Every week during the regular season begins here at SCH with the Salt City Seven, a septet of recurring features that let us relive the biggest moments, key performances and hot issues in Jazzland from various angles. Check in every week for the quotes, stats, plays and performances that tell the stories from the last 168 hours in the world of the Jazz.
The 15-35 Jazz were already on the court in Toronto when All-Star reserves were publicly announced on Sunday. They likely had some inkling before tip-off that no Utah players would be named to the Western Conference squad, but it still made for odd timing.
Lauri Markkanen is on pace to finish this season as the only player in NBA history to miss the All-Star game while averaging 27 points on 60% true shooting in 55+ games. He also Keyonte George was at least a fringe candidate with his 24.2 ppg, 6.6 apg averages and most efficient season ever. Neither will appear in the midseason showcase, though, after coaches instead selected seven of their peers to represent the West.
In a vaccum, Markkanen's numbers scream "All-Star!" Even on a team with a .300 record, players with those stats are usually in. The problem is that there are a ton of deserving players in the West especially. Markkanen's string of missed games also probably hurt hurt his case. He had missed 10 of the Jazz's last 17 games leading up to this announcement.
That explanation does ring a little more hollow, though, as the coaches selected someone with just 30 games and worst stats across the board. That's why the WC All-Star with the flimsiest case is surely LeBron James, with counting and advanced stats that are just OK compared to the field. And yet... it still just kind of feels like LeBron should be part of the All-Star game. It would have felt fairer if he made it in some sort of emertius appointee role rather than taking one of the 12 spots away from someone more objectively deserving, but it's hard to get mad about LeBron being an All-Star.
Kevin Durant and Anthony Edwards are no-brainers, and Deni Avdija's breakout year made him a pretty sure bet, too. Jamal Murray is having his best season ever, including carrying the Nuggets over the last month. OKC was always likely to get a second All-Star after dominating the league for half a season, so Chet Holmgren getting in at just 18 ppg is hardly worth getting worked up about. Devin Booker's stats are slightly worse than some guys who weren't selected, but the Suns have been a huge success story, currently on a 49-win pace even after trading KD.
Of those left off, Kawhi Leonard probably has the most reason to be upset. He's doing just a bit more than Markkanen and in roughly the same number of games. But he's doing it on a team that's now sneaking up on .500 after a 17-4 stretch. He and Markkanen both outperform LeBron on every stat on this graphic. Except for being LeBron, which again... is a thing. They also both exceeded Booker almost everywhere, although he's played more games.
To these eyes, Leonard and Markkanen (in that order) are the toughest omissions, but plenty of other dudes have a case. James Harden is having a hell of a year, but it was always unlikely LAC would get two, and Kawhi has been better. Alperen Sengun was a popular pick because of how much of Houston's no-guard offense is built around him, but they already got KD on, and it's somewhat problematic that his team plays better when he sits. Julius Randle (or Rudy Gobert) could have made it on as second Wolves, but their stats don't really demand it.
Which brings us back to George. His third-year leap has been special, and deservedly earned him some All-Star mentions on people's "long lists." But to get him on, you have to find six guys on the graphic above you can put him over, with 24-4-7 with a barely-positive on/off differential and the conference's 36th best EPM wins added.
The fact that he entered the All-Star discussion at all is a pretty huge success. So is the fact that Markkanen is outplaying his 2023 All-Star level. For this year, those successes will have to be enough.
"We've actually renamed it in our building: it's human development. We want them to be better at dribbling, passing and shooting — believe me. I want them to be better at reading a pick-and-roll. But we're also trying to help young men navigate their early 20s, and who they are as people, and what's important to them, and what drives them. Because if we don't get that stuff right, we're never going to be able to maximize the basketball...
"We want these young men to be operating at their highest level as people, because when they feel good about themselves and they feel good about their lives, they have a way better opportunity to be successful as basketball players."
- WIll Hardy
We disproportionally use this space to highlight words from the Jazz's fourth-year coach. That's partly because he spends more time in front of a microphone than any other Jazz figure. But it's also because of how often and how easily he gives the world glimpses into his nuanced, almost philosophical views about his role as a coach and leader. That was the case in his appearance on Adrian Wojnarowski's The Program this week.
He had great answers on alignment and openness with the front office, on culture indicators, and on the team's "Show Love" mantra.
It's evident often just how much Hardy thinks about his role in helping these young men grow into themselves in a way that goes beyond basketball. But there was also plenty of talk about the basketball growth, especially as it relates to the Jazz's current young guys.
"All of our guys have a willingness to work and they love being in the gym," Hardy said. "Some days you can tell they're not quite sure what they should be working on."
He expounded more on that in Tuesday's pre-game press availability. He says that while larger staffs and sports science tools are giving players a better "road map" to improvement, he also wants guys to think about and be bought into their individual development programs.
"I think that's when you're in the sweet spot: we try to involve all of our young players in the conversation about their own development," he said on Tuesday.
117.9
The Jazz possess the fifth best offensive rating in fourth quarters this season, at 117.9. Their offense just progressively gets better throughout games: from 110.1 in the first half to 117.1 after intermission.
-15
That was the perimeter points margin in the third period alone when Utah hosted the Clippers on Tuesday. Sometimes that's all it takes; the Jazz won the other three quarters by four points, but the -16 overall margin in the third sunk them, largely because LAC hit six threes while the Jazz went 1-for-6..
20.9%
More than one in five of the Warriors' shot attempts on Wednesday were from thecorners, and 59.3% of their attempts were threes overall. Both of those figures are on the top half of a percent of all NBA games this season. They made 23 (outscoring the Jazz by 24 on 3-point shots alone), but when you take that many, the math is in your favor even if you shoot just an average percentage. (They shot nearly 43%.)
2
There were a few issues that plagued the Jazz in their Friday loss to Brooklyn, but the biggest outlier was their season-low TWO second-chance points. Only six teams have had games with fewer. Obviously playing without a true center made it tougher, and that (along with free-throw shooting) allowed them to lose on a night when they shot 50%, took care of the ball, and won the paint battle.
19%
The entire Jazz-Raptors duel was played inside a 15-point swing (+6 to-9), making it the second narrowest outing they've played all year. So how did they lose? By shooting just 19% in the fourth quarter, including 0-for-9 on threes.
Utah's best offensive performance of the week came against Golden State, including a pair of Euro bigs dishing to one another.
The first one (which also features an A+ celly by my guy Juan Barraco of @UtahJazzEspanol) appears to happen because of an in-the-moment read when Will Richard inexplicably lunges toward a guy just crossing midcourt. Now he's on the high side of Markkanen, who reacts with a look of, "Ummm... OK." It looks like the set-up here was for George to pitch to Jusuf Nurkic and then run into staggered screens. You can even see Markkanen trying to make contact on the screen. But Richard's over aggression presented Markkanen with an even better opportunity, so he and Nurk seize the mistake.
Then on the very next trip, Draymond Green decides to go under on a bread-and-butter off-ball pick for Lauri. Al Horford recognizes the "uh oh" moment and panics out in Markkanen's general direction, but now nobody at all is in front of a cutting Nurk. Because the play is executed straightaway, the corner defenders don't seem to be on the same page about whose job it is to come in and tag the roller.
Nurk to Lauri, Lauri to Nurk.
Utah's losing streak stretched out to six games, meaning we don't have any Wilsons to give out this week, only consolation shout-outs.
Strong in defeat:
- Jazz 103, Clippers 115: Ace Bailey. It wasn't Bailey's most complete outing (1 rebound, 0 assists), but he still gets this almost by default. Markkanen was rusy in his return, Sensabaugh was less efficient, and so forth. Collier's 12-4-9 night deserves some consideration, but Bailey scored seven of the Jazz's points in a 15-4 start and finished with a team-high 20 (on 50% shooting and 44% from three).
- Jazz 124, Warriors 140: Keyonte George. Sensabaugh led the way with 22 on just 11 shots, but five of his six buckets (and 19 of his 24 minutes) came after halftime. So it feels like we need to go George (19-7-7, two steals), with a runner-up nod to Bailey (19-7-4, two steals, best +/- of the starters).
- Jazz 99, Nets 109: Keyonte George. George was superb against Brooklyn, with 9-for-11 shooting on the way to a 26-point, 7-assist outing. Kyle Filipowski added a double-double (14 & 12) as the provisional starter, and Sensabaugh chipped in 18, but nobody could really pry this one away with George — especially since his ankle roll late in this one might keep him out of the running on the next few.
- Jazz 100, Raptors 107: Isaiah Collier. Markkanen might have been more valuable in a macro sense, but Collier was important as the fill-in starter and got a lot of love from Hardy after the game. He actually nearly matched Markkanen's per-minute scoring, but did so much more efficiently: 19 on just eight FGA, to go with seven assists. He also went 8-for-10 from the line! Markkanen was solid despite still looking for his shooting rhythm: 27 and 11, plus a crazy self alley-oop.
The Jazz have four stops left on their last major road trip of the year. After this, their longest trips are three games or less.
Tuesday 2/3 at Pacers: Indiana has suddently come alive, at 7-5 immediately following a 13-game skid. Their defense is up to 13th over that span. On the other end, they operate a lot like Utah, relying on ball movement since they don't have a consistent self-creator type — although Pascal Siakam is averaging 24-7-4 and just made another All-Star team. Former Jazzman Micah Potter has been contributing for them, although he got a DNP-CD on Saturday. Tyrese Haliburton and Obi Toppin remain out.
Thursday 2/5 at Hawks: Quin Snyder's streaky Hawks are trying to reestablish themselves after trading Trae Young. They're exactly 6-6 since swapping the star guard for CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert. Jalen Johnson is a freshly minted All-Star averaging 23p, 11r, 8a, but one of their most delightful surprises this season has been Jazz alumnus Nickeil Alexander-Walker: a career-best 20 points per game.
Saturday 2/7 at Magic: Orlando has been stuck in neutral after being one of the surprise teams of 2024-25. Their recent 2-5 malaise has dropped them back into eighth in the Eastern Conference. There are questions about the Paolo Banchero-Franz Wagner fit, partially because they have only been healthy together in 15 games, and partially because their net rating in shared minutes is a ho-hum +5.1. The lineup with those two, Desmond Bane, breakout guard Anthony Black and Jalen Suggs has only appeared together once.
It's trade deadline week, which makes it a good time for some goofy Jazz trade trivia.
Art Cummings was the first to ace a Sunday pop quiz about the least frequent Utah trade partner. Art is a savvy Jazz guy who does great work on the Jackpotting Around podcast. (Blair Redd got it too, just a little later.)
Here, for your enjoyment, is a current look at who the Jazz have done the most (and least) business with during the Utah era. Will we be adding to this graphic this week?
More trade content is coming to this website soon.
