Troubles switched out for triumphs, yeah, the time is growing near, almost here.
Almost. But not yet.
Reluctant auto traders that the Jazz are or, at least, were, they got a real race car in the garage on Tuesday, and now they have to decide what to do with it.
As hateful as it is to take a stand here, to take this particular stand, the correct course is to throw a cover over it, to tune all the engine parts, check all the power units, the pistons, the titanium valves, the exhaust system, all the body parts from stem to stern, so very deliberate like. That’s it. Polish it up and go slow. Rev, don’t run. Go oh-so slow before it goes fast. Maybe take it out for a test run around the track now and again, but no more. Do not drive it hard and put it away hot. No, not yet.
Jaren Jackson Jr. can think about hitting the throttle all he wants, but he can wait to do so.
The Jazz have done exactly that, have eased off the E10 fuel, the specialized high-performance gas blend, through sorry night after sorry night for the better part of three years. Ask Lauri Markkanen about developing patience, about biding time, about cooling his heels and, for this idiomatic expression, wheels, waiting for the green flag to wave all proper. He can whisper to his new fellow racer all about the process here. One open-wheel single-seater can tell the other to hold his horsepower, to check his competitive spirit for just another two months or so. After that, fire up the turbocharged engine and turn it loose.
Apologies for the over-the-top Formula 1 analogies here. These are, indeed, human beings we’re talking about, a team made up of real people. But the comparison works.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen (23) as the Utah Jazz host the Dallas Mavericks, NBA basketball in Salt Lake City on Monday, Dec. 15, 2025.
Jazz management has been sitting on the right opportunity for what has seemed like forever, initially trading away star players for some sort of combo-pack of financial flexibility and far-distant hope in the form of future draft picks, dragging the franchise through one of its worst stretches ever.
On Tuesday, they swapped out four players and three draft picks to Memphis for Jackson and a few others. Offloaded were Taylor Hendricks, Walter Clayton Jr., Kyle Anderson, Georges Niang, and three future first-round picks — two in 2027 and one in 2031.
In addition to Jackson, the Jazz got Jock Landale, John Konchar, and Vince Williams Jr. But Jackson is the heart of the deal. He is precisely what the Jazz have so severely lacked, a young star — he’s 26 — who can and will defend. Three times — count ‘em, uno, dos, tres — he’s been named as an All-NBA defender, once as the league’s Defensive Player of the Year. On top of that, the elite forward has averaged this season nearly 20 points a game — a fraction more than the 22 he averaged the previous year — and hauled just shy of six boards. At 6-10, rebounding is not an individual strength.
He’s under contract for another three seasons after the current one, making around $50 mil in each of them, with a player option on a fourth year.
For those who haven’t noticed, Jackson protects the rim at an elite level. But he does more than just that. He puts up versatile resistance, even when he switches out to defend perimeter shooters. Again, for those who haven’t paid much attention, the Jazz have been horrible in that regard, languishing at or near the bottom of the NBA in stopping opposing scorers.
As mentioned, Jackson can score the ball in multiple ways, inside and out. He hasn’t always been the most efficient scorer, but he can create his own shot, dunk on defenders and hit from distance.
Translation: He’s a bad mother of a player who will help the Jazz win games, something they haven’t made a habit of in recent times, something they — some of them, anyway — haven’t even wanted to make a habit of.
(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Minnesota Timberwolves guard Mike Conley (10) guards Utah Jazz guard Keyonte George (3) on Jan. 20.
Slide Jackson in with Markkanen, Keyonte George, Walker Kessler (when healthy), Ace Bailey (when fully developed), and a number of others, role players who already have emerged or who might yet do so, and …
And plug in one more addition — a potential top player from the unusually deep 2026 NBA draft, and the Jazz finally could be in position to hit the accelerator hard.
But — is there an echo in here? — not yet.
Everybody knows they need that draft pick preserved. If they win too many games this season, they’ll lose it to Oklahoma City. They cannot allow that to happen. It’s a mean NBA truth, but a truth it is, competitive integrity be damned. Those who say, now that Jackson’s in place, make an immediate push for the playoffs, are breaking out too early. Hold on, even with Jackson in the field, until season’s end.
Then, put the highly advanced semi-automatic sequential transmission to work, punch those paddle shifters, hit the gears, all of eight of them, to win.
Some folks are tired of waiting, waiting for the Jazz to make moves to make themselves legitimate again. Tanking sucks. They want everything pushed to the middle of the table ASAP. They want authentic competition.
The Jazz are close, closer than they were the day before yesterday. With a few more weeks of losing, with just a smidge and a nudge of good fortune from Lady Luck, they could add if not a generational player to the fold, a high quality one, one that can ascend with the rest of them.
All they have to do is throw that cover over their new beast, tune it/him up and treat him right, get him ready, then find that favor from You-Know-Who, make the correct choice in June, grow him just right, and then let all their racers run, run hard, run for the checkered flag.
At long last, they can ditch their troubles for triumphs, or at least burn down the track, making a good, hearty run at what’s been lost for so, so long: winning.
