Calvin Barrett is a writer, editor, and prolific Mario Kart racer located in Tokyo, Japan. Currently writing for SB Nation and FanSided, he has covered theUtah Jazz andBYU athletics since 2024 and graduated from Utah Valley University.
I hope none of you gets motion sick.
While reading Jonathan Givony’s mock draft in the days leading to the draft, the engineer of Draft Express made a statement so sharp — so poignant — that I star stars.
“Under new leadership in Austin Ainge,” he prophesied, “it’s unlikely the Jazz will be married to previous draft picks who have yet to show they are surefire long-term keepers.”
Since the beginning of this franchise reconstruction, Utah’s powers-that-be have been attached to many of their young stars selected in the mid-to-late stages of the first round. With so much untapped potential in their young players, they’ve operated under the guise of patience. And developing young talent takes patience, of course.
But if you take a step back to take an objective look at the Jazz depth chart, you notice Utah’s sure-thing foundational pieces of a future championship contender are... absent.
Yes, Keyonte George and Isaiah Collier have provided some fireworks in their early appearances, but each prospect is plagued with some load-bearing drawbacks. Cody Williams and Taylor Hendricks have flashed potential on the basketball court, but every minor success arrives with applause similar to that of a cripplingly near-sighted kid blindly hacking at a baseball — a positive play is a miracle.
We always knew you had potential. We need you to have potential. To tell you the truth, Utah probably owns the least promising young core in the NBA.
At a certain point, the Utah front office has grown so attached to its current core of players that it’s felt like Jeffrey McCoppin dividing the junkyard into art and scrap. When were they going to wipe their eyes and realize that no matter how much work you’ve put into this half, you’re just looking at a pile of garbage?
The Utah Jazz needed a change. Free of attachment, an audit and reappraisal of the assets on hand were needed to swerve the van onto a new course.
With fresh eyes, Austin Ainge is sitting in the driver’s seat, shifting gears, and anyone without a seatbelt is being hurled from the party wagon with the turns. And oh, how they have been ejected.
2025 NBA Draft - Round One Ace Bailey represents the first steps in the right direction.
Photo by Michelle Farsi /NBAE via Getty Images
Smashing an Analogue Clock
Now tell me something
Is there a point to this?
Or are we living for the feeling
When we look back
On what we did and reminisce?
Maybe You’re the Reason by The Japanese House
I refuse to stop bringing up The Japanese House. Not until you get it.
Have you ever witnessed an older individual mock the younger generations for not understanding the routine skills of a simpler time? Maybe the youth of today can’t comprehend a road map, decipher cursive script, or read time on an analogue clock — something along those lines?
Why, as humans, do we feel the need to belittle those who arrive after us? Do you know why many are growing up without learning these skills? Because why learn archaic methods when the modern age provides smarter and more convenient replacements?
The new leadership at Jazz HQ is tired of all the reminiscing. Tired of the stagnant thinking. Weary from the ceaseless ticking of the analogue clock on the wall.
Tearing the oversized timepiece from its vertical perch, the Utah Jazz are done reminiscing. Finished holding on to trinkets and sentimental pieces that will do them no good in the future. When fielding a competitive team is the goal, there’s no space for clutter.
The new head of the Jazz does indeed possess a different brain, complete with different rationale and decision-making criteria. Shipping out prominent figures from the early history of the rebuild with disregard for the return, Ainge and company have sent a mass transmission to the basketball universe: if we don’t need it, we’re chucking it out.
Danny Ainge is calculating and deliberate in his negotiations. If he’s forking over one of his assets, he had better get something he likes in return.
He dealt Conley and Alexander-Walker to Minnesota because he wanted to short-sell some stock in the Los Angeles Lakers. An essentially unprotected first-rounder (through the first four picks) was the prize. A similar swing was taken at the fumbling Matt Ishbia regime in Phoenix, handing out three late first-rounders in exchange for one of the Suns’ own picks in 2031.
Now under new management, Utah’s behind-the-scenes operations are handled quite differently.
Collin Sexton and Jordan Clarkson have been on the chopping block since the Jazz overperformed in their first rebuilding season, but the lack of an enticing price tag has kept them trapped on Will Hardy’s roster despite the front office’s best efforts.
But only hours removed from the beginning of the 2025 free agency season, both Sexton and Clarkson are out the door. Sexton was dealt for essentially nothing, and Clarkson was bought out of his contract.
Micah Potter and Johnny Juzang have likewise been made aware that they won’t be in the band moving forward. Let’s face it: Potter and Juzang have been little more than barnacles hitching a ride aboard the S.S. Jazz for the past three to four seasons. If you were confused why they were let go, you still aren’t seeing the vision.
The Jazz are cleaning house, settling into a blank canvas to afford themselves adequate space to work.
When Ainge declared, “You won’t see [tanking] this year” during his introductory presser, that wasn’t to say they’re planning on winning (and with Dybantsa, Peterson, and Boozer at the top of next year’s class, they had better not), he meant this team wouldn’t need to posture and position itself unfavorably, because they’re restarting the machine.
Ace Bailey is the new face of the Utah Jazz, and yes, it’s a smiling face. The previous version of this team wasn’t going anywhere. It’s time for an upgrade.