The Utah Jazz may have fibbed a bit about what the goal of the season was, telling players and fans that they wanted to win and make the playoffs this season. That wasn't the most accurate thing said this season, but what's done is done and the future is now. At least, that's the mindset of the Jazz's front office.
The goal for this season, according to Sarah Todd of the Desert News, is to see what they have in their rookies, Keyonte George and Taylor Hendricks specifically. The two rookies have already seen their minutes and usage spike since the trade deadline, but the team has not seen much improvement from either youngster, as they've gone 0-3 in the proceeding games. As of press time, they're getting ready to take on the Golden State Warriors in what will be their fourth game of the post-deadline era.
The Jazz have given up on the season, and it looks like despite being in the Play-In hunt, that building for the 2024-2025 season is the new goal. One that still involves Lauri Markkanen, for now. While the development of the rookies is key, Todd also writes that Markkanen is still on the team's priority list, namely to see him reach new levels of success with the team.
As long as the team has Markkanen, they still have hope in the immediate future. A further improved Markkanen would only make the Jazz better, yet that means relying on a front office that has gotten more lucky than they've been good since opting to blow up the team at the end of 2022.
The Jazz has got to prove, sooner rather than later, that they're serious about this soft relaunch. They need to add pieces this summer around Markkanen to make anyone believe that they're serious about winning. After the last two trade deadlines, we're not really buying what they're selling anymore especially if the goal is to train up the rookies.