Jazz already talking with fellow lottery team on trade

The Utah Jazz blew up their core of Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell in 2022 and have been in limbo as an organization ever since, trying to rebuild and gather as many picks as possible. The 2025 NBA Draft is no different for the Jazz, with Utah sitting at the fifth pick in a draft with talent, but not many potential stars outside of Cooper Flagg.

The Jazz have flexibility because of their current roster and future asset collection. That flexibility has also allowed Utah to take the lead in talking to other teams about potential trade options in the draft. According to The Athletic, at least one team in the lottery has already engaged the Jazz in potential trade discussions.

It seems like the Jazz will try to win this season in one way or another. That could be with an experienced or young team full of talent.

Austin Ainge, Danny Ainge’s son, was recently hired as the president of basketball operations for the Utah Jazz. When asked about the team’s tanking, Ainge laid it out plainly.

“You won’t see that this year,” Ainge said via SI.

The Jazz only won 17 games last season to improve their odds of landing Cooper Flagg. Now that they did not land the top pick, everything seems to be on the table.

The Jazz aren’t known for landing big fish in free agency, but given the number of assets they have available in picks, could they make a move for an All-Star?

The draft is the top priority before they decide on what to do. The Jazz are working out several players in the first round, both players who could be available with their fifth-overall and 21st-overall picks. They have all the options ready, and they seem prepared for anything.

The Jazz can follow the blueprint some smaller-market teams have followed, most notably the Oklahoma City Thunder and Indiana Pacers formulas. Those two teams are not in flashy markets, yet both are in the NBA Finals, preparing for a championship showdown.

The Jazz have even more relevant history than either of those two franchises, and it would be a smart bet not to count them out based on what they have available to use in their tool chest.