Utah Jazz mailbag: The best fit in the upcoming draft, rotations for 2026-27 season, the future for Walker Kessler and Jusuf Nurkić — and more

The final third of the 2025-26 NBA season will start this week following the All-Star break, and with the final 26 Jazz games of the season on the horizon, fans sent in their mailbag questions.

The 2026 draft holds a lot of intrigue for a number of teams, and that includes the Jazz. There seems to be a general consensus on who the top four picks will be — Kansas’ Darryn Peterson, BYU’s AJ Dybantsa, Duke’s Cam Boozer and North Carolina’s Caleb Wilson.

If any of these players were to be added to the Jazz roster and have a major rookie season, it would change what is the predicted starting unit for the Jazz (Lauri Markkanen, Jaren Jackson Jr., Walker Kessler, Ace Bailey, Keyonte George). But when considering the upside and talent level of the top draft picks and the Jazz’s serious need for depth, I wouldn’t really be worried about the best fit. Take the best player.

I think Peterson (unless his medical information says otherwise when handed over to the NBA this spring) is the No. 1 pick no matter who is picking. We can figure out fit and depth charts later. That said, if the Jazz don’t have the No. 1 pick and fit does play a role in their decision, there could be a strong case made for Wilson as a backup center to Kessler or insurance depending on how the Kessler negotiations go this offseason.

You could also slot in Dybantsa or Boozer on the bench behind Jackson or Markkanen. The Jazz need depth no matter what and if they get lucky enough to have a top-four pick, there really isn’t a wrong answer.

Rotation spots will depend on who the Jazz take in the draft and who they retain after this season.

Will the Jazz keep Jusuf Nurkić even if they are able to come to agreeable terms with Kessler? It’s possible.

Will they look to trade some of the younger players that they’re unsure of in order to get more established players? Also possible.

Generally, I would say that the bench is up for grabs. There are players that the Jazz could decide to stick with among that group — Svi Mykhailiuk, Brice Sensabaugh, Isaiah Collier, Kyle Filipowski, Nurkić, Kevin Love, Cody Williams, Vince Williams Jr., John Konchar — and it wouldn’t surprise me at all for the Jazz to invest in some or many of those players long term. But it also would not shock me at all if they moved on from any one of them and decided to look for an upgrade.

I have it on good authority that both Nurkić and Love have enjoyed their time enough to consider making their stays in Utah a little more permanent.

That said, when it comes to Nurkić specifically, his play this season has been pretty remarkable considering what the narrative was coming into the year. He might have played himself into a bigger role with more money.

The market will probably make this decision. But Nurkić has been pretty public about his feelings for Jazz head coach Will Hardy, his respect for the organization and how much he’s been pleasantly surprised by the whole experience. It could be really good for the Jazz to keep him and they might be able to find a deal that would keep everyone happy.

Frankly, the biggest thing that’s been holding the Jazz back from trying to be competitive has been the protections on the pick owed to the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Jazz sent a future first-rounder, with protections, to OKC along with Derrick Favors in 2021. But, after the 2026 draft, the Jazz’s obligation to the Thunder extinguishes.

The 2026 draft also has a lot of high-end talent, while the 2027 draft is rumored to be lacking in top-end prospects.

And Jazz ownership is getting a little antsy.

And the fans are getting restless.

But it was also about opportunity. It wasn’t widely known that Jackson was available. Most believed that the Memphis Grizzlies would hold on to Jackson until after they found a trade partner to take Ja Morant. But when the Jazz found a chance to strike, they took it.

Because of the timing of owed OKC pick, the talent of the draft and everything else, the Jazz were always planning to make more of a go of things with the 2026-27 season. Getting Jackson just cements that.

This has been such a big topic of conversation lately, and there are opinions that land all over the place.

Some people think that the Jazz would match literally any offer in restricted free agency this offseason. There are some that think the Jazz will overpay just to end any speculation. And there are those that believe that Kessler is not worth the huge part of the cap that his salary would take up.

I think that the truth is probably in the middle.

Kessler is not a proven player. He has not been in the playoffs, he has not had any big NBA accolades and he is coming off a season-ending surgery so he will have missed nearly a year when it comes to competitive basketball. That being said, salaries for young players like Kessler are about the future, not the present.

The Jazz don’t want to get into any kind of bidding war situation, but they don’t want to handcuff themselves when it comes to the cap. There’s probably a number between $28 million and $32 million per year, maybe on a front-loaded contract that would achieve everything that everyone wants.

Is it the biggest bag? No. But that’s multi-generational wealth.

Pray.

I’m kidding, (kind of).

Losing the pick would be pretty disastrous, so I think the Jazz will do everything in their power to make sure that doesn’t happen. But I think their plan to bolster the roster is the same if they lose the pick or not — trade, trade, trade.

They still have a number of future picks and they have a lot of young players on the roster. If the Jazz see an opportunity for an upgrade, they have the means to make those deals.