5 Critical Keys That Will Define a Successful Utah Jazz Season

In a season where expectations are on the floor for this Jazz roster, a lot of attention will be drawn to their class of incoming rookies, headlined by first round picks Ace Bailey and Walt Clayton, seeing what they can do in their first year of NBA action.

And while there's not any excessive pressure on those first-year guys to perform right away in a developmental situation like the Jazz stand in, a strong debut season for both Bailey and Clayton would be a massive boost for the future of Utah's rebuild.

Bailey has already proven to be a dominant scorer as advertised during two preseason games with 20-plus points in each showing, while Clayton had his own early flashes of note in their exhibition contests with a 20-point performance of his own.

If the Jazz are able to get one, or both of their first-year players on an All-Rookie team at year's end, that'll be a testament to the young and budding talent in the building, and a solid initial sample size for the first draft class led by new Jazz president Austin Ainge.

2. Show Signs of Life Defensively

To put it bluntly, the Jazz have been pretty abysmal on the defensive side of the ball for the past two seasons.

Utah has fallen to a league-worst defensive rating across the past two years, haven't had a strong presence to defend on the perimeter consistently against some of the top talents in the West, and without Walker Kessler manning the middle, would likely be among one of the league's worst defenses in recent NBA history.

But, throughout this offseason, a key emphasis in the building from Will Hardy has been to hone in on that defensive mindset and conditioning to be able to keep up with anyone in the league. Utah will also have the benefit of seeing a top defender in Taylor Hendricks back in the lineup after his season-ending injury last year, as well as adding potential positive defenders in rookies Bailey and Clayton throuhout the summer.

Seeing a meteoric rise to be a top defense in the NBA would be a bit of an unrealistic expectation to hold for such a young and inexperienced rotation. However, if the Jazz can lift above the floor of the league's worst units, that's a solid start to begin building a more consistent and stout defense for the future.

3. Solve the Future Point Guard Dilemma

The Jazz have a trio of young guards set to be major factors of their rotation heading into the season ahead, all of which hold upside to be the next point guard of the future for this roster: third-year guard Keyonte George, sophomore Isaiah Collier, and of course, the rookie Walt Clayton Jr.

But, among those three bound to see heavy minutes in the backcourt this season, who has the best chance to lead this group as the starting one moving forward? That will be a critical question the Jazz will need to keep at the top of their priority list for the year ahead.

Can George balance out his offensive inconsistencies and turnover issues? Will Collier show improvements as a three-point shooter? Is Clayton bound to break out onto the scene as the best man for the job?

Without Collin Sexton or Jordan Clarkson in the way of those guys getting their shine, Hardy will have the perfect opportunity to scan the landscape in the backcourt to decide who has the best chance to be a quality starting NBA point guard.

4. Stay the Course With Lauri Markkanen

The chatter that always seems to encircle the Jazz, especially leading into February's trade deadline, is the talk of a potential move that would send out star forward Lauri Markkanen to further push the needle forward on Utah's younger timeline and rebuilding efforts.

Those rumors will inevitably spark up again, and for the Jazz, they shouldn't succumb to the pressure. The task is simple: keep Markkanen on the roster.

Both the Jazz brass and Markkanen have remained confident and committed to the long-term process of building a winner in Utah together, with the one-time All-Star set to be apart of the next playoff team housed in Salt Lake City. That's been the internal stance for each side since he arrived three summers ago, and it'll more than likely continue throughout the course of this season.

While the phone will be ringing throughout the year, and general managers around the league are inevitably going to be interested in Markkanen on their respective teams, he's a valuable, versatile lineup fit that the Jazz have signed on for years to come. He's only 28 years old, and happy to be a part of the ongoing rebuild.

Barring any unforeseen change, it'd be tough to sell a move that makes sense to ship him out of his current situation.

If there is indeed a trade to be had with Markkanen, the Jazz better make sure they obtain top-level value for one of their key franchise cornerstones.

5. Secure That Top-8 Protected Pick

Perhaps the most important objective to hit for the Jazz this season: get ahold of their own first round pick.

As of now, the reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder hold the rights to Utah's first-round pick, protected within the top eight of the lottery––meaning if the Jazz's pick falls between number one through eight, they get to keep it. If they fall to nine or anywhere below, that selection goes to OKC.

Simply put, the Jazz have to get their hands on this pick. In a draft class projected to be loaded with talent at the top of the board like Darryn Peterson, AJ Dybantsa, and Cameron Boozer, they can't afford to miss on a chance to add one of these names, or anyone atop this year's group of prospects, to add to their young core.

A bottom-four finish in the league standings would guarantee that the Jazz get that pick in the worst-case scenario of their selection falling to number eight, land another appealing young prospect, and prevent the Thunder from adding to their already strong unit of young guys.

Expect the Jazz to be laser-focused on obtaining the rights to their pick, willing to pull any necessary strings to make it happen.

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