With the end of the Utah Jazz's 2024-25 regular season campaign officially here, now comes an incredibly important offseason lying right around the corner for this franchise and what's to come for their long-spanning rebuild process.
While the outcome of next month's draft lottery remains a vital part of how Utah could end up coming out of this year's summer, a lot of major decisions will have to be made from this front office as is to guide this team in the right direction.
And in the eyes of ESPN's Bobby Marks, the way the landscape of this offseason is panning out for the Jazz tasks them with two main themes to focus on this summer to keep this rebuild on a strong pace: the draft and their veterans on the roster –– the first part of the equation perhaps being the most crucial piece of the puzzle.
"It starts with the draft," Marks writes. "Out of the 15 players under contract, five (Cody Williams, Isaiah Collier, Keyonte George, Taylor Hendricks and Brice Sensabaugh) were first-round picks selected by Utah the past two years. And while there are signs of individual growth, none of them are considered franchise players. This draft could change that. After selecting outside of the top eight in consecutive years, Utah will have, at a minimum, the No. [5] pick in the draft."
As a result of Utah's extensive tank throughout the season to land them with 17 total wins, it's allowed the draft odds for their first-round pick to be in the best position ahead of a critical lottery, with the fifth overall pick being their worst possible outcome. If the ping-pong balls fall their way, the stage could be set for the Jazz to select their future franchise cornerstone come late June.
Still, the Jazz's offseason motions won't stop at the draft. Utah has multiple, possibly high-value veterans like Lauri Markkanen and Collin Sexton stationed on their rebuilding roster from last season, and if the team is preparing to look much of the same for next season as it did for this one, the front office may have to make some tough calls.
"They will also need to decide what to do with Markkanen, Collins, Jordan Clarkson and Collin Sexton," Marks continued. "Markkanen is under contract for the next four seasons, but Collins, Clarkson and Sexton are all entering the last year of their contracts. After renegotiating and then extending his contract last August, Markkanen is now trade-eligible. The former All-Star played 47 games this season, the lowest in his career. He attempted a career-high 8.5 3-pointers per game this season, but shot 35% from beyond the arc, the second-lowest mark in a season in his career."
Markkanen's extension signed last offseason gave him the security needed to not worry about being dealt at February's trade deadline, but for this summer, things could be drastically different.
As of now, it still seems unlikely for the Jazz to heavily consider a move surrounding Markkanen less than a year after dealing his lucrative extension, but this front office could always do something unprecedented if the right offer comes their way.
Choices will also need to be made surrounding the future of guys like Sexton, John Collins, and Jordan Clarkson, making for some compelling questions on how this roster could develop within the coming months.
More must-reads: