The offseason isn’t technically over – we’re all waiting on pins and needles for the Mario Hezonja decision – but the transactions have slowed substantially, and it looks like the Jazz have the majority of their roster set for the 2026-2027 season. We’ve consistently been told that this past season was the last in terms of tanking in Salt Lake, so high expectations were placed on the offseason – what would the Jazz do to finalize the roster destined to lead the organization back into relevancy?
For
the most part, the national media has been favorable to the choices the Ainges and co. have made thus far. Here’s a quick round-up of the grades the Jazz have been assigned for their offseason moves;
ESPN: A
Bleacher Report: A
The Athletic: B+
CBS Sports: B+
NBC Sports: B
These publications tended to applaud Utah’s selection of Darryn Peterson and the return they received for Walker Kessler, but those who assigned a lower grade worried that losing Kessler will be an unfillable hole for a team trying to be formidable this coming season.
However, these huge websites that cover the league as a whole sometimes struggle to accurately understand the minutia of a teams offseason, which is understandable – it’s impossible to watch every game for every team, so a perfect comprehension of how important Jusuf Nurkic is in Will Hardy’s offense may be difficult to achieve.
Today, we’ll be setting aside the national consensus to grade every single Utah move (trades, signing, draft picks, everything) this offseason from a Jazz fan’s perspective, before assigning a cumulative grade for this pivotal offseason.
June 23 – Selected Darryn Peterson at #2: A+
While selecting Darryn Peterson at #2 wasn’t some novel idea, the Jazz still deserve tons of credit for sealing the deal and choosing the best player on the board. It required a bit of luck and more than a bit of credit given to the late-season Sacramento Kings, but jumping up to #2 and having the opportunity to put a truly special prospect in Utah-Purple is the type of move that immediately changes the trajectory of a franchise. All of the team building moves from the course of the rebuild (selecting Keyonte George, trading for Jaren Jackson Jr., and all of the tanking) post hoc bumps to their letter grades, because, with Darryn, they were all justified – trust was given to a process that, in hindsight, looks to be genius.
June 29 – Signed Jusuf Nurkic to a 2 year, 22 million dollar contract: A
This is, by my money, the most underrated and underdiscussed move of the offseason. There was about a week in June where I was sure that Jusuf would prove to be too expensive for Utah to retain – after rehabilitating his career, he would collect his payday and potentially finish his career on some bottom feeder with extra cash. However, Jusuf proved he was being honest in saying the Jazz have been the best organization he’s played for in his 12 year career by resigning on a rather team-friendly deal. The Jazz have a roster built on crisp off-ball movement – Peterson, Bailey, Markkanen, and Jackson are all best being set up by a creator – and Nurkic proved to be the perfect fit for this system, averaging a career high in assists per game with 4.8. Utah couldn’t afford to lose this level of passer, and ensured their offense will continue to run smoothly in 2027 by bringing back the Bosnian Beast. While there’s a chance that this past year was only a temporary blip from the downward trend that it appeared Nurkic was on, this deal was a huge win for a team in need of playmaking and (after the Kessler trade) big man depth.
July 1 – Signed Jaxson Hayes to a 2 year, 12 million dollar contract (2nd year team option): C
I understand both the upsides and downsides of the Jaxson Hayes signing. In theory, he fills an archetype that the Jazz need – he’s big and athletic and offers a much different look at center than the Jusuf Nurkic minutes. However, the jury is still out on if he is an actual positive of an NBA player, or if Luka Doncic, perhaps the best player in the league at making big men look better than they are, transformed Hayes into a legitimate center through sheer tyranny of will. Additionally, while I think it is near impossible to give a final verdict on a player’s character without knowing them personally, Hayes’ off-the-court actions are an undeniable aspect of the package a team gets when they bring him in, and it is a stain that I’d rather not have on the Jazz. I expect Hayes eats up regular season minutes without doing too much harm, which is valuable enough…and hopefully all we’re asking him to do; things could look ugly if Hayes is playing a real role in the playoffs.
July 3 – Signed Tamar Bates to a two-way contract: B+
The marginal transactions, while important (champions are built off of strong moves at the margins), are often harder to grade. Just how positive can I be towards a signing of a player that will likely never play meaningful minutes for the franchise? Ultimately, I decided to grade transactions relative to their contract tier and corresponding talent pool – even though it’s a strong possibility that Bates never becomes a household name while playing in Utah, compared to the other players they could’ve signed for this two-way slot, it is still a relative win. I like Bates quite a bit – he’s long, he shoots, he moves with the fluidity of a pro – so even though his natural position (shooting guard) is probably the most stacked on the team, meaning that playing time is exceptionally unlikely, he’s still a net positive signing on a two-way contract.
July 3 – Signed Josh Okogie to a 2 year, 12 million dollar contract: A-
I have my doubts about Josh Okogie – his shooting is volatile, he offers nothing on the ball, and he’s too short to reliably be our answer against bigger wings defensively. However, you can’t complain too much when you obtain a necessary archetype (non-stop hustler who defends tenaciously and has some nasty to his game) on a short term, low risk deal. Okogie isn’t a perfect player, but he still started nearly half the contests for a Rockets team that won 52 games. I lowered the grade a bit because the Jazz have such an overflow of players of his position (Svi, Konchar, and Brice all already had reasonable cases to be the backup shooting guard), but this deal is a big-time win for the Jazz either way.
July 7 – Signed Trey Alexander to a two-way contract: A-
We weren’t able to see much of Alexander in Summer League before his unfortunate injury, which has tainted the deal a bit, but, nonetheless, the Jazz once again made a good choice in selecting a player for a two-way slot. Alexander isn’t the most explosive point guard, and he’s had a habit of over dribbling all the way back to his time at Creighton, but he’s been exceptionally productive in the G-League, fills a position of need, and is immediately one of the better passers on the roster. This is a low risk signing of a player who is likely one injury to either Keyonte or Collier away from getting real minutes (I hope you’re all knocking on wood).
July 8 – Traded Walker Kessler to the Lakers for 2 1st-round picks and 2 1st-round pick swaps: A
The word surrounding Kessler and the Jazz before the trade was that the Jazz wanted him and needed him and were going to keep him no matter what. But, when the Lakers sent the Jazz brass their sign-and-trade offer, they proved once and for all that everyone has a price. Utah ultimately came away like bandits – they saved money for when the young core starts demanding their big contracts and got paid immense amounts of draft capital to do it. Don’t mistake me, the Jazz will be substantially worse for it this coming season – the Kessler and JJJ front court was poised to finally fix the team’s defensive woes, and it looked like Kessler was ready to make an offensive jump after his first 6 games of the 2025-2026 season. It hurts to lose him, no doubt about it; that’s what keeps this move from being an A+. However, with this trade, the Jazz are having their cake (being relevant this year) and eating it too (maintaining future flexibility). Kessler was good, but this was the right move.
July 10 – Signed Mo Bamba to a 2 year, 7.2 million, partially guaranteed contract: A-
Again, let me clarify – the A- grade I gave to this signing isn’t anywhere close to as impactful to the Kessler trade, which received an A. However, I’m grading this deals relative to what they are, and what this deal is is a a low risk, partially guaranteed bet on a toolsy center who has now spent his fair share of time practicing in Coach Hardy’s system. I’m not sold on Mo Bamba as a legitimate player quite yet, but the structure of the deal is so team-friendly that you can’t get very mad. Bamba has been coming in and out of the Jazz system for a while, and hopefully in that time he has gained a solid understanding of what Hardy asks for from his players. The best case scenario is Bamba finally makes it all click, and is a perfectly acceptable backup center on a steal of a contract. He has the tools to make it work… but that may be all he has. Still, the worst case scenario is the Jazz move on, being no worse for wear, and still have multiple options at the backup center spot. The move is low-stakes, and could be end up being a real win on the margins. The Jazz keep making bets on this player; let’s see if this one works out.
Final Grade: A
At the end of the day, it looks like the national media generally got it right. Each of the Jazz big-time moves (or moves involving players that will be or would’ve been playoff players) were big-time wins – Jusuf is back on a team-friendly contract, Kessler is gone but you couldn’t have asked for more in terms of the return, and obtaining Peterson is such a home-run than maybe nothing else this past month will end up mattering at all. On the margins, the Jazz continued their shrewd ways, crafting deals that, for the most part, filled holes and don’t hurt our long-term books. While I wish more emphasis was placed on obtaining a backup ball handler, the Jazz still built a roster that is worthy of their first season in years with genuine expectations placed upon it. Finally, finally, they have something to compete for, and this offseason shows that the front office understands the gravity of that situation.
What have been your favorite moves of the offseason? Least favorite? Sound off below!
