Jazz Mailbag: In An Expansion Draft, Who Would Jazz Protect?
Oct 21, 2025, 3:25 PM | Updated: 4:50 pm
SALT LAKE CITY – Welcome to the Utah Jazz mailbag, where this week we nail down who the team would protect in a hypothetical expansion draft.
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 Would Be Protected In Expansion Draft?
-Hypothetically, If NBA expansion was today, which 8 players on the Jazz would you protect?
-I know it was preseason, but Walker Kessler was awesome in that game, right?
— Jake The Lynx (@jakethelynx.bsky.social) October 20, 2025 at 11:36 AM
Question: Hypothetically, if NBA expansion were to occur today, which 8 players on the Jazz would you protect?
Answer: This is a good question, and one that would force the team’s front office to commit to a more solidified young core if the league were to expand by one or two teams.
First and foremost, I think six no-brainer players would be protected without much thought from the Jazz. Those players are Lauri Markkanen, Walker Kessler, Ace Bailey, Brice Sensabaugh, Taylor Hendricks, and Kyle Filipowski.
Each one of those players has both trade value and has shown on-court contributions worthy of keeping around in Utah through the second half of the rebuild, and, I think, would obviously be selected in a draft by an expansion team if left unprotected.
From there, I think the list narrows to four players vying for two protected spots: Keyonte George, Cody Williams, Isaiah Collier, and Walt Clayton Jr.
Jazz Mailbag: Why does Lauri Markkanen continue to linger in trade rumors?
The Jazz have invested the most in George on the court, which may be a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, their familiarity with the guard could make them more willing to keep him around than some of the other first and second-year players on the roster.
On the other hand, a lack of mystery about who he is as a player could work against him. George’s hot and cold shooting nights, tweener-guard play, and lack of improvement on defense could hurt his case.
key 𝙩𝙝𝙧𝙚𝙚 🔑 pic.twitter.com/hkLlt1O3bu
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) October 17, 2025
Outside of the rookie Clayton, Williams has been the least productive of any of the players on this list. The wing struggled mightily as a rookie and has had a similarly quiet preseason entering year two.
Williams’ size and defensive prowess are unique compared to the other three small guards on this list, but he remains a long-term project wherever he’s suiting up.
Collier nearly made the All-Rookie team last season, but a hamstring injury has kept him out of the preseason entirely.
The guard is the team’s best backcourt playmaker, but he’s got major work to do as a shooter before he can be considered a true offensive weapon, and to date, he’s nothing to write home about defensively.
If the shooting improves, he could be a dynamic point guard for the next decade, but that’s no small gamble.
ISAIAH COLLIER INSANE PASS TO FILIPOWSKI 🤯#NBASummer pic.twitter.com/FVy6gbojMz
— NBA TV (@NBATV) July 6, 2025
Clayton Jr. is the most unproven player on the list, and that might be why he’s the player most likely to be protected. The Florida product has shown promise as a floor general during exhibition play, though his typically strong shooting hasn’t broken through yet, and he has shown good instincts defensively.
Considering his untapped potential, two-way versatility, and history as a shooter, I think Clayton Jr. is the most likely player from this group to protect.
That would leave the team with George, Collier, and Williams as the final three players battling for one spot.
Ultimately, while Williams is the most unique in the group, and Collier turned heads in his first season, George’s shot creation and remaining offensive upside give him the slight edge over the two 2024 first-round draft picks.
Between Sensabaugh and Bailey, the Jazz have enough depth to fill minutes on the wing, leaving Williams little room to find the court in Utah, and the shooting value Clayton Jr. and George provide pushes them past Collier, even if only slightly.
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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.
