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Earlier this offseason, the Utah Jazz made a change to its executive ranks, hiring away longtime Boston Celtics exec and former assistant general manager Austin Ainge to be the team's new president of basketball operations. Ainge made waves when he said that fans won't be seeing the Jazz tank this year, and it looks as though he's hellbent on fulfilling that promise, as according to ClutchPoints NBA insider Brett Siegel, they have been in hot pursuit of Celtics star Jaylen Brown.
However, Ainge, during the night of the 2025 NBA Draft, denied these rumors and said that there's no truth to them, according to Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune.
This could end up being a smokescreen as the Jazz continue their pursuit of Brown, or perhaps their previous overtures were rebuffed by the Celtics and he's simply trying to save face by denying the rumors entirely. Whatever the case may be, it's clear that the Jazz are going to have to up their offer even further if they were to make Boston think about trading Brown.
Alas, the Celtics seem to have made it clear that Brown, along with Derrick White, is not available for trade. While the 2025-26 season is shaping up to be a gap year for the Celtics, they have every intention in the world to return to contending ways once Jayson Tatum returns from his Achilles injury — hence their decision to keep Brown and White.
Assessing the Jazz's roster
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At the very least, the Jazz were able to draft one of the most talented players in the 2025 NBA Draft class in Ace Bailey, disregarding his pre-draft antics and betting on his talent. Bailey will be tasked to help turn things around for a Jazz team that's been stuck without a blue-chip, franchise-altering talent despite drafting in the lottery for two straight years prior to 2025.
The Jazz still have a talented frontcourt trio in Lauri Markkanen, John Collins, and Walker Kessler, but their backcourt still has plenty of question marks. Isaiah Collier has shown flashes of being a brilliant playmaker which bodes well for his development in Year 2, Keyonte George runs hot and cold, and Collin Sexton is still around, but they don't have that undisputed number one floor general yet to lead the way.
It remains an uphill climb for the Jazz to compete for a playoff spot in the stacked Western Conference whether or not they manage to trade for Brown. While they may not intentionally bottom out anymore the way they did over the past three seasons, more likely than not, they'll find themselves in the lottery anyway come 2026.
