The Utah Jazz are in a great position to keep their draft pick, which is great news by itself, but it also means they get to add a lottery pick to a team built to compete for the playoffs next season. It's fair to say exciting times are ahead for Utah, but the question would be, who would they take?
When looking at what the Jazz would need, they are pretty much set in terms of bigs and wings. If not, more so. At the guard, though, they could use more depth in that department. That's why FanSided's Christopher Kline projected them to take Illinois guard Kingston Flemings with the No. 6 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.
"Kingston Flemings would join Keyonte George, Brice Sensabaugh and Isaiah Collier in a deep and talented backcourt. Utah is inching toward contention and Flemings has the right mental makeup to help a team take that leap. His poise and leadership qualities at Houston this season, under the no-nonsense direction of Kelvin Sampson, was endlessly impressive."
Kline then added how Flemings compares to the Jazz's other point guards.
"George has looked solid in the point guard capacity and Collier is an excellent table-setter, but Flemings in the next-tier generator needed to kick Utah into a higher competitive gear."
Flemings and George together would be quite the dynamic duo (even if Flemings likely won't start), as the Jazz would have two electric guards that can go off at any times. George would be more dependable to start, but there's no telling how quickly he would assert himself.
From the sounds of things, Flemings could raise Utah's ceiling
The Jazz will be much better next season, but many wonder just how good they will be, as it won't be clear, given the little continuity they have despite the talent they possess. Everyone should keep in mind that the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, so Utah will be all about making sure all the pieces fit with their best players.
Even without a lottery pick, there's a lot to like about how their best players could mesh with one another. Adding Fleming to the mix could make them even harder to beat because he makes them deeper all around as a roster.
More importantly, their drafting history over the past few years has demonstrated that they know what they're doing. If you look at their picks since 2023, it's hard to find any players who have underwhelmed from the spot they took them.
From a high lottery pick like Ace Bailey to a second-round pick like Kyle Filipowski, the Jazz have gotten great return on investment. Because of how many times they've hit on their picks over the past few years, if Flemings is their guy this year, the fans should have every reason to trust them.