All apologies to the Utah Jazz fanbase because they have every right to be excited for next season. The team has all the ingredients to have their best season since the Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert days, and maybe better, but there's a problem: they won't be able to keep this team intact for very long.
Hate the game, not player as they say. Former Jazz reporter Tony Jones didn't confirm per se, but mentioned that as fun as next season should be, the good times will be for a short while.
Yep. The interesting part of the Jazz is that they have a window that starts next season and won’t stay open for very long https://t.co/4uIB2Snj0O
— Tony Jones (@Tjonesonthenba) March 12, 2026
Jones didn't say this explicitly, but he's referring to the Jazz's payroll in this sense. Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr. will make $95+ million combined next season. Combine that with Walker Kessler's upcoming extension, however big that could be, along with Jusuf Nurkic's next deal, and that payroll gets a lot more expensive.
Utah will also likely add another lottery pick to that payroll. Even if those cost-controlled contracts are extremely valuable, that's still a couple more million added to the payroll.
It will only get more expensive with Keyonte George
It's also likely the Jazz will extend George this summer, and while that won't affect the payroll in 2027, it will and then some beyond that, and once it comes into effect, Utah won't be able to keep all of their players long-term, especially with Ace Bailey's possible extension not too long after that.
Having a top six of Markkanen, JJJ, George, Kessler, Bailey, and a high lottery pick next season sounds amazing, but unfortunately, it won't be feasible to pay all of them longer than just a few seasons because of the NBA's well-documented tax aprons.
So, in other words, the Jazz, who were wrongly punished for tanking a little too cleverly, will soon be punished for building a winner a little too cleverly. It was moronic that the players' union agreed to these terms in the current CBA, and it will look more moronic that Utah will have to give up a player they value all to avoid punishment.
No one wants to be the party pooper when the party hasn't even started for the Jazz, but this is the harsh reality Utah will face over the next few years. They should have an excellent opportunity ahead of them, and it's not like they're the only ones who will be (or already have been) affected by this.
But it's still a shame that the NBA has made it their mission to ensure these days can't last forever.