The Utah Jazz Aim for a Turnaround With New Leadership

The Utah Jazz are coming off of a challenging 2024-25 season, finishing with a 17-65 record, the worst record in the league. They missed the playoffs for the third straight year, struggling with consistency despite having an All-Star forward Lauri Markkanen, who averaged 19.0 points per game which is a drastic drop from his previous two seasons. The team’s youth, with eight players under 23, has showed a lot of potential but have lacked the cohesion and team chemistry to build something special with this group. After failing to secure the top pick in the 2025 NBA Draft lottery, the Jazz look like they’re focused on rebuilding through other strategic methods, other than securing more talent from the NBA draft.

Team governor Ryan Smith has prioritized front-office restructuring to bring the franchise back into playoff contention. The Jazz extended coach Will Hardy through 2030-2031 season last month, showing commitment to long-term stability which is much needed for the Jazz. Now, they have made another move to support their basketball operations, aiming to bring in experienced leadership to guide their young roster and draft picks, including the fifth and 21st selection in the upcoming NBA draft.

Also Read: NBA Finals Winners Over the Years- Complete List of All the NBA Finals Winners

Austin Ainge Named Jazz President of Basketball Operations

The Utah Jazz hired Austin Ainge as president of basketball operations, bringing him from the Boston Celtics. Ainge spent 17 years with the Celtics, including 14 in the front office and six as assistant general manager. He was part of the Celtics team that won the 2024 NBA title, and made the playoffs in 17 of their last 18 seasons. The team also advanced past the first round in eight of the last nine years. Ainge began his Celtics tenure back in 2009 as a G league coach before moving to the front office in 2011.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Shams Charania (@shams)

Ainge joins his father, Danny Ainge, the Jazz CEO, and are reuniting after working in Boston together for over a decade. Ryan Smith views Ainge as a great executive, according to various sources, with strong talent evaluation skills. This comes after Ainge’s decade long experience developed under his father Danny Ainge and Celtics GM Brad Stevens. Ainge will now inherit a roster with Markkanen as the best player, who’s on contract for four more seasons, six-recent first round picks, and the fifth overall draft pick for this year’s NBA Draft.

Also Read: “Anthony Edwards Has a Shoe” Noah Lyles Criticizes Adidas and Addresses Misconceptions About Track and Field in America