‘Great experience’: Jaren Jackson Jr. provides glimpse of Jazz’s future in home debut

It didn’t take new Jazz player Jaren Jackson Jr. much time to get used to his new digs at the Delta Center.

In front of a sellout crowd of 18,186 in his first home game as a Jazzman, Jackson Jr. provided Utah fans with a glimpse of what this team could be next season in a 121-93 win over a depleted Sacramento Kings team.

With just one game left until the all-star break and just 27 to go in the season, the Jazz are seeing the light at the end of the tanking tunnel.

“Yeah, it’s a high ceiling. Tonight we didn’t have our full group out there, obviously, and just getting Keyonte and Walker back. Really excited what we can do with this group,” said Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen.

“I think we can do a lot of different things, different coverage on defense and then run the offense differently depending on who’s got it going and what the matchups be. And I think having this group of guys and obviously Will (Hardy) leading us, he’s kind of picking his brain to getting us what’s working on different nights. And so I’m really excited.”

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Jackson Jr. scored a game-high 23 points on 61.5% shooting and added four rebounds, two assists, a steal and a block in his home debut.

“He’s a very efficient offensive player. He can do it both inside and out. I told Jaren that I think the thing that I’ve appreciated the most about him offensively is how he uses the 3-point line. I think he has a good ratio right now. He’s not just launching 3s. I think he’s a capable shooter, but his physicality and his touch around the basket’s really good,” said Jazz coach Will Hardy.

Markkanen and Brice Sensabaugh scored 19 points apiece and rookie Ace Bailey pitched in 13 in the Jazz’s dominant win.

“I thought the team was really focused for the most part, start to finish, did a good job protecting the paint again. It’s been a theme lately and it’s allowed us to play in transition a little bit more than we have been, which has been good for us. And then I think the group is doing a really good job of playing off of each other,” Hardy said.

The Jazz won their second game in a row, starting star players Jackson Jr. and Markkanen against a depleted Sacramento Kings team without Russell Westbrook, Zach Lavine, Malik Monk, Domantas Sabonis, Keegan Murray and De’Andre Hunter.

The Jazz were only missing Keyonte George and, of course, Walker Kessler from the lineup on Wednesday night.

Utah’s starting lineup was simply too much for the hapless Kings, and as a result, the Jazz raced out to a 39-20 lead over the visitors behind 12 points from Jackson Jr., nine points from Markkanen and eight points from Sensabaugh in the first quarter

The Jazz shot 55% from the field, including 50% from 3, in the first period of play while limiting the Kings to 36.8% shooting.

After outscoring the Kings 32-24 in the second quarter to lead 71-44 at the half, the Jazz were able to coast to an easy win.

The Kings (12-44) continued their hold on the worst record in the NBA as BYU star AJ Dybantsa, who should be selected within the first three picks of the 2026 NBA draft, watched what could be one of his future teams from courtside seats at the Delta Center.

Wednesday was Jackson Jr.’s third game with his new team, but in some ways, it felt like his first with the Jazz. It was the former Grizzlies forward’s first time in front of his new home crowd, his first time in the Utah locker room and his first time running out of the home tunnel.

“This kind of felt like my first game in a weird way,” he said.

Jackson Jr. got a loud ovation from the crowd when he was introduced and any time he scored, and received walk-off interview honors following the performance as the crowd showed him their appreciation.

“I was kind of just enjoying the moment. … And I just wanted to enjoy it. It helped that we were winning. It helps me enjoy the game more. So credit to everybody getting me this win here. But yeah, it was dope. Great experience,” Jackson Jr. said.

Aside from his offensive play, Jackson Jr. was brought to Salt Lake City to raise the team’s defensive profile. The Jazz have owned the worst defense in the NBA this season — partly due to roster design — and the addition of the 2022-23 Defensive Player of the Year instantly improves that side of the ball.

It came against a Kings team missing pretty much all of its meaningful players, but Wednesday night’s win was the first time this season that the Jazz have held an opponent under 100 points.

“Just being active. I think talking for sure when I’m behind the guards in the back line, letting them know where I’m at, let them know what they should do,” Jackson Jr. said. “They have a lot of new schemes here that I think we could take advantage of because of our size. Personnel helps us get a lot of things done, but you got to have that intensity too. So I think we’ve already been better, so that’s good.”

The Jazz sent out a supersized starting lineup of Jackson (6-10), Markkanen (7-1), Jusuf Nurkic (6-11), Ace Bailey (6-9) and Isaiah Collier (6-4). The Kings had no answer for the Jazz’s size, and Utah outscored Sacramento 58-42 in the paint.

“His size. He can protect the paint. He can guard the perimeter. And then obviously on the offensive end, he’s a tough matchup with anybody,” Markkanen said of Jackson Jr. “With all three of us out there, we have a big lineup and someone’s going to have a small (matchup) at times and he’s one of the best ones to punish this matchup for sure.”

Aside from his contributions on the court, Jackson Jr. has quickly acclimated himself to the locker room, and Hardy is just as excited for his off-the-court impact.

“When we traded for Jaren, obviously there’s so much talk about the player and I’m very excited about the player, but what we’re trying to build as an organization and a program, Jaren’s character and who he is as a person is just as important, and I think that that has been really evident from the day that he got here,” Hardy said.

“He’s a high character guy. He’s got a good sense of humor. He also has a respect level that comes with him because of how he’s played during his career. So I think that from a human standpoint, he’s meshing with the group really well. We haven’t talked about that as much as the player piece, but what I’ve seen from him and Vince (Williams Jr.) and John (Konchar) is that all three are really, really high character guys and we’re lucky to have them in our organization.”