The Dynamism of Kyle Filipowski and His Future with the Utah Jazz

Photo by Melissa Majchrzak/NBAE via Getty Images

The Utah Jazz have a massive opportunity in front of them. On June 27th of 2024, the Jazz selected Kyle Filipowski in the 2nd round of the NBA Draft with the 32nd pick, and “Flip” has already established himself as one of the “steals of the draft” because of his early career dominance and because of the skillset he possesses at nearly 7 feet tall. However, the Utah Jazz seem to be loaded at the forward position, but hopefully, Kyle Filipowski is at the top of their list in terms of looking at the future

— even over Lauri Markkanen.

KING OF LAS VEGAS! ⭐️#GLeagueAlum Kyle Filipowski was named Most Valuable Player of the 2025 NBA Summer League after putting up 29.3 PPG for the @utahjazz. pic.twitter.com/Z8lQ7mYua7

— NBA G League (@nbagleague) July 22, 2025

SUMMER LEAGUE MVP — KYLE FILIPOWSKI

Kyle Filipowski put on a show in Summer League for the entire league to see, ultimately winning SL MVP. He averaged 29.3 PPG, 7.7 RPG, 2.3 APG, and shot 56% from the field & 39.1% from distance. An absolutely dominant performance from a 21-year-old entering his second year in the NBA. Granted, the Jazz did not win a single game in Las Vegas, but we still got to see how Kyle operated as “THE GUY” on a team. Despite the competition level being comparable to the G-League.

Here is a list of every Summer League MVP dating back to 2006:

RealGM

Summer League MVP History

You could look at this and not be impressed because of how few “stars” are listed, but what I see is a lot of NBA players that played in the league for a long time (including current Jazzman, Kyle Anderson). If we are getting a long-time NBA player in Kyle Filipowski, I find that to be a huge success considering we drafted him in the 2nd round.

What does Kyle’s skillset consist of?

Kyle has the ability to dribble, pass, and shoot as a 6’11 forward — those guys typically find a way to succeed in the NBA. Whether he turns out to be Kelly Olynyk, Lamar Odom, David Lee, Channing Frye, or Boris Diaw, Kyle Filipowski has the capability to impact basketball games in a variety of ways. He doesn’t NEED the ball in his hands at all times on offense because he can be used as a screen setter, a cutter, spot up from 3pt land, help break opponent’s zone defense, and more. However, he can operate as an offensive hub if needed. There are guys in today’s NBA in which Kyle can mimic OFFENSIVELY: Domantas Sabonis, Alperen Sengun, Julius Randle, Mo Wagner, and possibly guys like Karl-Anthony Towns (but probably never the shooter KAT is) or Pascal Siakam. There are always asterisks next to any comparison anybody makes, but I am just trying to highlight Kyle’s ability to fit in with almost any offense on any team in the league because of his connectability and scalability.

Now, obviously, there are some concerns with his game, primarily on the defensive end. Kyle has really struggled playing the center position, and that was a concern for him stemming from his college years at Duke. Those positional and defensive concerns are THE MAIN REASON why Filipowski fell to the 2nd round of the draft — I even dropped Flip on my big board from a late lotto pick early in the season to 31st on my board as we approached draft night — it was not the rumors and drama surrounding Kyle that caused him to fall that far (for most teams that I know of). Continuing, Kyle struggled to defend the rim even in this year’s Summer League. What I saw was a lot of allowed second-chance opportunities for the opposing team, as well as scoring at the rim like he wasn’t even there. This problem could be because Kyle has a negative wingspan by about half an inch (6’10.5), so his contests aren’t as impactful as, let’s say, Walker Kessler, who has a 7’6 wingspan.

This flaw in his game pigeon-holes Flip into playing the PF position, which he can play. I believe Kyle can hold his own while guarding other forwards in the league on the perimeter more times than not, ESPECIALLY if he knows he has someone who can help protect the rim down low (Walker Kessler, Taylor Hendricks, Ace Bailey). Unfortunately, we haven’t seen much of Kyle at the 4 because of player personnel and coaching decisions, but hopefully, we will see more of Flip at the forward spot this year.

Kyle Filipowski midrange scoring ️ pic.twitter.com/pIJW41ZsZ7

— Jazz Lead (@JazzLead) July 23, 2025

Future Team Dynamics:

One thing that the Jazz do not have a lot of, at all, are frontcourt players who can put the ball on the ground. Lauri Markkanen is not a guy that you can give the ball to on an island and say, “go get a bucket”. Every single one of Lauri Markkanen’s 3PT shots this year was assisted. In fact, Lauri’s lowest assisted% for 3PT shots in his career is 93.5% (93.5% of his 3PT FGM were assisted) in 2023 — Lauri’s Most Improved Player year. Kyle Filipowski’s 3PT assisted% was 93.5% in his rookie season, already tied with Lauri’s career best in that category.

Let’s take it a step further and look at ALL FG assist%:

Lauri Markkanen (with Utah): 81.8% (this year), 84.1% (2024), and 75% (in 2023, MIP)
Kyle Filipowski: 68.1% (better than any year Lauri has had, in this category)

So, what does this all mean, and why does it matter?

The Utah Jazz are still looking for a guy in their frontcourt who can put the ball on the ground and make others better at the same time. Kyle Filipowski is that guy. We do not know what Ace Bailey has in store for us, and we are still waiting to see what Taylor Hendricks can become, but what we do know is that if Walker Kessler is a part of the future that leaves us with 2 spots open for a ball mover, and I’m not sure Filipowski and Markkanen can coexist at the 3/4 if that’s the case because that would be a disaster defensively.

From what it seems, with the new addition of Austin Ainge, the only guys that are set in stone for the future are Ace Bailey and Walter Clayton Jr, that’s it. Jazz media has been pretty vocal about that. There is a world where we tank for a guy like Cameron Boozer in 2026, and he is the primary focus at the PF position, and then we have a frontcourt of Ace Bailey, Cameron Boozer, and Walker Kessler. There’s a lot that can happen in the next year.

Either way, I would hope that Kyle Filipowski is on this team for a long time because of the many things he can do on the basketball court. I am excited to see what he does for us this year and am intrigued to see what his role will be under Will Hardy and new management. No matter what, Jazz Nation is rooting for you, Flip!

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