Utah Jazz Media Day: When will Utah compete for the playoffs again? Get comfy.

The NBA season is an 82-game car trip. Full of bumps, potholes, irritation, jubilation, absolute joy, and complete disdain. But before the ball is tipped on opening night, the path this station wagon takes is undefined — an absolute mystery. Media day is an opportunity for the front office to offer a road map. A line drawn from point A to point B. Some semblance of direction for those tuning into the live feed.

For the Utah Jazz, the questioning media didn’t waste any time in asking about the state of today’s Utah Jazz and the path of the team to come. Straight from the jump, Ryan Smith and Austin Ainge were caught in the crosshairs with the following question: When will this team compete for the playoffs again?

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Three seasons into a rebuild, this is a question born of anticipation, anxiety, and compounding pressure. And the decision-makers’ response? Hopefully, you’ve gotten comfortable losing, because that will be the new normal for the foreseeable future.

Q: When is the team going to be competitive again? When is this going to be a playoff team again?

A: It’s hard to do timelines. We’re focused so much on just helping these guys get better every day. Whenever we make that transition, however we add to this team in the future, whether it’s through free agency next summer or trades at any point, a lot of our development has to come internally. We have to. The salary cap dictates it, our market dictates it, we have to improve with a lot of these young guys in the room.

Austin Ainge didn’t beat around the bush when describing Utah’s blueprint for roster construction. Given the Jazz’s circumstances, there is no other way to build a lasting framework for winning without building through the draft and developing the assets at hand. It’s a harsh reality for the Jazz, but this isn’t breaking news.

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In a market like Los Angeles, you can build a foyer and master bedroom fit for LeBron, a swimming pool for Bronny, and even an in-home weight room for blossoming workout warrior Luka Doncic. Why? Because they’ve got the funds, they’ve got the draw, and they’ve got plenty of hands to get the renovations finished in a snap.

The Jazz don’t stumble upon success. Constructing a championship core must be done through self-reflection and internal development. Meditation and inner peace may be the prevailing sentiment around this iteration of Jazz basketball.

So let’s draw the line. At what point does the “development” phase end and the “advancement” phase begin? Where’s the tangible evidence that progress is being made, even if the timeline isn’t taking a linear trajectory?

Q: When it comes to leading and developing a young team, what is it about development that doesn’t make it a straight line?

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A: I think that’s just the human experience. […] [there’s not] any challenge we face that we can just program in linear growth. Luckily, we have an amazing coach who has developed some of the best players in our game through his career, and we’ve got a great staff. They’ve worked really hard this summer.

So, how will that player development actually look on the floor? How often will we see the youngsters on the floor, and how often will we be sharpening pitchforks and lighting torches to demand Jusuf Nurkic and Kyle Anderson stop stealing Ace Bailey’s minutes? Enter: Will Hardy into the hot seat.

Q: What’s the philosophy on young players and their playing time?

A: There’s a lot of different ways you could look at it. The word “earned” is very appropriate. If you don’t set it up in a way that has meritocracy, it’s split. You have a group that knows they’re going to play no matter what they do, and a group that knows they’re not going to play no matter what they do. So then neither group really cares that much about what they’re doing, and that’s unproductive. I think development is not a linear thing; we want them to improve, but it goes up and down along the way. Timelines are hard to put on young people […] it’s hard to know when they’re going to be ready to take on the full responsibilities that are necessary.

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[…]

“When you have as many young players as we do, we all want it now, but that’s not how it works. It’s our responsibility every day to try to cultivate the environment where these players can grow, and they’re all going to grow at different rates. The veteran players are important because they have what our young players want, which is longevity in the NBA.”

So get comfortable. Find the sunken cushion on your favorite easy chair and recline for a while. The Utah Jazz will not be in the business of winning basketball games until the cement in the foundation has solidified. As of right now, this team’s foundation is still a pit in the ground.

There is no timeline for competitive hoops in Utah, but that doesn’t mean nothing is going on behind the scenes. The wheels are in motion, but don’t expect 0-to-60 for a few more seasons.

Calvin Barrett is a writer, editor, and prolific Mario Kart racer located in Tokyo, Japan. He has covered the Utah Jazz and BYU athletics since 2024.