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2026 free agency

H

HadAnEffectHere

Well-Known Member
The Jazz will enter summer 2026 with over $50m in cap space as of now (this could change with trades, obviously) and there are a couple options though no serious game changing player.

Likely targets

Wings who can defend:

Quentin Grimes
Lu Dort (obviously would have to overpay a good bit to get him away from a title contender)
Andrew Wiggins (Wiggins is much older than the other players on this list and is less likely, but maybe the team would want a vet)
Keon Ellis (could be signed under the table if traded at the deadline)
Ayo Dosunmu
Tari Eason (RFA the team wants to keep so this would be hard)


Star players:

Austin Reaves (note that it is extremely unlikely that the Lakers would let him go without a sign-and-trade for significant assets)


Disappointing young players who may be able to turn it around in another situation:

Jeremy Sochan
Bennedict Mathurin
Ousmane Dieng
Jonathan Kuminga
Jaden Ivey
 
The Jazz face the current dual issue of:

1. The Jazz are not very attractive to established players because they have intentionally lost for four straight years
2. The Jazz are not very attractive to young players trying to establish themselves because they have so many guys in the rotation already. Jeremy Sochan and Jaden Ivey would not have a guaranteed path to minutes here. Grimes/Mathurin/Ayo/Keon Ellis may not even be guaranteed a starting spot if the Jazz draft a guard in 2026.

To get these guys, the Jazz are going to have to pay more than you would prefer. Sochan would probably sign for the minimum for a lot of teams, but would need like $5m a year to play in Utah. Quentin Grimes would probably take like 4/80 from a contender, but the Jazz might have to go to like 4/100 or 4/110.
 
The Jazz are also not attractive to established players because they may start tanking at any point, leading to the benching of guys playing at an All Star level.
 
Whether or not the Jazz (or any other team) has tanked recently is irrelevant for established players. What matters is the immediate outlook and goals of the team. If the Jazz have a strong outlook, nobody will care how they got there. A team that tanked but has good players is going to be more attractive than a team that didn’t tank but has worse players.

The roadblock in FA is the same as it’s always been. NBA players do not want to live in Utah. It’s always been this way, it always will.

As far as actual targets, I really like Tari Eason. He’s an analytics star and somewhat obtainable due to HOU’s money situation. Would probably have to break the bank for him, but he might be worth it.

Keon Ellis is another underutilized player. I think a smart team ends up trading for him and extending him, but if he doesn’t get traded and hits FA is a very good target.

Ousmane Dieng also might be good and just lost in the shuffle on a stacked OKC roster. Cant imagine OKC will re-sign him at any decent $ amount. They can’t afford it.

Out on:
Ivey
Kuminga
 
The Eason idea has two problems for the Jazz

1. The Jazz would have to pay A LOT
2. Eason is a natural PF and the Jazz already have Ace and Lauri at PF.

A Keyonte-Ace-Lauri-Eason-Kessler lineup struggles badly at ball handling and is close to capped out.

Great offensive rebounding team though.
 
I couldn't care less about position labels. There is no such thing as a natural position. What matters is the roles players are put in and those don't align with some label. Putting Eason in the starting lineup leaves it a little light on ball handling and playmaking, but if the choice is Eason or nothing I think you get him if you can and resolve that later. I think he would be a huge boost the defense and he would have the opportunity to show if he can expand his offensive game.
 
Eason is a spreadsheet god because of his great box score numbers, but he also stands out from a pure APM perspective as well:

1766252598846.png
 
KqWIN said:
I couldn't care less about position labels. There is no such thing as a natural position. What matters is the roles players are put in and those don't align with some label. Putting Eason in the starting lineup leaves it a little light on ball handling and playmaking, but if the choice is Eason or nothing I think you get him if you can and resolve that later. I think he would be a huge boost the defense and he would have the opportunity to show if he can expand his offensive game.
Click to expand...

Obviously if we just could get Tari Eason, that would be great, but his very awkward fit with Ace, Lauri, and Kessler does put a ceiling on how high we can go in salary negotiations.

Are you really going to go like 4/160 for a guy who does not fit well with the entire frontcourt?
 
Last edited:
HadAnEffectHere said:
Obviously if we just could get Tari Eason, that would be great, but his very awkward fit with Ace, Lauri, and Kessler does put a ceiling on how high we can go in salary negotiations.
Click to expand...

Salary wise we'd need to go high for sure. Has to be enough to make HOU second guess themselves. I don't know about "very awkward". The lineup is lacking some playmaking, but you could hope for some growth between Ace, Tari, and or Kessler. And who knows, maybe Key is the real deal and can hold it down as heliocentric ball handler. If you sign Eason, it does not mean you're married to those 5 for the rest of time. I'm also not too concerned with Hardy being able to produce a strong offense. Defensively, I'm less certain and he needs actual defensive talent. Eason/Ellis are the two standouts as far as Free Agents go. They won't save the defense on their own but it's a good start.

Realistically, we're going to sign Grimes....and he's just okay. Perfectly mediocre on both ends.
 
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