Jazz have one underrated— but great— offseason move worth highlighting. Another move didn't make quite as much sense.

Jan 30, 2026; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; (from left to right) Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith and CEO of basketball operations Danny Ainge and president of basketball operations Austin Ainge and general manager Justin Zanik speak before a game against the Brooklyn Nets at Delta Center. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Utah Jazz have wrapped up most of their free agency action, being over a week past the moratorium opening.

Following last month's draft and selection of Darryn Peterson, the Jazz added a couple of veterans from the free agent market, re-signed their own veteran big man in Jusuf Nurkic, and of course, made the big move of trading away Walker Kessler to the Los Angeles Lakers for a bundle of future draft capital.

But within the Jazz's free agency period, there was one clear move that takes the cake as their best–– and perhaps their most underrated–– decision of all. There was also one that sticks out that didn't quite make a ton of sense given Utah's current situation, though that could certainly change in due time.

Based on the information we currently have, though, let's sift through the Jazz's best and worst moves throughout the offseason so far:

The Move We Loved: Signing Josh Okogie

Apr 3, 2026; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Rockets guard Josh Okogie (20) handles the ball against the Utah Jazz during the third quarter at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Erik Williams-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Jazz entered this free agency period with a glaring need: that was to shore up their perimeter defense with one reliable presence on that end of the floor.

Josh Okogie manages to do just that, who the Jazz brought in on an affordable two-year, $12 million deal as a part of their mid-level exception, and added on a team option in the second season of his contract.

He's a lengthy, experienced defender who has multiple seasons on playoff-level rosters, and also comes off of one of his most durable years to date; playing in 78 of 82 available games for the Houston Rockets at a little over 17 minutes a game.

One thing that Okogie does really well on the defensive end is generating turnovers. While he only averaged 0.8 steals a night last season in Houston, he was in the 92nd percentile for turnover percentage at 2.2%.

For a Jazz roster that has trouble with ball control themselves––ranking towards the bottom of the NBA for turnovers per game in recent seasons––finding players who can force giveaways on the other end becomes much more important.

The block.
The take.
The finish.

Josh Okogie getting it done on both ends in the ATL! pic.twitter.com/qIGmG7WTbr

— NBA (@NBA) October 17, 2025

On the offensive end, Okogie isn't anything close to a focal point that the Jazz will be leaning on. They have several scoring threats that they can rely on anyways.

But Okogie has turned himself into a reliable connecting piece offensively who's capable of spacing the floor and knocking down shots from deep. This past season, he shot a career-high 38.5% from three.

Okogie might be fighting for minutes in the back-end of the Jazz's rotation with guys like Svi Mykhailiuk, though there's a real case to be had that he enters immediately as Utah's best perimeter defender on the roster. That skillset alone will get him on the floor consistently.

The Move We Still Don't Understand: Signing Jaxson Hayes

Mar 31, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers center Jaxson Hayes (11) reacts after a dunk in the second half against the Cleveland Cavaliers at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

To be fair, it's easy to see why the Jazz went after big man depth on the free agent market. After the loss of Walker Kessler, Utah needed to plug up their glaring hole in the frontcourt in some way, and signing Hayes to a two-year deal with a team option in the second season was a decent short-term fix for that.

However, for the Jazz to end up with Jaxson Hayes of all big men that were up for grabs didn't make a ton of sense in terms of what type of skillset Utah needed at the five.

Hayes can be a nice offensive presence on the inside, sure. He finished last season with a career-high 75.6% field goal shooting on a little over 18 minutes a game, providing the Jazz with a lob threat and threat from inside the arc that they didn't quite have before in their frontcourt.

But losing Kessler meant the Jazz needed another dose of rim protection and rebounding; both of which are skills that Hayes doesn't quite bring to the table at a high level. He was in the 31st percentile of big men in terms of defensive rebounding percentage (14.0%), and average in terms of points allowed per 100 possessions (-1.7).

Of course, the Jazz could decide to address that need for rim protection and rebounding at another time. They do have one more roster spot at their disposal, and another big man could be the perfect way to use that.

Yet it seems like Utah might also be feeling confident with their current frontcourt rotation in place––at least for now––and will attack those glaring needs of a defensive presence and rebounder at a later date. We'll see how it works out for them.

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