While the Utah Jazz have been a team across the past two NBA offseasons that’s been stockpiled with a strong number of appealing assets to build the future of their roster, this front office has recently opted to take a calmer approach in their team-building process since the trades of Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell.

This summer in particular, the Jazz’s moves consisted of bringing in a few deeper rotational players in free agency, alongside three new rookies in the 2024 draft to help bolster this young core. Other than that, transactions remained mild in Salt Lake City as Danny Ainge patiently awaits his chance to strike in a big blockbuster trade down the line.

As the NBA offseason continues to die down in anticipation for the looming regular season ahead, Bleacher Report dished out a one-word analysis for each team around the league surrounding what went down for them across the recent months.

For the Jazz, Eric Picnus labeled Utah’s summer as “waiting,” detailing the financial flexibility and trade opportunities that lie ahead for this roster as they continue to fill out this rebuild:

“The Utah Jazz used their financial flexibility to reward Lauri Markkanen with a renegotiated and extended contract instead of aggressively adding talent alongside him. The importance of locking him down long-term gives the Jazz more control over their timeline in terms of when and how to improve. The franchise appears to be waiting for the right opportunity (probably in trade) to add a second piece next to Markkanen. The team’s fortunes may turn quickly if it can simultaneously get that done and hit in the draft next June.”

– Eric Pincus, Bleacher Report

It truly is a wait-and-see operation for Utah as they head into another season without much hope of making a deep run in the Western Conference. While the re-signing and extension of Lauri Markkanen helps provide more security for this team in the long run, a few steps still remain before this squad becomes a serious threat.

The turning point for how this Jazz team develops will likely rely on how the front office selects to use their overwhelming amount of assets to bring in a star to pair next to Markkanen. However, without any appealing offers or opportunities to add top-tier talent lying on the table, Utah has decided to take on another year of prioritizing its young pieces rather than pushing their chips all-in.

In the meantime, guys like Keyonte George, Walker Kessler, Taylor Hendricks, and rookie Cody Williams can find some expanded playing time and roles to help cater to their development. It’s a slower, more methodical process, but it’s better to wait and pounce on the right player in a deal than to make the wrong move and effectively set the timeline to compete back truly.

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