What are you most concerned about with the Jazz for the 25/26 season?

[SoberasHotRod]

I'm definitely a worrier, and so to some degree I'm worried about all of these things even if some are contradictory.

For example, I really am worried about watching a terrible product this year and being the worst team. I own a lot of Jazz gear and it's not fun living out of state and repping the worst team in the league.

At the same time I worry about Lauri and Kessler being awesome, Keyonte taking the third year leap, Hardy coaching to win, and being just good enough to lose our pick.

I shouldn't simultaneously be worried about both things and yet I am. To be a fan is to be illogical I guess.

 

[Ferguson_Mellochill]

I don’t have concerns. Concerns are for losers.

 

[gomretat]

Having no one to build around is a much bigger problem at this point than winning more games than expected.

 

[LogGrad98]

No one needs to worry about the lottery. It doesn't matter if we get the worst record, all the way to the 8th, no matter what we will end up with a pick at #5 or later. They will make sure the Lakers or Knicks or Heat or Bulls or someone else will get the top picks. Probably another top 3 pick for Dallas in the works for that highway robbery of a trade. That is the NBA way.


Edit: oh yeah, I forgot about Tatum's injury. The Celtics will definitely end up with a top 3 pick, likely #1. NBA has gotta get the legacy teams back on top.

 

[Rubashov]

We know we will suck,

Great quality in a date, terrible quality in a sporting franchise. We were unwatchable most of last year we will probably be worse this year. I'm having a hard time locating my enthusiasm (write your own punchlines for that one)

No one needs to worry about the lottery. It doesn't matter if we get the worst record, all the way to the 8th, no matter what we will end up with a pick at #5 or later. They will make sure the Lakers or Knicks or Heat or Bulls or someone else will get the top picks. Probably another top 3 pick for Dallas in the works for that highway robbery of a trade. That is the NBA way.


Edit: oh yeah, I forgot about Tatum's injury. The Celtics will definitely end up with a top 3 pick, likely #1. NBA has gotta get the legacy teams back on top.

We will be unwatchable all year and the Celtics, Knicks and Mavs will get the top 3 picks, this is the way.

(I wanted a Mandalorian meme but they all suck.)

 

[kabenac]

I went with OTHER - I'm mostly concerned about locker room strife/bad attitudes.

 

[SoberasHotRod]

I went with OTHER - I'm mostly concerned about locker room strife/bad attitudes.

Can you elaborate? Are there players or situations that you are specifically concerned about?

 

[GunterD]

My primary hopes for this season are that 1) Ace do really well, 2) we keep our pick, and 3) that we don't have to do the gross blatant "lose on purpose" thing we did last year to pull it off. 1 and 2 being for some hope for the future, and 1 and 3 being so I actually want to watch the games this year (last year being the first time ever that I chose not to watch any games when I had the chance to). Those I'd say are in priority order.

So I guess my biggest concern from the list would be about young players not doing well, though Ace'd be the only one I'd really worry about. Really want to see Hendricks have a good recovery from the injury and Clayton do well, would love to see Key and Williams make big improvements, but my hopes aren't hanging on them. Frankly I don't really know that I expect anyone outside of Ace to still be on the team when we are good again.

Really I think my biggest concern is about Lauri. If he doesn't return to form and his all star year was a fluke, we're stuck with an albatross contract for a very long time while we are trying to rebuild, which would be catastrophic. If he does, it will be very hard to do both 2 and 3. So the best outcome is maybe that he excels to start the year, rehabbing his trade value, and then we trade him, which kind of sucks to think about your team's best player. So I worry about that because I don't see any possibility around him that I would be happy with.

 

[kabenac]

Can you elaborate? Are there players or situations that you are specifically concerned about?

Definitely Ace. Plus minutes will be tough to come by and that could easily cause anger as well - whether it's a vet who feels he's better than a young player or a young player who feels he's not being utilized.

 

[SoberasHotRod]

If I was ranking my concerns I think it would be:
1. Our young players don't progress - It would suck to have endured the last 3 years and not have one solids starter out of our last 3 drafts.
2. We are unwatchable - I haven't renewed my league pass yet. I might do month to month instead of paying for the whole year and see how it goes.
3. The Jazz lose their 2026 pick - The likelihood is very low, but the severity could be devastating.
4. G-League problems - I really want to see Harkless as part of the rotation and see if he can be that defensive stopper at the guard position we really need. I really hope that Cody is good enough to not play in the G-League.
5. Front Office Stuff: I would be sad to see Lauri get traded, I also hope we don't have to sell low on some guys. I would like to see a plan forming for the offseason and am hoping we start putting together a competitive team next year.
6. Vets playing too much: I'm not too concerned since I don't think it's super likely or super harmful if it happens. I definitely don't want to see Svi, but I think the other guys should only augment our young guys and not take possessions away from them.

 

[SoberasHotRod]

Definitely Ace. Plus minutes will be tough to come by and that could easily cause anger as well - whether it's a vet who feels he's better than a young player or a young player who feels he's not being utilized.

I'm not concerned about Ace. Everything I've heard is that he is a good locker room guy. I think he will mesh well. I guess maybe the concern is that he gets vocal with the media if he isn't happy. I don't think any of our vets will be a problem. I think they are all known as good locker room guys who kind of know their role on a team.

 

[SoberasHotRod]

Really I think my biggest concern is about Lauri. If he doesn't return to form and his all star year was a fluke, we're stuck with an albatross contract for a very long time while we are trying to rebuild, which would be catastrophic. If he does, it will be very hard to do both 2 and 3. So the best outcome is maybe that he excels to start the year, rehabbing his trade value, and then we trade him, which kind of sucks to think about your team's best player. So I worry about that because I don't see any possibility around him that I would be happy with.

I'm not sure I understand this part. Unless Luari gets hurt, I don't know how his contract becomes an issue, and even then, we have to pay someone? In other words, what opportunities are we missing out on because of Lauri's contract?