According to Jake Fischer, the Utah Jazz have decided what they want to do for the rest of this season and for next season.
From Fischer:
Utah naturally wants to retain its first-round pick that is only 1-to-8 protected in June and headed to Oklahoma City if it lands at No. 9 or lower, but the Jazz are also said to be yearning to establish a winning environment as soon as possible … with the ultimate goal of using their salary cap space in the offseason to build around Lauri Markkanen, Walker Kessler (provided they can re-sign him) and the surging Keyonte George.
That matches up with what we’re now seeing from the Jazz. Lauri Markkanen has missed some games recently with a groin injury, and we’re likely going to see that more as the season goes along.
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We also heard from Tony Jones, who reinforced this intel on the Zach Lowe podcast.
On the podcast, Tony Jones brought up the Utah Jazz when discussing the recent news that the NBA is considering changes to address tanking. Jones said the Jazz have changed their outlook to be more competitive. But he also said they are aware of the need to keep their pick and will do what they need to do so they don’t lose it.
Those two goals basically come down to two things: the Jazz want to build around Lauri Markkanen, and they’re going to keep their pick. To do that, it looks like they’re going to have to rest Markkanen a lot this season, but that’s the last time that will happen, starting next season.