Jazz Post-Draft Roster Projection: Core, Safe & On the Bubble

With the NBA draft in the books, it's time to project what the Utah Jazz roster will look like.

Author:
Alex White
Publish date:
Jun 26, 2023 1:03 PM EDT

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Utah Jazz

With the NBA draft in the rearview mirror, we have a bit of a down week as NBA teams prepare to execute their free agency plan. The Utah Jazz, in particular, are in a unique spot as they attempt to fill out their roster.

Armed with cap space, tradeable contracts, and 13 future first-round draft picks, the Jazz can take this roster in whatever direction they desire. One thing we do know is that the Jazz want to be good next year. They owe a top-10 protected first-round pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder and want to resolve that debt with an underwhelming 2024 draft class on the way.

After adding three rookies to the team, plus another on a two-way contract, roster spots are limited for the Jazz. Obviously, there will be avenues for the Jazz to create flexibility, most notably through trades or waiving non-guaranteed deals.

Let’s take a quick look at the Jazz roster before free agency kicks off.

Core Pieces

Ochai Agbaji
Keyonte George
Taylor Hendricks
Walker Kessler
Lauri Markkanen
John Collins

The main pieces on this young team as we head into Year Two of the rebuild. The Jazz have already built a nice foundation of young talent with these five at the top.

Safe

Kris Dunn
Damian Jones
Kelly Olynyk
Brice Sensabaugh
Collin Sexton

Barring trades, this group will most likely be on the roster to start the season. Although he's listed here, it's worth noting that Dunn does have a non-guaranteed contract for the 2023-24 season, but with how well he performed last year, I presume he will be back.

On the Bubble

Vernon Carey Jr.
Simone Fontecchio
Luka Samanic

Samanic showed flashes at the end of last season; despite this, he will need to have a good summer and training camp to make the roster. Both he and Carey have non-guaranteed deals for the upcoming season.

Fontecchio struggled mightily last season but may have the inside track for a spot with his contract guaranteed for the upcoming season.

Two Way

Joey Hauser
Micah Potter

The new CBA has upped the amount of two-way contracts teams can give out. The Jazz have one open spot to fill. Expect this group to spend a lot of time in the G-League.

Decision Time

Jordan Clarkson
Talen Horton-Tucker

Each of these guys has the option to opt-in to the final year of their contract or test the open market.

After a troublesome Jazz tenure, they could either work on a buy-out or waive him to open a roster spot for younger talent. Clarkson is expected to opt-out, while Horton-Tucker’s decision could go either way.