SLC Dunk

The Utah Jazz are coming into the season as maybe the most unpredictable team in either conference. No one is sure what to make of this collection of talent. Will the players achieve a level of cohesion and become better than the sum of their parts? Or will they struggle with the blend of youth and veterans and underwhelm? That leads us to this week’s Utah Jazz Reacts survey. How will this season end when all is said and done?

The Utah Jazz came out of the 2026 NBA Draft on the verge of a breakout season. All that was left for the Jazz was to re-sign Walker Kessler. It felt like it was an inevitability until the news that the Lakers agreed to give the Jazz every asset they had to bring Walker Kessler to LA. That left the Jazz with a question mark at center that they probably didn’t expect. The question for the Jazz and Jazz fans became: what should they do about the center position?

The offseason isn’t technically over - we’re all waiting on pins and needles for the Mario Hezonja decision - but the transactions have slowed substantially, and it looks like the Jazz have the majority of their roster set for the 2026-2027 season. We’ve consistently been told that this past season was the last in terms of tanking in Salt Lake, so high expectations were placed on the offseason - what would the Jazz do to finalize the roster destined to lead the organization back into relevancy?

We’re at the part of the summer where LeBron James is controlling the basketball narratives because there’s nothing to talk about. Apparently, the decision would have happened by now had Adam Silver not rushed him. Apparently, James is just like us and gets irritated by Adam Silver too. But that may just be a ruse. It appears that Klutch would like to make a trade happen that would get Anthony Davis to either Cleveland or Golden State, and that might help James make his decision.

What should the Utah Jazz do at center? The Utah Jazz have mostly solidified their roster for the upcoming season post the Walker Kessler trade. They signed Jaxson Hayes and Mo Bamba to solidify the center position on the roster. That doesn’t mean they couldn’t do more. It’s possible for the Jazz to make a trade to improve that position if they wanted to. For example, we know that Daniel Gafford is available if a team out there is interested.

“You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” Those are the immortal words of Harvey Dent, Two-Face, from Christopher Nolan’s epic The Dark Knight. I watched The Odyssey; I witnessed the pasty vampire from Twilight (also Bruce Wayne in The Batman, ironically) overcome his tragic microbangs to attempt the murder of Spider-Man, and now I, too, have fallen prey to the spreading epidemic of Nolan Fever.

… because I’m not ready for the World Cup to be over As big of a fan as I am of basketball, I am JUST as big of a fan of the world of footy. Every four years a huge percentage of American’s pretend to care about the game for a few weeks up until the point that the USMNT loses in the knockout rounds, and then they go back to not caring about the sport. Maybe if the USMNT took some notes from the USWNT, America as a whole would care about the game a little more.

Jazz fans made it clear who they thought would have the best career of all the new rookies In our latest Jazz Reacts survey, I asked who Jazz fans think will have the best career between Darryn Peterson, AJ Dybantsa, Caleb Wilson, and Cam Boozer. Here’s how Jazz fans feel. Probably not a surprise that Jazz fans believe that the Jazz prospect will have the best career. But it’s not a stretch to think this is a relatively easy choice.

According to Marc Stein, the Dallas Mavericks are fielding offers for Daniel Gafford. Stein goes on to say: Is Daniel Gafford going to be on this team by season’s end? It’s not an answerable question at this point. We know he’s available. This is the perfect type of move for the Utah Jazz. Gafford isn’t a star center but is a league-average player across the board and is a net positive on the defensive end. Dunks and Threes has his block percentage (4.9) in the 92nd percentile.

The Utah Jazz will take on the Portland Trail Blazers in their last game of the Las Vegas Summer League. They will also be doing it without their three most prominent summer league players: Darryn Peterson, Ace Bailey, and Cody Williams. It’s been a very up-and-down summer league for Utah for multiple players. Darryn Peterson started the Salt Lake City Summer League and was easily the best player of anyone in Salt Lake or Las Vegas.