SALT LAKE CITY — While some aspects of inflation are cooling down, the cost of renting is going up.

According to the latest Consumer Price Index, rent was 5.4% more expensive in April than last year.

Dejan Eskic, who studies the housing market at the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute at the University of Utah, said that’s a little surprising.

“We’ve had so much apartment inventory across every major metropolitan area in the country,” Eskic said.

That includes Utah. Eskic said just this year, about 8,000 new apartments are hitting the market.

Because of that “record new supply,” he said rental prices along the Wasatch Front have actually decreased slightly.

“We’ve seen rents drop just a little bit under 2%,” Eskic said, adding that he believes rents will stay flat or drop slightly over the next 12 to 18 months.

But that won’t continue forever.

“As we move further out, there’s less and less new construction happening,” Eskic said, “and so we do expect in about two years rents to start increasing again like we’ve experienced previously.”

Jed Coon, who lives with his wife and daughter in Tooele, is tired of paying rent.

“It’d be very nice to just have it go down,” he said. “It’s frustrating.”

Over the years, as a renter, Coon said he’s noticed one trend – rent keeps going up.

“We started off $1,000, $1,200 – cheap rundown places – and now it’s up to $1,700, $1,800,” he said.

Coon said he and his family plan to move back in with parents to try to get a leg up in this difficult market. Rent is a big part of their budget, and it’s tough to pay for everything.

“We’re barely getting by,” Coon said. “It’s rent and then the utilities, and that’s it, so not so much for everything else.”

We now sit just over a month until the 2024 NBA Draft arrives later this summer, and with the lottery reveal behind us, we have some improved knowledge about how this process could soon go down for the Utah Jazz.

By holding two first-round picks (one landing at the tail end of the top ten), and a top second-rounder at number 32, there’s immense potential for a significant class to soon be in store for the Jazz. Still, the top of this year’s group of prospects is largely unpredictable, and one that may take a couple of extra weeks to completely iron out.

With the results of the 2024 NBA Lottery in, though, we can throw out some early guesses as to how things could end up falling if the selection process started today. Here’s an early prediction of how the top ten picks could fall, and who the Jazz could end up getting their hands on at tenth overall:

1. Atlanta Hawks: Alex Sarr, C, Australia

The future of the Hawks is a bit up in the air this offseason, but winning the lottery after entering with 3% odds to do so is a big help. Sarr can be a great big to pair alongside Trae Young or Dejounte Murray with his length, versatility, and two-way ability.

2. Washington Wizards: Nikola Topic, PG, Serbia

The Wizards need to find some stability in the backcourt. With the future of Tyus Jones in flux and a shaky season from Jordan Poole, a guard makes sense here for Washington. Topic is one of the elite playmakers and finishers of this draft with the potential to be a high-level guard with an improved shot.

3. Houston Rockets: Zaccharie Risacher, SF, France

Thanks to the James Harden trade, the Rockets are set up with a golden opportunity to add a premier player in the class with a top-three pick. Risacher projects to be a lengthy 3&D threat that can fit seamlessly into this budding Houston core.

4. San Antonio Spurs: Rob Dillingham, PG, Kentucky

It’s no secret that the Spurs could benefit from a guard early in this draft, and with a top-five pick, they have a chance to secure one of the best on the board. Dillingham can be a reliable scoring guard to pair next to Rookie of the Year winner Victor Wembanyama to terrorize opposing defenses for years to come.

5. Detroit Pistons: Matas Buzelis: PF, G-League Ignite

After entering the lottery with odds at the top spot on the board, the Pistons suffered a brutal fate by sliding down to fifth. They still manage to secure a strong prospect in Buzelis, who can be an interesting fit next to Cade Cunningham with his size and ability as a playmaker.

6. Charlotte Hornets: Stephon Castle, PG, UConn

The Hornets could benefit from a secondary ball handler and playmaker next to LaMelo Ball, and a selection of Castle would inevitably bring that. After a national champion run with the Huskies, the 6-foot-6 combo guard can be a stellar two-way fit in the Hornets’ set of guards.

7. Portland Trail Blazers: Cody Williams, SF, Colorado

The Trail Blazers ended last season as one of the league’s worst offensive teams, finishing with a 29th-ranked offensive rating of 107.6. Williams would bring a much-needed lift to this rebuilding Portland unit as one of the more versatile offensive players in this year’s draft.

8. San Antonio Spurs: Reed Sheppard, SG, Kentucky

With the Spurs’ pick of his Kentucky backcourt mate earlier in the first round, it only makes sense for San Antonio to double-dip on the Wildcats by adding Sheppard here at eight. As one of the most elite shooters in college basketball last season, he can bring an immediate impact to this team who could be looking to compete in the West sooner rather than later.

9. Memphis Grizzlies: Donovan Clingan, C, UConn

After trading away Steven Adams this past season, the Grizzlies could use another big defender to help former DPOY Jaren Jackson. Clingan can enter as an elite rim protector with 7-foot-2 size to create a scary shot-blocking tandem in the frontcourt for Memphis.

In this scenario, the board ends up falling in favor of the Jazz to land a player that not only presents a high upside moving forward but fits some of Utah’s overwhelming team needs. Ron Holland is a prospect whose stock has been up and down throughout the past year, and while he ends up falling to ten here, make no mistake that he can be one of the best in this class.

The most outstanding trait Holland possesses is his defense, which would prove to be a perfect fit for a Jazz team that ranked dead last in the NBA in defensive rating. He’s 6-foot-8, providing the size and length this Utah front office has recently coveted, and can fit nicely into a frontcourt next to Lauri Markkanen and Walker Kessler.

The positive attributes are there, but it’s hard not to mention the shooting struggles Holland endured throughout the past year. During his one season in the G-League Ignite, he shot a poor 24.0% from deep on 3.6 attempts per game. He still ended up averaging over 20 points a night with the lack of a three-ball, but he’ll need to find more consistency to be reliable at the NBA level.

Luckily for Holland, he could join a roster in Utah with many young scoring options to lean on as he develops his shot-making ability for himself. His defensive prowess would merit enough reason for him to gain considerable playing time off the bat and can be a contributor as a defensive stopper pretty immediately.

It’s nearly impossible to project what the Jazz may end up doing with their top ten picks with an unpredictable executive like Danny Ainge running the show, but if the board falls this way, it’s difficult to see Utah pivoting off of a talent like Holland.

All answers will be revealed for the Jazz’s selection when the first round of the 2024 NBA Draft kicks off on Wednesday, June 26th.

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Unlike some states in the West, Utah hasn’t had a multicultural reputation. But fast growth is changing that. In 1990, only 10% of the population identified as a racial or ethnic minority. Thirty years later, data from the Kem C. Gardner Policy Institute said that number stood at 23% — making for a “New Utah.”

An easily visible sign of that shift are new grocery stores and the foods they bring to town. Filipino-American Kathleya Gracida felt the difference, or the lack of, when she moved to Salt Lake City 24 years ago.

“I grew up in Anaheim,” she said. “So, like, everywhere you go in the corner, this is like in the early 80s, you know, there’s Asian stores. So I moved here in 2000 and I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh, there’s no Chinese place other than two restaurants on State Street.’”

H Mart, the country’s largest Asian grocery chain, will soon open its first Utah location in West Jordan. It’s still under construction, but they are hiring staff for an opening later this year. It’ll join South Salt Lake’s Chinatown Supermarket, which bills itself as “Utah’s largest Asian Market.”

It’s not only the place for fresh produce and specialty Asian ingredients like lotus root or shrimp-flavored potato chips, there are also bustling restaurants that serve everything from hot pot to sushi.

“I love that it’s like a centralized location for Asian food,” said John Nguyen, who moved to Utah from Virginia about a year and a half ago for work and to be closer to the outdoors. He finds himself at the market “two to three times a week at the minimum.”

He said places like Chinatown Supermarket help him feel more in-tune with the greater Utah Asian community.

“Me being Vietnamese American, I do love coming out here to eat at places like One More Noodle House and the pho place and going to the grocery shop here to get things that you wouldn’t find at, like, Smith’s or Trader Joe’s.”

For Gracida, now the chair of the Utah Asian Chamber of Commerce, H-Mart’s arrival to Utah shows that the Asian community continues to thrive.

“We’re hard working people,” she said. “We know we want success. We want to improve our lives and not just our lives now, but we think about the future.”

You might not think of it, but there’s a good chance the grocery store is one of the places you spend the most time and money outside of your home and work.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, U.S. consumers spent an average of 11.3% of their disposable personal income on food in 2022. For a family of four, that can be somewhere between $900-$1,500 dollars per month.

Today’s grocery stores are also trying to be something else: a meeting place for Utah’s growing community. Stores can offer a space to connect and find nostalgic tastes and smells.

“Having a place like this, it’s fun,” said Ngyuen. “It’s just a nice, relaxing area for people to congregate at. It’s familiar. I think it’s the big part of it.”

While online ordering and grocery delivery took off during the COVID-19 pandemic, industry insiders say people are now coming back to brick and mortar supermarkets.

“Certainly, the community plays an important part of it where we’re obviously trying to do things inside the store. They give people a purpose,” said Associated Food Stores Vice President of Store Development Steve Miner.

Associated Food Stores run some of Utah’s smaller grocery chains like Maceys, Dan’s and Fresh Market.

“We call it ‘the rides.’ You know, we’re bringing things back into the store that we feel will bring a gathering place for people in the community,” Miner said.

That gathering place can come in the form of expanded sit-down areas, cafes or even restaurants like those found at Chinatown.

“When I think about going to the grocery store, I know what nights of the week or the weekend, what times of the weekend, I’m likely to see some of my friends and neighbors,” added Tina Murray, Corporate Affairs Manager for Smith’s. The chain is one of Utah’s largest employers and operates under the nationwide Kroger grocery store umbrella.

To her, the grocery store plays an important part in the fabric of each community it serves.

“People come together over food, whether that is in their homes or in restaurants. People come together for food in the grocery stores as well.”