NBA free agency opens today. Here’s what to expect from the Utah Jazz.

On paper, it could look like the Utah Jazz have their roster set entering the NBA’s free agency period, which opens Monday at 4 p.m. MT.

That’s because they have a full allotment of players — maybe too many, in fact. The team has 15 players still under contract, and the team just added three players (Ace Bailey, Walter Clayton Jr., and John Tonje) in last week’s draft.

Not only that, they also don’t have any cap space. Forward John Collins’ decision to pick up his $26.5 million option for next season means that the Jazz enter free agency with no room to exceed the cap to sign free agents. While it appears the Jazz will have much cap space in the summer of 2026, that simply isn’t the case this summer.

And yet, it would be wise to expect the Jazz to pop up in the NBA’s leaguewide headlines this week.

There’s much left to do for the Jazz this offseason, beyond just seeing what Bailey and company have in summer league. Here’s what to watch for:

Trades of the veterans

We’ve already seen one trade involving a veteran: Collin Sexton and a second-round pick for Charlotte’s Jusuf Nurkic.

Sexton needs playing time, and Nurkic is a backup center at this point in his career.

That deal signaled the Jazz’s intentions this offseason: They’re probably not looking to improve the team this summer. Instead, they’ve traded a veteran who would help the team be more competitive in the short term, freeing up playing time for the youth in the process.

The Jazz have Collins, Jordan Clarkson, and now Nurkic, all with one year left on their deal. The first two expressed that they could see themselves out of a Jazz uniform next season, though noted their immediate futures were out of their control.

The 27-year-old Collins had an excellent season in the minutes the Jazz allowed him to play in 2024-25, putting up 19 points and eight rebounds in his 30 minutes per contest. But finding a home for him is somewhat difficult thanks to the $26.5 million salary that other teams would have to nearly match in a returning trade to Utah. The Lakers were reportedly interested at the deadline, but NBA reporter Marc Stein reported this week that they’re not so inclined this summer, and then said his market “was still forming.”

For Clarkson, the situation is more difficult: He’s now 33, and coming off of two years where his advanced analytics reflect production just slightly above replacement level. Moving him probably requires a trade that makes sense contractually, not just on the court.

In the end, the Sexton trade revealed the market value of these players — not much. We’ll see if the Jazz continue to take bad trades in order to clear their playing time off the roster.

Walker Kessler extension

One player that is definitely wanted — by both the Jazz and the rest of the league — is center Walker Kessler. The 23-year-old is entering his fourth season, has established himself as one of the best rim protectors, and led the league in offensive rebounds per game last season.

Kessler becomes eligible for an extension on July 1. He still has a full year left on his deal, and at the end of it, he is a restricted free agent, which means the Jazz would be allowed to match any offer given by another team in the 2026 offseason.

That being said, the Jazz have historically preferred to lock down their young players long-term. If they seek to, what would Kessler be worth? One guide might be the recent extension given to Naz Reid, worth five years, $125 million. Dallas center Daniel Gafford also just extended his contract for $18 million per year, though he is older and probably not quite as highly valued as Kessler.

A rationale not to extend Kessler, though: cap space. Kessler’s cap hold is smaller than his deal would likely be in the 2026 offseason, so by waiting to extend him, the Jazz would have more money available to spend in the free agent market in that offseason.

One final option with Kessler is to trade him, if the Jazz had decided they’d rather go in a different direction. The Lakers have made offers for the fan-favorite center, but nothing has been presented that has particularly tempted the Jazz so far.

Non-guaranteed guys

The Jazz have four non-guaranteed players: Kenyon Martin Jr., Svi Mykhailiuk, Johnny Juzang, and Jaden Springer. However, the Jazz have to make decisions for some players sooner rather than later.

Mykhailiuk and Juzang have contract guarantee dates of June 30 for each upcoming season in their contracts, meaning the Jazz will have to make a decision by then to decide whether they’ll pay out each player in full. (All contract guarantee dates via Spotrac.)

Springer, meanwhile, sees $400,000 of his contract guaranteed on July 25, then $600,000 guaranteed on opening night.

Martin’s contract for 2025-26 becomes guaranteed on January 10, 2026 — same as every other player who does not have a guarantee date specifically established in their deal.

With 15 players under contract and three draftees, it would make sense for the Jazz to cut at least some of these players before their contracts are guaranteed.

Use the mid-level exception?

Despite being over the cap, the Jazz could use the non-taxpayer mid-level exception to sign a value free agent if they so choose, up to $8 million per year.

There are a couple of directions Utah could go with this.

One way would be to acquire a young player who has some upside but is coming from a capped-out team. The Jazz tried doing this in 2023, for example, to sign center Paul Reed to a three-year deal — but Reed was a restricted free agent, and the Philadelphia 76ers chose to match. (The Jazz are lucky they did; Reed has been waived twice since.)

If they go this direction, I like Jake LaRavia, Tre Mann, and Quentin Post as early-20s guys with end-of-rotation play so far. One day, with some player development, they may have the chance to become middle-of-rotation guys.

The other alternative would be to use the MLE on veterans that the Jazz think will be tradable to another team at the deadline. That’s essentially what they did with the signings of Drew Eubanks and Patty Mills last season, the carousel trades of which eventually brought them a handful of second-round picks.

I have a favorite in the clubhouse here: I definitely wouldn’t be stunned if Will Hardy gave Celtics backup center Luke Kornet an MLE contract. Hardy loved Mills, loved Eubanks, and loved Kornet when the pair worked together in Boston. Who else do the Jazz know who recently worked in Boston? Oh yeah, new president of basketball operations Austin Ainge.

Among other players, I wonder if Guerschon Yabusele (drafted by Ainge nine years ago), Sandro Mamukelashvili, Taurean Prince, De’Anthony Melton, Gary Harris, Dante Exum (yes, him!), Bruce Brown, Tyus Jones, or Cam Payne might be fits for this strategy as well.