Utah
The Jazz Have One ‘Tough Question’ They Need to Answer
If the first quarter of this NBA regular season has shown anything for the Utah Jazz, it’s that this team has some work to do before becoming a serious competitor in a tough Western Conference.
The Jazz have kicked this year off with a 5-19 record, rank in the bottom two of the West next to the New Orleans Pelicans, rank in the bottom ten of the NBA for both offensive and defensive rating, and are well in line to have a shot at securing Cooper Flagg or another top prospect come next offseason.
And that top prospect next summer may be exactly what the Jazz could use in their long-winded rebuild process. Utah now enters the third year of the post-Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert era, and many still look at this roster wondering where the cornerstones for the future are.
It’s exactly the topic Bleacher Report and Grant Hughes addressed as they sounded off on one “tough question” for each NBA team so far into this season. For the Jazz, their entry was simple: where’s the cornerstone?
“It’s a good thing the Utah Jazz have a dozen first-round picks and an additional swap coming to them in the next five drafts because it doesn’t look like any of their recent selections is capable of being a foundational piece,” Hughes said. “It’s early for recent first-rounders Keyonte George, Cody Williams and Taylor Hendricks (currently out for the year), but none of them has shown clear starter upside this season… Now into the third year after trading away Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert to trigger a rebuild, it’s not clear the Jazz have anything approaching a cornerstone.”
Over the past three offseasons, the Jazz have done a strong job of piling together future assets and young players to help bolster their rebuild following the blockbuster Mitchell and Gobert deals. The progress made is impressive, especially considering their past three drafts and the first-round picks to come.
Yet, besides Lauri Markkanen, none on the roster have proven to be elite, All-NBA caliber talents. The arrow is starting to point up around Walker Kessler in his third year, but guys like the mentioned Keyonte George, Cody Williams, and Taylor Hendricks have all had some inhibiting factors to truly reaching their advertised ceiling.
The guys brought in from this summer and the two before it still have a ton of room to grow and have time on their side, but when comparing the Jazz to some of the other youth movements around the NBA, the talent is still a few steps away from truly stacking up.
Even through the recent struggles the Jazz have seen in the standings, they haven’t emerged with a top-five pick to truly position themselves with a top prospect. Utah has done well with late lottery picks and selections deeper in the first (or second) round all things considered. Yet, another cornerstone to pair next to Markkanen would be a significant addition to this budding young core.
Thankfully for the Jazz, this upcoming 2025 draft class presents a perfect opportunity to strengthen their current core of young players. Whether it be Flagg or another top-end prospect like Dylan Harper or Ace Bailey, there are tons of reasons for optimism looking ahead to next summer.
Things might not be pretty for the Jazz in wins and losses in the meantime, but there’s a light shining at the end of the tunnel.
Follow Inside The Jazz on Facebook and Twitter/X.
Subscribe to YouTube for breaking Jazz news videos and live streams!
Utah
Here’s who will lead Utah Valley University as its next president
Jon Anderson will be charged with moving the Orem school forward following the death of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk on campus last year.
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Incoming UVU President Jon Anderson poses for a photo with his family after an event announcing his selection at Utah Valley University in Orem on Friday, July 17, 2026.
Utah
Beaver County residents set up thousands of sandbags ahead of flashfloods
BEAVER COUNTY, Utah — A massive community effort is underway as volunteers and Beaver County crews distribute thousands of sandbags to protect homes from the potential path of floodwaters.
After the Cottonwood Fires, residents have been waiting for weeks for relief to come in the form of rain, though officials now warn it may come all at once with an increased risk of flooding and debris flow.
Emergency Service Director Les Whitney believes that the fire has left plenty of debris to bring trouble for residents.
“We got a lot of water. We’re bringing debris with it, so tree branches, tree limbs, logs, lots of different size firewood, and that’s all in the creeks. We’re worried about that plugging up our bridges and stuff, so we have heavy equipment and excavators located in strategic places so that we can keep those bridges open,” said Whitney.
An estimated 140 homes and condominiums were spared from the flames, but remain in the paths of floodwaters.
Residents can also pick up sandbags at the Beaver County Sheriff’s Office or at the Beaver County Rodeo Fairgrounds.
Utah
Utah man arrested again for allegedly abusing dog twice in three months
EAGLE MOUNTAIN — An Eagle Mountain man currently on pretrial release in 4th District Court who is accused of abusing his dog has been arrested again for allegedly punching the same animal.
Keith Reaves Davis, 43, was booked into the Utah County Jail on Wednesday for investigation of aggravated cruelty to an animal.
Utah County sheriff’s deputies were called Wednesday afternoon to a grocery store on a report that a man was beating his dog after it had gotten off its leash and was stopped by a bystander, according to a police booking affidavit.
“I reviewed security camera footage from the grocery store, and an individual matching the description of the suspect was seen holding the dog in the air by one paw and repeatedly striking the dog on the right hind leg area. I observed the male strike the dog several times before dropping the dog from approximately 1-2 feet. The strikes appeared to be as hard as the male could hit,” the arresting deputy wrote in the affidavit. “The dog did not cry out or whimper as if the dog was accustomed to the abuse.”
When questioned, Davis “admitted to striking the dog because it was not behaving,” the affidavit states.
An animal control officer who responded to the scene to take custody of the dog noted it was the same dog he had taken from Davis exactly three months earlier during another animal abuse investigation.
In that case, Davis was charged in 4th District Court with aggravated cruelty to an animal, a class A misdemeanor; and public intoxication, a class C misdemeanor, after deputies received a tip from a neighbor that a dog was being abused at Davis’ home, according to charging documents. When questioned, Davis “acknowledged hitting his dog as punishment,” the charges state.
Deputies also reviewed videos that the neighbor had filmed. The neighbor told investigators “there was blood from the dog on the ground of the garage and (the neighbor) can hear the dog screaming as if it’s being hurt. Deputies got the videos from the (neighbor) and you can hear very loudly the dog screaming and crying with a lot of loud banging noises. In one of the videos, you can hear the dog sounding like it is being choked by a collar and is grasping for air,” a police booking affidavit states.
Davis’ next court hearing in the April case is scheduled for July 28.
In their latest booking report, sheriff’s deputies note that they “believe further harm will be inflicted on this dog if it is released back to the male a second time,” and have recommended the dog not be returned to Davis.
The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.
-
Fitness1 minute agoWidening Health Divide Among U.S. Cities Revealed in 2026 ACSM American Fitness Index® | Newswise
-
Movie Reviews13 minutes ago“The Odyssey” is Christopher Nolan’s Most Singular Film Yet (Movie Review)
-
World25 minutes ago
Iran War Updates: Bridges and Water Plants Hit as Strikes Stretch to 7th Straight Day
-
Lifestyle1 hour agoSpain could make World Cup history: The first to win men’s and women’s trophies back-to-back
-
Technology1 hour agoTaylor Farms pulls iceberg lettuce from the US market after cyclosporiasis outbreak
-
World2 hours agoWho is Andy Burnham? The Trump critic set to become the UK’s next prime minister
-
Politics2 hours agoMajor appeals court declares New Jersey AR-15 ban unconstitutional in landmark Second Amendment ruling
-
Health2 hours agoFirst death reported in Upper East Side Legionnaires’ disease outbreak as cases rise to 67