Jazz Mailbag: What does the team need to add this summer?
Apr 21, 2026, 12:42 PM | Updated: Apr 22, 2026, 10:57 am
SALT LAKE CITY – Welcome to the Utah Jazz Mailbag! This week, we look at where the team most needs to improve this summer.
Each week, we will send out a prompt on X and BlueSky asking for the questions you have about the Jazz.
Then, we’ll respond to as many as we can in that week’s Jazz mailbag in the Jazz Notes podcast.
Jazz Mailbag: Who will be the team’s leading scorer next year?
Jazz Mailbag: Where do Jazz need help next season?
What would you say is our biggest need for next season’s roster to be competitive? I see a lot of chatter about finding a veteran PG – I’m not completely sold on that as a need.
— KenyonJohn 🥸 (@KenyonJohn) April 21, 2026
Question: What would you say is our biggest need for next season’s roster to be competitive?
Answer: The Jazz enter the offseason with a relatively loaded roster, especially compared with recent seasons.
While the starting five is not completely locked in, it is easy to envision a lineup of Keyonte George, Ace Bailey, Lauri Markkanen, Jaren Jackson Jr. and Walker Kessler logging most of the first-quarter minutes next season.
Beyond the projected starters, Isaiah Collier, Brice Sensabaugh, Cody Williams, Svi Mykhailiuk, Jon Konchar, and Kyle Filipowski each made a case to factor into next year’s roster configuration.
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If all of those players return, along with the team’s now-guaranteed lottery pick this summer, the Jazz would have 12 players under contract, just three shy of the 15-man opening-night maximum.
Despite the nearly full roster, the Jazz’s late-season auditions of Andersson Garcia, Bez Mbeng and Hayden Gray made one thing clear: The team was actively searching for help with its perimeter defense.
Garcia earned SEC All-Defensive team honors at Texas A&M. Mbeng was a three-time Ivy League Defensive Player of the Year. Gray received the same distinction in the Big West during his final season at UC San Diego.
“I think it’s a area of need potentially, right?” Jazz President of Basketball Operations Austin Ainge said of the signings. “We’ll see how things go in the draft and other things. But for sure, it was intentional.”
Both Mbeng and Gray are on non-guaranteed contracts through the summer and could remain with the team during Summer League.
NBA debut ✅
First career bucket ✅welcome to the league, @Hayden3gray 💜#TakeNote pic.twitter.com/gGjMh7DPJB
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) April 13, 2026
The draft includes several strong perimeter defensive prospects, including Kingston Flemings and Brayden Burries, but rookies rarely make an immediate positive impact on that end of the floor.
If the Jazz fail to find a solution through Mbeng, Gray or the draft, free agency is the best option to add a difference-maker.
Veterans Gary Payton II, De’Anthony Melton, Josh Okogie, Keon Ellis and Jevon Carter all have reputations as strong defenders and will be free agents this summer.
Former Jazz guard Kris Dunn could also become available if the Clippers decline his team option.
None of those players should command significant contracts and could carve out roles in Utah as steady second-unit veterans with defensive pedigrees.
Elsewhere, the Jazz still need a backup center, even if Kessler and Jackson Jr. appear positioned to handle most of the minutes.
The organization’s familiarity with Jusuf Nurkic could make him a leading candidate, though the lack of proven centers on the free-agent market could make him a highly sought-after name in July.
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Kevin Love also floated the idea of a return on social media, though he does not fit the mold of a traditional center.
Ultimately, the Jazz appear focused on adding a proven perimeter defender and another big body to absorb bench minutes, though most familiar faces are expected to return to Utah next season.
Want to ask questions in next week’s Jazz mailbag? Follow us at @benshoops.
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Ben Anderson is the author of the Jazz Mailbag, a Utah Jazz insider for KSL Sports, the author of the Jazz Mailbag, and the co-host of Jake and Ben from 10-12p with Jake Scott on 97.5 The KSL Sports Zone. Find Ben on Twitter at @BensHoops, on Instagram @BensHoops, or on BlueSky.
