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Oct 29, 2024; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Utah Jazz head coach Will Hardy calls a play against the Sacramento Kings during the second quarter at Delta Center. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-Imagn Images Rob Gray-Imagn Images

Utah Jazz Enter NBA Offseason With One Big Priority

Originally posted on Utah Jazz on SI | By Jared Koch | Last updated Jun 9, 2025 2:30 PM ET

With the introduction of their new president of basketball operations, Austin Ainge, into the front office, this Utah Jazz team is one that can turn several different ways across the next few months in order to position themselves and this rebuild in a much better spot than what was seen during their most recent 17-win campaign.

And as revealed during Ainge's opening presser upon being hired to the Jazz, this coming 2025-26 regular season will look nothing like the last, as he notes that the team certainly won't be tanking, could be planning to be competitive, and perhaps opens a door to multiple intriguing moves this front office may make across this summer in order to make that happen.

But throughout what could be both a wild and unpredictable offseason ahead for Utah, in the eyes of Bleacher Report's Dan Favale, the Jazz need to have one offseason priority at the top of their mind: Keeping expectations in check.

"Newly-minted president of basketball operations Austin Ainge would like you to know there will be none of those tanking shenanigans under his watch," Favale wrote. "If Ainge is subtly pointing out the Jazz won’t have the talent necessary to not suck in the Western Conference while trying to win, then please, by all means, carry on. But if this is a nod toward a grand plan that sees Utah attempt to fast track its situation three seasons into its rebuild, I have some advice: Don’t."

"The Jazz aren’t ready to start taking bigger swings," Favale continued. "Not yet. They need a primary building block first. Perhaps they get one with the No. 5 pick, but they won’t know until the regular season gets underway. They sure as hell know that player isn’t already on the roster. Acting like aggressive buyers under the circumstances would undermine everything Utah’s rebuild is supposed to do. This isn’t to say Ainge must now trade Collin Sexton and Lauri Markkanen for pennies on the dollar. He shouldn’t. But as frustrated as fans might be by the speed and fruits of this rebuild so far, the Jazz have, for the most part, acted with plenty of self-awareness. That can’t change now."

It's all to say that even with a potentially aggressive mindset for the Jazz this offseason, the group in place is still far from the realm of contending, especially in such a tough conference like the current state of the West.

The Jazz have assets, young pieces, and a strong front office intfastructure to soon have the pieces in place to truly build up this roster. Yet, in the eyes of Favale, the time is far from now to start hashing out moves to bring this rebuilding group closer to competing.

However, that won't count out the Jazz from making the unpopular move across this offseason. Whether that action comes during the draft, free agency, and perhaps most notably for Utah and the Ainges, a big-time trade swing, everything is on the table for this team.

It's a slow climb to the top for the Jazz, but even if a championship may not be on the horizon any time soon next season, this summer could be one with a lot of moving pieces.