Anonymous Utah Jazz Coach Sets Tone for Next NBA Season

Heading into the 2025-26 NBA season, it'll be a year for the Utah Jazz will have a clear-cut, year-long focus on developing their budding young talent on the roster.

With the veterans of last season out of the fold in the form of John Collins, Collin Sexton, and Jordan Clarkson, along with the selections of Ace Bailey and Walter Clayton Jr. in the first round of this year's draft, this roster's gotten younger, less experienced, and while better positioned for the future, could soon suffer in the short term for this next season because of it.

Yet, the Jazz coaching staff seemingly understands the assignment at hand and is going into this season with a clear mindset on how to view this roster, as revealed by one anonymous Utah coach in Las Vegas.

During a discussion with NBA insider Keith Smith of Spotrac, one Jazz coach broke down the team's philosophy this next season surrounding their young team and the expectations for it, focused on both patience and competition.

"“It’s important that we set the right tone," the Jazz coach said." It’s ok to make mistakes, as long as you learn from them. These guys are young and some of them are young young, if that makes sense. Mistakes are coming to come. But they can’t be the same mistakes over an over. If they are, look around, there’s another guy ready to take your minutes. That level of competition is going to be awesome for us. And if the kids aren’t getting it done, we’ve got a lot of vets who have had success in the league. Those guys aren’t done playing yet. No one on our roster is just collecting a paycheck. They’re all here to work and to push each other to be better."

For such a youth-filled core like the Jazz with many players still getting their feet wet in the league, it's fine to expect such a group to have various ups and downs across the season– that's what a young, rebuilding team does. But in the process, Utah's staff is taking value in the turbulence that'll inevitably be faced this season.

The year might have similar ups and downs seen from their previous 17-win campaign in the books. The defensive side of the ball hasn't seen any clear steps forward on paper, the roster's only gotten worse, and with so many young players having a major role in Utah's game plan on both sides of the ball, the wins might be plentiful in a brutal Western Conference.

However, in doing so, this young core built from the past three summers will have some of their best opportunities to grow and learn from any mistakes that may occur in the process. Considering their current team state, Utah is seemingly remaining patient and doing what's necessary to take this youth movement to the next level.