It's no surprise that a tanking team like the Utah Jazz would have some things go awry for them. It's not like the season has been a disaster given the minimal expectations going in.
Being one of the worst teams in the NBA really isn't a bad thing when said team signaled that being bad is exactly what they wanted to begin with. However, in a season that was supposed to have plenty of losses, there have been subplots that the Jazz likely would not have wanted to deal with.
5. The Jazz's likeliest trade candidates are still on the team
Ever since the season started, three Jazzmen were named as their most likely trade candidates: Collin Sexton, John Collins, and Jordan Clarkson. The NBA trade deadline passed, and all of them are still on the team.
More than that, the only one who garnered some legitimate trade buzz was Collins, who had a deal in place to be traded to the Sacramento Kings lined up before circumstances beyond the Jazz's control nixed it at the last minute.
But he and the other remain on the team. Is this a big deal? Not really, and the next four mentioned below are definitively worse. However, it is annoying that these veterans are still on the team after all this time on the trade rumor mill.
4. The Jazz helped one of their best assets lose its value
That Lakers pick they owed the Jazz once had golden value because their future looked extremely murky once LeBron James retired. Then the Luka Doncic trade happened, and all of that became undone.
Even worse, the Jazz took part in it, thinking they were getting some assets for nothing. They didn't find out until the last second that they had agreed to a trade that would put Doncic on the Lakers, thus making that Lakers pick completely worthless in the blink of an eye.
That Lakers pick was likely going to be worse anyway. If it wasn't the Jazz, it was going to be somebody else who would help facilitate the deal, but the fact remains that they agreed to be a part of it not knowing what they had done makes it worse.
3. Keyonte George has not taken the steps the Jazz hoped he would
Of all the Jazz youngsters coming into the season, the one who garnered the most spotlight was Keyonte George. Though he didn't have the most efficient rookie season, he showed enough flashes of being a high-octane scorer that Utah was willing to hand him the keys.
Technically speaking, his scoring average has gone up, but that's mostly been because the Jazz have simply given him more touches. From an efficiency standpoint, George has not improved in the slightest. Literally, his three-point percentage has remained the same at 33.4 and his field goal percentage is 0.4 percentage points better.
His playmaking has definitely looked better, as his assist average went from 4.4 to six a game. However, that might also be a product of him simply getting a bigger role. George's promise is still undeniable, but he hasn't made much progress.
Isaiah Collier's rise as the season's continued has only made George's struggles stand out more.
2. Cody Williams looks like he'll need *a lot* of time
This Jazz rookie class has actually been among the best in recent memory. Isaiah Collier could be a franchise staple, and Kyle Filipowski looks like one of the bigger draft steals in recent memory. On the other hand, Cody Williams looks like he'll be a work in progress and said progress might take a few years.
That's not a good thing considering that Williams has their highest pick from the 2025 NBA Draft. There doesn't need to be much elaboration on his play this season because man does he look like a boy among men when he takes the floor.
Williams has had his flashes, but they've been exceedingly rare. At best, these flashes have made him look like a rotation player. Collier and Filipowski have badly outshined him with the season over halfway finished.
Williams' struggles have been similar to those of another Jazz lottery pick, Dante Exum. At least Exum had already established himself as an excellent defender going in. By contrast, it's been hard to pinpoint what Williams is good at thus far. It's not too late, for obvious reasons, but the Jazz have given Williams plenty of chances, hoping he will show more than he has, and he simply hasn't done it.
1. Taylor Hendricks season-ending injury three games in
When a team tanks, one of their primary objectives is to see what their young players are capable of. With the Jazz, they have plenty of young players with untapped potential who they want to see thrive with an increased role, and Hendricks was one of them.
Sadly, Hendricks only got to play three games before suffering a season-ending leg injury that we won't dare share here given how gruesome it looked. How much this sucked goes beyond the Jazz's intentions. with him
Such an injury can alter a player's career, which Hendricks certainly didn't deserve, given that it just started back in 2023. Many hope Hendricks will return with a chip on his shoulder next season. This could be the best thing to happen to Hendricks since he'll be itching to prove his worth, but it's just so awful that he suffered such a setback so early into his NBA career.