Which Utah Jazz Player Feels Most Likely to Break Out This Season

The Utah Jazz head into the 2026-27 season as one of the NBA's breakout candidates; a team that's largely been focused on lottery balls for the past four years and now gear up with a talented roster eager to win a whole lot more games.

But as the Jazz are looked at as one of the league's breakout candidates from a broader perspective, Utah's roster has a handful of intriguing young pieces with a route to their own individual breakout seasons.

The Jazz have six players they've drafted from the past four years who are 22 years old or younger heading into the season. So there's bound to be a ton of untapped potential up and down their rotation that has a chance to finally click this year for what could be a career-best season.

When searching among the Jazz's roster, though, who might have the best route to a breakout season?

There are a few names that could stick out, but none catch more attention than the Jazz's top-five pick from last year's draft, Ace Bailey, who's shown real reason to believe that a breakout is on the horizon sooner rather than later.

How an Ace Bailey Breakout Season Could Happen

Now, there is a chance that Bailey needs another year or two in order to really develop further into the ceiling that the Jazz drafted him for. He just turned 20 years old and has less than 75 games of regular season experience in the league. So maybe his sophomore season still winds up a little raw.

Yet, over the course of his rookie season, when Bailey got increasingly involved with more opportunities, he got better and better.

Jan 28, 2026; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Utah Jazz guard Ace Bailey (19) drives to the basket against Golden State Warriors guard Moses Moody (right) during the first half at Delta Center. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

When looking at Bailey's post-All-Star break stats, they were pretty encouraging splits: 18.3 points, 4.9 rebounds, and 2.0 assists while shooting 43.3% from the field and 35.0% from three. So the momentum could be there after a strong end to his rookie season to keep pushing forward for an even better year of production in 2026-27.

And especially following up from an offseason where he was vocal about how much work he was going to put in before the summer started, you'd have to think Bailey's an even more polished version of himself than what he was the last time we saw him on the floor.

Bailey said during Jazz media day that he's gained 10 to 12 pounds from his rookie season, thinks he's gotten taller than the 6-foot-9 frame he's listed at, and both tend to bode pretty well for not only the defensive side of his game, but also allow him to be a more imposing threat as a scorer with more length and strength.

Ace Bailey said he’s put on 10-12 pounds this summer and also thinks he got a little taller.

Added he’s feeling 100 percent after dealing with back spasms in summer league.#TakeNote pic.twitter.com/aOo6IBUiR5
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) September 28, 2026

Bottom Line

So there's no doubt that the Jazz will have a good amount of competition for touches this season outside of Bailey.

Lauri Markkanen, Jaren Jackson Jr., Keyonte George, and even their newest No. 2 pick Darryn Peterson have a feasible route to be more involved than Bailey, and that could complicate the route to Bailey really maximizing his opportunities he gets.

However, if Bailey can prove that he can help the Jazz lift up from the bottom-two defense they've had for the past three seasons, while also showcasing a bit more aggressiveness and efficiency on the offensive end from his rookie year, a real leap both statistically and in terms of sheer impact is largely in play.

So if there were to be any breakout candidate on the Jazz's roster to turn towards as the most likely one, Bailey is the obvious guy to keep a close eye on.

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