The Utah Jazz hiring Austin Ainge has come with plenty of excitement. On the surface, he may seem like a nepo hire, but he's built a reputation independent of his dad, Danny. With him now calling the shots in the front office, the Jazz should have full confidence in him, but first, he has to confront their biggest problem: adding high-end young talent.
The Jazz have a pretty big youth movement, but not exactly an exciting one. Excluding Walker Kessler, who is older than most third-year players, the Jazz's youth movement includes Keyonte George, Brice Sensabaugh, Taylor Hendricks, Cody Williams, Isaiah Collier, and Kyle Filipowski. None of which project to be a star at the moment.
They all range from "He could be a starter if he develops the rest of his game" to "are we sure this kid even belongs in the NBA?" For more context, watch Sam Vecenie's Offseason Preview of the Jazz to outline the problems with the Jazz current youth (32:11 mark).
The podcast said it best about the Jazz's youngsters when it was brought up that they all have "question marks." Three years since starting over, that can't really be the case. That's why it's imperative that Ainge nail the 2025 NBA Draft.
It's long past time for the Jazz to have that young building block that can give them hope for the future. Maybe one of the aforementioned youngsters takes a leap next season, but they'll have to show it first. Utah thought George would do that, but he didn't, and now he has a lot more doubt than he did at this time last year.
Luckily this is the year to get a franchise changer
The 2025 NBA Draft has been hyped to be one of the most loaded draft classes in recent memory. The Jazz tanked as hard as they ever have, and while it didn't get them the prospect they wanted, they still have to feel good that they got a high lottery pick for such an exciting class.
The fact that the No. 5 pick has a solid history of featuring fantastic players (though not always, as the Jazz will tell you) has to make Jazz fans feel good about their chances of getting that franchise icon the team badly needs. Making it better is that Austin has a good track record of drafting young talent, so while the lottery odds didn't reward the Jazz, history just might.
Of course, it doesn't stop there. Utah will have to add more young talent besides the No. 5 pick. Next year's class is also expected to be quite good. While Ainge himself promised that the team won't tank, it might not even be up to them, regardless of their intentions.
The last three years have unquestionably been frustrating, but Draft Night might be the winds of change for Utah.