Jazz's Will Hardy Gets Real on His Recent Contract Negotiations

Before any bulk of the Utah Jazz's offseason action takes place over the summer, the team opted to make a major move on their sidelines by inking head coach Will Hardy to a new six-year extension that keeps him in town until 2031.

Hardy, the Jazz's head coach for the past three seasons, has made a clear statement during his tenure as being a major focal point of Utah's rebuilding efforts moving forward. Presenting himself as one of the younger, budding coaches in the league, and now, he's officially locked in for the foreseeable future.

But exactly how did Hardy's new deal come to form?

When asking the man himself, the process seems to have gone rather seamlessly. Hardy broke down how his contract negotiations took place during his first media availability following his new deal, and made it clear that everyone onboard was on the same page to make the signing come to fruition.

"I have an agent, like most, or all coaches," Hardy said. "Ryan [Smith], Danny [Ainge], and Justin [Zanik] are the ones that communicate with them– Justin being the primary communicator. These are conversations that happen over a period of time. It's not just a one-day thing. They speak about the aim of the program and what their thoughts are. I'm fortunate to work for this group... We've been very aligned the entire way through this process. Calling it a negotiation, that word sometimes draws up this thought in your mind, like it's a contentious thing back and forth, and it's not. I'm very proud to be the coach of the Utah Jazz, so this is something everybody was really excited about."

Many contract negotiations can be both tense and unpredictable, but for Jazz's brass, that simply wasn't the case. Everyone onboard Utah's regime has seemingly been laser-focused on the same vision throughout, and those expectations can continue now that both sides have managed to put pen to paper.

Since joining the Jazz in 2022, Hardy has put together a collective 85-161 record through three seasons, seeing his worst output this past campaign with a 17-65 record. Regardless, those struggles haven't come with any less confidence in the unit he can build moving forward.

Especially as the Jazz continue to develop and acquire fresh young talent to enter the fold, the arrow could only be trending up for Hardy and this Utah core.