The Utah Jazz have finally embraced their youth movement, but it took a while for them to get here. Because it took two seasons for them to realize their best course was to rebuild, it looks bad that three years after they blew it up, they still don't have a young cornerstone, which most teams have when they start a new chapter three years ago.
Alex Speers harped on this during "The Athletic NBA Daily" when he picked the Jazz as the front office under the most pressure.
"We're entering Year 4 of this front office and it still feels like this team is miles away from contending again. This front office has had seven first-round draft picks in just the last three drafts... I think the pressure is on this front office to identify and develop a young star and that could happen with somebody on the roster... or it could happen in next year's draft where the Jazz will inevitably be picking high, but it has to happen.
"You cannot go into Year 5 of a rebuild next season and still not feel like there's at least one young player you'd bet your money on being a star."
Speers then explained that other teams who tanked earlier in the 2020s typically got a franchise cornerstone to build around like the Pistons getting Cade Cunningham and the Magic getting Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero.
The Jazz have an assembly of young talent that definitely showed itself during the Summer League, such as Ace Bailey and Kyle Filipowski. However, not only do they need to demonstrate it on an NBA court, but it also has to translate into results. The Pistons and Magic have only just started to see some success from their rebuilds.
No one's asking the Jazz to win right now because that's not an option. However, what will make them even more of a tough watch is knowing that if they had started their rebuild in 2022, their situation wouldn't look so bad.
The Jazz will get to see who among their youth is worth keeping around
While it's true that, for now, the Jazz don't have that certified franchise cornerstone, that will be part of the fun this season in seeing who is worth keeping and who should be shown the door. Obviously, players like Bailey will have a longer leash than others.
Now that the Jazz have cleaned house with their veterans, that should open up plenty of minutes for some of their youth like FIlipowski, Isaiah Collier, Keyonte George, Walter Clayton Jr., and Cody Williams.
Having a mostly blank slate in Year 4 of a rebuild can be frustrating, but it can also be exciting to the point that by this time next year, analysts could be singing a very different tune about the Jazz and their front office.