Team Needs: Point Guard, Small Forward, Shooting, Center Depth
The Utah Jazz are a fascinating team this offseason, because after a couple years of continuing to play respectable ball just outside the Play-In out West, they have a ton of flexibility with how to approach this summer.
With $60 million in cap space and a ton of picks, they could be big players on the trade or free agency market if they want to, but they could just as easily use that space to take on a bad contract or two and truly embrace the tank with a much more intriguing Draft class in 2025 at the top. Their first decision will be what to do with Lauri Markkanen, who has emerged as an All-Star caliber player in Utah but is going into the final year of his contract, earning $18 million in 2024-25. Plenty of teams are interested in Markkanen’s ability to space the floor as a 4-man, but the Jazz have never really indicated an interest in going for a full youth movement and bottoming out.
If they are not going to enter the Fail For Flagg sweepstakes, there are some serious needs on this roster to address in the Draft and free agency to start closing the gap on the teams in front of them. Point guard remains a bit of a shaky spot, and while they may like Keyonte George, they could use a veteran upgrade at that position. They need more shooting on the wing, as well as center depth behind Walker Kessler. They have a lot of money and roster spots to make that happen, and there are a number of directions they could go this summer.
With the 10th pick, they opted for Cody Williams out of Colorado to fill out a hole on the wing, and hopefully follow a similar development trajectory to his brother.
Cody Williams (No. 10 Overall), B: He is probably best known as the brother of OKC’s Jalen Williams, but Cody is a lottery-level prospect on his own. He is exceptionally thin and battled injuries during his freshman year at Colorado, but Williams has real two-way appeal long-term. He projects to shoot and, if he can add strength, he should be able to hold up on defense.
Isaiah Collier (No. 29 Overall), A: Collier is one of the more intriguing creation bets in this class, and this is quite a fall for a player widely projected in the top 5-10 picks only a few months ago. Collier is far from a finished product, particularly with his inconsistency and inefficiency this year at USC, but he’s also an NBA athlete who has all the physical tools of a top-level point guard. Utah does have Keyonte George as well, but Collier’s upside is too tantalizing to pass on at this stage.
