Utah Jazz found a bona fide All-Star ... and nine other stories that made headlines in 2023
One of Will Hardy’s favorite and oft-used phrases is, “Progress is not linear.”
It’s an incredibly useful motto that anyone can relate to and is especially useful if you’re a young head coach of a rebuilding NBA team like the Utah Jazz. It’s also the perfect way to think about the last year when it comes to the Utah Jazz.
In 2022, it was really easy to find the 10 biggest stories of the year because they were huge, splashy, bombshell-type stories. Three-time DPOY traded! Three-time All-Star traded! Head coach steps down! Boom! Boom! Boom!
The team was torn down to the studs so that a new foundation could be laid.
It’s meant that 2023 has not been as splashy, but instead has been a year of tracing the nonlinear path of progress. It’s been a year of small victories, even if at times it feels as though there have been setbacks.
It’s possible that many look through a big-picture lens or take a bird’s-eye view snapshot of what has happened with the Utah Jazz over the last 12 months, and come to the conclusion that not much has happened. They’re a rebuilding team and they aren’t that great right now, a bit of a disappointment.
But, there is a much more nuanced picture that is available if you zoom in a little and take a look at that slow trek toward progress.
So, without further ado, here are the top 10 Utah Jazz stories from 2023:
Lauri Markkanen becomes a star
When the Jazz decided to trade away Donovan Mitchell, Rudy Gobert, Bojan Bogdanovic and Royce O’Neale, prioritizing the acquisition of draft capital and young players, there’s not a single person who predicted that one of the players they brought back in a trade would emerge as an All-Star starter on the cusp of an All-NBA season.
Even if you would have included the name Lauri Markkanen in discussions regarding the team, no one would have guessed he would have had the kind of breakout season that he did in Utah.
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It’s the most remarkable thing that has happened to the team since the decision was made to blow things up. Markkanen, who was a third option at very best with the Cleveland Cavaliers or even previously with the Chicago Bulls, came to the Jazz and was unleashed and told to explore all parts of his game.
What ended up happening was Markkanen was so good that the Jazz ended up not being able to tank the season as much as they probably would have liked. He was so good that the Jazz started out the 2023 calendar year by kicking off an All-Star campaign for their newest emerging star.
The 7-foot, do-it-all player earned his first All-Star bid and was named an All-Star starter, earning praise from the biggest names in the NBA world and eventually winning the league’s Most Improved Player Award.
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Markkanen has continued his ascension into NBA stardom and has had to change the way he approaches the game, the way he considers defenders who see him differently and how he operates as a leader.
Markkanen’s story is certainly not over, but it was 2023 where things really began.
Mike Conley traded to Minnesota Timberwolves
In order to maximize the rebuilding efforts, the Jazz needed to do three things last season. They needed to deplete the roster, fill the asset cupboards with draft picks and clear the way for young players to either flourish or fail.
The final big piece in that puzzle was moving away from one of the smartest and most skilled point guards in the league, Mike Conley.
Had the Jazz kept Conley on the roster, their modified version of tanking would have likely failed. Trading Conley to the Minnesota Timberwolves solidified what the Jazz’s 2022-23 season was about.
And although the move was understood by all parties, it was a hard lesson for a mostly young team and a rookie head coach on what the NBA business can look like.
Walker Kessler emerges as a rising star
The No. 22 pick in the 2022 draft was a center that the Jazz liked and they certainly thought he had a lot of upside. But when they acquired him in the Gobert trade with Minnesota, they didn’t anticipate him having the rookie campaign that ended up unfolding.
Kessler started off the year on the bench, but eventually worked his way into the starting lineup when it was clear that he was excelling and learning at a rapid rate.
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Kessler ended up becoming much more of a defensive threat than anyone thought possible during his rookie season and he forced teams to view him as an important part of a scouting report when it came time to play the Jazz.
As the calendar turned to 2023, it was almost certain that Kessler would be a part of the Rising Stars Game during All-Star Weekend and he continued to garner recognition for his impressive play throughout the season, even earning a spot on the Team USA roster during the offseason.
The NBA All-Star Game returns to Salt Lake City
Once Gobert and Mitchell were no longer on the Jazz roster, it seemed that the 2023 NBA All-Star Game, hosted by the Utah Jazz, might end up being a lot less eventful than originally planned.
But the emergence of Markkanen as a legitimate NBA star and Kessler as a dark horse Rookie of the Year candidate gave All-Star Weekend in Salt Lake City a much-needed boost.
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The untold story of how the Utah Jazz landed the 2023 NBA All-Star Game
Damian Lillard wins 3-point Contest while repping Weber State
The festivities were planned for years and the Jazz were more than well-represented during the weekend, with Markkanen in the main event and 3-point Contest, Kessler in the Rising Stars game, former Weber State star Damian Lillard representing his alma mater and a trio of Jazz players competing in the Skills Challenge.
After first hosting the event in 1993, the NBA world descended on Utah 30 years later for an event that dominated headlines and gave new Jazz owner Ryan Smith a chance to show off how much has changed and what his hopes are for the future of the team and the city.
Jazz use trio of picks in 2023 draft
The Jazz went into the 2023 draft lottery with a small, albeit real chance of getting a top pick. What they ended up with when it was all said and done was the No. 9, No. 16 and No. 28 picks of the first round.
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Speculation was wild leading up to the 2023 draft, which was regarded as one of the best draft classes in recent memory and nobody really knew what the Jazz were going to do with three first-rounders.
The options were endless. They could have traded all three away, packaged some picks and moved up in the draft, or they could have used some, or one, or none of the picks and instead moved down or out of the draft if they wanted to go after an established star.
What they ended up doing was not wheeling and dealing and instead using all three picks to pick Taylor Hendricks out of UCF with the No. 9 pick, Keyonte George out of Baylor with the 16th overall selection and taking Brice Sensabaugh with the 28th pick.
Just like that, the Jazz had more young talent than they’d had on their roster in years.
No. 16 pick, Keyonte George, surprises everyone
Of course, everyone thought that it would be Hendricks that was going to be the most impressive and talked about rookie on the Jazz roster, and for good reason. Hendricks was routinely talked about as one of the highest upside prospects with out-of-this-world athleticism.
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But it was George that took Jazz Nation by storm.
George impressed with a 33-point performance in Summer League in which he showed off his passing ability, despite coming out of Baylor with a negative assist-turnover ratio. But an injury abbreviated his Summer League run, leaving many wondering if what they saw was just some rookie luck in Las Vegas.
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It took just eight regular-season games for it to become inarguably clear that there was more to George’s game than was originally thought and he was moved into the Jazz’s starting lineup.
Like most Jazz stories, there have been ups and downs and George was sidelined in December with a foot injury, but the Jazz brass and coaching staff are convinced that George is the point guard of the future for the franchise and that his story has only just begun.
The return of the Delta Center
It was just a single headline, but it was enough to stir nostalgia for an entire fanbase.
After going through a few different names in recent years, the Jazz’s home arena would once again return to being the Delta Center.
In January, the Jazz announced the change and that Delta would return as a partner with the Jazz and fans eagerly awaited the official renaming of the arena in July.
The Jazz finally get a shot at John Collins
For years, the Jazz had been rumored to have interest in Atlanta Hawks forward/center John Collins, but rumors and preliminary talks never materialized into anything concrete.
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But the Jazz went back to talks with the Hawks this past offseason and eventually traded Rudy Gay and a future second-round pick to the Hawks, and Collins became the biggest acquisition of the Jazz’s 2023 summer.
No. 9 pick Taylor Hendricks takes a slower development path
It came as a bit of a shock for a lot of Jazz fans that Hendricks would start out the 2023-24 season in the G League. As a top-10 pick, it was largely expected that he would get a shot at real NBA minutes as soon as possible.
It was made a little more confusing when compared to the immediate use of George in the Jazz’s rotation, but the truth of the matter is that George being ready to play real NBA minutes so quickly was just as much a surprise to the Jazz as it was to fans.
Behind the scenes, the Jazz knew that, while they were all in on Hendricks’ potential, he was not ready for prime time just yet.
Slowly Hendricks has been able to get more minutes as the season has progressed and we’ve been able to see some areas where the young rookie has made strides, but it’s going to be a while before anyone really knows what kind of NBA player Hendricks will turn out to be.
Jazz fall short of expectations in the early season
The Jazz had some really impressive early-season success in 2022. That led to some increased expectations for the 2023-24 team.
Injury, illness, roster changes and some just downright sloppy execution has led to the current Jazz squad being a bit of a disappointment.
Last season, the Jazz were just a couple games outside of the play-in tournament and not that much farther out from being a playoff team. So, naturally, with more time together and some more experienced additions, the Jazz were expected to at least be as good as they were, if not better than the previous season.
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Instead, this season has exemplified Hardy’s line on progress not being a straight line.
While there have been signs that players like Ochai Agbaji and Collin Sexton have learned and are growing, while Markkanen has continued to look like the player he was last season and George has impressed, there have also been growing pains.
Kessler has struggled to find his footing this season, Collins has not revitalized his career in the way the Jazz had hoped he might and the Jazz have come up against teams where it’s clear they just don’t have the talent and skill to win.
Hardy is quick to point out that although they might not be good right now, it doesn’t mean that they aren’t headed in the right direction and that’s what this year has really been about. The Jazz are still deep in the rebuilding process and sometimes it might not feel like they are succeeding. But with every small victory, there is small progress.
