CHICAGO — There’s no doubt that the Utah Jazz had planned for the possibility of the No. 5 pick. They had to. The most likely singular possibility for the Jazz on Monday night — lottery night — was landing the fifth pick of the 2025 draft. But getting pick No. 5 changes things.
Had the Jazz come away from the 2025 lottery with the No. 1 overall pick, there would have been a centerpiece player on the roster and a clear vision for the future. It would have laid out a clearer timeline and given hope to not just the fanbase, but also to ownership, the front office, the coaching staff and the players.
That’s not to say that there isn’t hope now. Instead, hope and clarity have once again been delayed. The Utah Jazz are unfortunately in a very similar position that they’ve been in for the last few years.
Pick No. 5 changes things, there’s no doubt about it.
The fallout
When Jazz representatives were approached on lottery night and throughout the week at the NBA combine by people from other NBA teams, they were often met with a handshake and a look of condolence — a solemn head shake, pursed mouths, eyes filled with pity.
“I don’t think we’re at a position with where our rebuild of this team is to necessarily prioritize a particular position. I think we need to prioritize the best players that we identify.”
— Utah Jazz GM Justin Zanik
A number of executives from around the league told the Deseret News that they felt sorry for what had happened to the Jazz on lottery night, as well as the Washington Wizards and Charlotte Hornets. They were the teams with the three worst regular-season records and they were all jumped in the lottery by three other teams.
So, even though these rival executives from around the league are the competition, they witnessed the injustice of the situation and felt bad when they saw Jazz general manager Justin Zanik or Jazz CEO Danny Ainge.
Then came owner Ryan Smith’s post on social media. Countless people saw Smith leave the lottery broadcast room unhappy, and that was followed by him expressing in a post on X that he woke up the morning after the lottery and was frustrated to the point that on his morning run, he “audibly screamed.”
Woke up frustrated
Went for a run
Audibly screamed
Sun peeked over our mountains
Ran into a fellow disappointed Jazz fan
Remembered THIS IS UTAH.
So……
Getting back on the horse
With the best fans in the league
Because it’s what we do here
Goal doesn’t change.
— Ryan Smith (@RyanQualtrics) May 13, 2025
To many fans, the post reflected their own feelings and made them feel like they weren’t alone in feeling despair after three years of losing after trading away all the team’s All-Stars. But, there were others within the NBA world that did not see the message as reassuring. One player’s agent quipped, “Probably not the best thing for whoever is picked No. 5 to read,” which was a sentiment made repeatedly throughout the week.
And Smith reacting emotionally and more as a fan compared to a more traditional NBA owner has been a concern for some people within the organization. But even with those concerns, most feel that Smith should be considered one of the best owners in the league because he’s willing to pour in the two most important things in NBA ownership — money and passion.
Of course, those two things don’t show up to the outside world as useful if the team is languishing at the bottom of the NBA standings every year. And remaining in the standings basement seems to be on the horizon for the Jazz.
Though it was largely understood around the league that the Jazz would be tanking again during the 2025-26 season, since they own a top-eight protected pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2026, without a star player to build around, many believe the Jazz’s rebuild could drag on even longer.
Utah Jazz CEO Danny Ainge, left, looks on as Jazz owner Ryan Smith and head coach Will Hardy fist bump while sitting courtside before the start of an NBA basketball game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Tuesday, Feb. 6, 2024, in Salt Lake City.| Rick Bowmer, Associated Press
Prior to the lottery, before the regular season even ended, Jazz players often wondered and talked amongst themselves about what would happen after the 2025 lottery. Some believed that if they landed the No. 1 pick and took Duke star Cooper Flagg, the Jazz would be on a fast track to actually winning games. But there were also players who expressed concern about their own futures if the Jazz didn’t get the top pick.
Players seemed convinced that if the Jazz couldn’t get a blue-chip prospect, they’d be shipped out to get more future assets. They might be right.
Decision time
The Jazz’s current roster (not counting anyone that was on a nonguaranteed deal when the 2024-25 season concluded) includes seven players who are 23 years old or younger. The only one of those players that seems to be a certain building block is Walker Kessler. But even Kessler is unproven, has never been near the postseason, and has areas of needed improvement.
On top of those seven players, the Jazz could potentially add four more rookies after the 2025 draft, as they have two first-round picks (No. 5 and No. 21) and two second-round picks (No. 43 and No. 53).
If they tank through the 2025-26 season, they would add another incoming prospect.
Simply put, it would be wild for the Jazz to move forward with all of these young players on the roster, and the Jazz don’t intend to field a team entirely made up of young players that don’t have deeper NBA experience. That means that there are going to have to be some decisions made, and team sources have indicated that they know the time is coming.
One of the hardest decisions that NBA executives have to make is deciding whether to move on from a player or invest more time and money into their potential growth. Usually those decisions with young players are made easier by the fact that rookie scale contracts are affordable and low compared to others. But, with so many young players on the Jazz roster, it might not be as simple this offseason or in the offseasons to come.
Rookie scale contracts operate a little differently than other NBA contracts in that, for first-round picks, they are guaranteed for the first two years and have built-in team options on years 3 and 4, and those team options have to be decided on during the offseason of the year prior to the option year.
For example, the Jazz’s 2024 first-round rookies — Cody Williams and Isaiah Collier — already have their salaries guaranteed through the 2025-26 season (their second NBA season). They also have team options for the 2026-27 and 2027-28 seasons. But the option for the 2026-27 season has to be decided on this offseason, between July 6 and Oct. 31.
During that period, the Jazz also have to decide on the 2026-27 option for Taylor Hendricks, Keyonte George and Brice Sensabaugh. Kyle Filipowski, who was a second-round pick, has a nonguaranteed salary for the 2026-27 season with a team option for the 2027-28 season.
Kessler, heading into his fourth NBA season, is extension eligible this offseason. If the Jazz and Kessler don’t come to an agreement on an extension before Oct. 31, he would be a restricted free agent at the end of the 2025-26 season. But, it seems that both sides are looking to make something happen.
Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler (24) and other Jazz players watch a play unfold during game against the Memphis Grizzlies at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, March 25, 2025.| Isaac Hale, Deseret News
“I love Utah,” Kessler said last month. “I love the fans, I love the coaching staff, all the people around here, I love the mountains, and I think that this can be home for me. So I’m excited to go into negotiations and figure something out. But I definitely love Utah, and I would be very thankful and very blessed to stay here.”
Conventional wisdom suggests that the Jazz will be picking up the 2026-27 team options for all of the rookies selected in 2024, and they will definitely pick up the 2026-27 option for Hendricks, who played just three games last season before suffering a horrible leg injury that kept him out the rest of the year. For George and Sensabaugh, there will probably be some discussion and debate about their futures.
Importantly, trades could make these decisions a different team’s problem. But so long as these decisions lay with the Jazz, they have to keep in mind that none of these young players have played on complete teams, and there’s no telling how much, if any, that has stunted their development.
It’s possible that the Jazz could choose to cut bait with some of these young players before they truly know what they will become, and in the future, they could end up seeing those players realize their potential with another team.
That’s the sticky part of rebuilding so spectacularly with tanking seasons. Not every decision will be one that will look good five years down the road.
The No. 5 pick
The extended future of the Jazz still depends on their ability to find a star to build around. That could still happen via trade, it could happen in next year’s draft and it is possible that the Jazz find a player with the fifth pick in the upcoming draft that turns into a bona fide NBA star. That’s something to hope for, not something to expect.
People attend the NBA basketball draft lottery in Chicago, Monday, May 12, 2025.
People attend the NBA basketball draft lottery in Chicago, Monday, May 12, 2025.| AP
So, the Jazz have to decide what type of player they want to take with the No. 5 pick, if they keep it (there’s always the possibility of trading the pick up, down or away).
There’s a group of about eight players that seem to be in play for the fifth pick — V.J. Edgecombe (Baylor), Ace Bailey (Rutgers), Tre Johnson (Texas), Kon Knueppel (Duke), Khaman Maluach (Duke), Jeremiah Fears (Oklahoma), Kasparas Jakucionis (Illinois) and Derik Queen (Maryland).
These are all players that the Jazz have interviewed and plan to bring in for predraft workouts. But not all of these players will be available when the Jazz make their draft selection. The Dallas Mavericks will undoubtedly take Flagg with the No. 1 pick and the San Antonio Spurs are expected to take Dylan Harper with the No. 2 pick.
The Philadelphia 76ers (No. 3) and Hornets (No. 4) will almost certainly take two of the above eight players. So, part of the Jazz’s decision will be made for them.
Taking another big swing on a player that has star potential but will be a multiyear project that comes with some downside risk is one way to go. Or, the Jazz could play it safer with a player who seems more well-rounded but maybe has a lower ceiling.
Part of what makes that decision difficult is the dearth of star talent on the Jazz roster, an abundance of already-in-progress projects, and the fact that there is no centerpiece.
Justin Zanik, general manager of the Utah Jazz, speaks at an end of season press conference at the Zions Bank Basketball Center in Salt Lake City on Monday, April 14, 2025.| Scott G Winterton, Deseret News
“I don’t think we’re at a position with where our rebuild of this team is to necessarily prioritize a particular position,” Zanik said. “I think we need to prioritize the best players that we identify.”
The Jazz probably would have taken a different view on the remainder of the 2025 draft and the offseason had they been able to land Flagg. A lot of things could have been different if not for the way the lottery played out.
And who the Jazz take with the No. 5 pick could impact every other decision. It could change the decisions they make about certain players’ team options, it could change who the Jazz decide to keep on the roster from the more veteran players, and it could be a deciding factor in whether the Jazz decide to stay the slow course of the rebuild or reevaluate and try to speed things up.
Ultimately, the 2025 NBA lottery made two things very clear — the Jazz are still a team without a star to build around and the timeline for the rebuild remains ambiguous.
Utah Jazz head coach Will Hardy, right, and CEO Danny Ainge, left, watch the action during the game against the Sacramento Kings at Vivint Arena in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023.| Spenser Heaps, Deseret News