1. The good news and bad news about Ace Bailey so far
The most positive development for the Utah Jazz in three seasons is this: Ace Bailey looks good.
Yes, it’s just preseason, and to be sure, opposing defenses haven’t been at their best. But Bailey’s impressive skill and athleticism through his first three games on NBA courts made it clear that he is at least capable of being a legitimate star in this league.
The first thing we’ll zoom in on is his effortless scoring. At Rutgers, the complaint was that he too frequently made scoring too difficult, taking near-impossible shots too often. Yes, he made more of those than you might expect, but overall the efficiency picture was only good, not great.
That hasn’t been the case in the NBA. Instead, he’s scored with ease. He’s done it by attacking the defense before he catches the ball, coming off of screens, fading open, finding pockets of space. There are NBA players who never get these skills, so that Bailey has them from Day 1 is terrific.
“People fall asleep. They’re not (looking at me), they’re looking at the ball. So I get a chance to move around,” he explained.
Then, once he gets the ball, he’s been attacking quickly, either firing right away while he’s open or taking advantage of a shifting defense to find holes.
It makes it so, so much more possible to be efficient when your diet is easy buckets, not hard ones. Bailey’s done that so far.
But this isn’t the thing Jazz head coach Will Hardy is impressed with — instead, it’s been his effort and impact on the defensive end. Again, this was a real question mark at the outset after his college career, and in these three games, he’s made an impact.
“The most exciting thing for me, by far, is that he’s — I think he’s — ultimately going to be able to impact winning on both sides of the ball,” Hardy said.
Now, the piece of bad news: The party paused on Monday after Bailey experienced some soreness in his knees. He played just 10 minutes, then left in the second quarter.
“He’s got some tendonitis in both knees. It’s nothing that we’re overly concerned with,” Hardy said. “He’s not going to be getting imaged or anything like that. It’s just trying to take care of him. He was a little sore during his second stint.”
Obviously, at any sign of soreness during preseason, it makes sense to sit Bailey. Still, you hope that the tendonitis won’t be an issue during the course of an 82-game season itself.
2. Finding toughness on the defensive end
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) Dallas Mavericks forward Cooper Flagg (32) is pressured by Utah Jazz guard Keyonte George (3) during an NBA basketball preseason game in Salt Lake City on Monday, Oct. 13, 2025.
It’s no secret that the Jazz have been the worst defensive team in the league over the last two seasons. Looking at the four factors, the only thing that the Jazz have done well defensively is not fouling — and while avoiding fouling is good, avoiding fouling while you’re giving up layups and dunks and threes implies a certain laxness. That feeling also shows up on the tape, to be honest.
So for Hardy, his players, and his coaching staff, one big key this season has to be about finding defensive toughness and grit. Even finding enough of it to charitably be called a starting point would be a real bonus.
In the Jazz’s first two preseason games, that defensive effort was not at all there. There was only one team with a worse defensive rating than the Jazz in preseason: the Guangzhou Loong-Lions.
That means the Jazz allowed more points per possession than Hapoel Jerusalem and the South East Melbourne Phoenix. Oof. We knew they were last in the NBA, but not even ahead of international teams? They’re missing Walker Kessler, but still …
Monday’s game against Dallas (and you should know that in general, the plan is to be doing these Triple Teams weekly this year) was a lot better, though, as the Jazz had a 109 defensive rating.
To my eye, the most impactful player on that end was actually the rookie Walter Clayton Jr., who simply has a different level of defensive seriousness than his young perimeter teammates.
Watch this steal (one of three against the Mavericks. It is a very easy steal; the ball nearly hits Clayton in his torso. But look at the attention he’s taking to this relatively simple shift, being in the right position at the elbow just as he’s instructed.
They’re not strong on the interior without Kessler — Jusuf Nurkic and Kevin Love provide essentially zero rim protection at this stage of their careers.
But having a young perimeter player who consistently competes on the defensive end could be big for the Jazz. Obviously, it’s too much to pin hopes of team-wide defensive improvement on one rookie, but I do think there’s a possibility that Clayton’s effort and ball hawkishness can become contagious.
“There’s been a lot of really honest conversations amongst our group. That’s myself with the players. That’s the players amongst themselves. That’s myself with our coaching staff,” Hardy said. “We’ve got to adjust, and everybody has to meet this new level of competitiveness.”
3. Delta Center changes
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) A renovated Utah Jazz arena end line provides a shallower slope as the Jazz play a preseason game against the Mavericks in Salt Lake City on Monday, Oct. 13, 2025.
Monday’s game also provided our first look at the Delta Center in the 2025-26 season, the first since Phase 1 of the renovations was completed.
The change I was most curious about was the slope of the seats behind the basket for basketball games. We know the seating is steep for hockey, but basketball courts are so much smaller. Mathematically, pushing back the endline concourse walls 12 feet, plus raising the floor 2 feet, meant the slope of the seats was going to lessen.
Sure enough, it did.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune)
Utah Jazz host the Oklahoma City Thunder, Game 3, NBA playoff basketball in Salt Lake City, Saturday April 21, 2018. Fans cheer in the fourth quarter.
Here’s a short video to give it a bit more dimension. You can see that the seating slope looks kind of curved, with higher slope higher in the bowl and flatter the lower you go down, where it’ll be harder to see over the person in front of you. https://t.co/trJytWPXTC pic.twitter.com/m0qNlf2DPz
— Andy Larsen (@andyblarsen) October 13, 2025
According to the Smith Entertainment Group, the pitch of the first four rows behind the baskets is slightly steeper than before. But you’ll notice the pitch, especially from row 12 and back, has been softened.
One of the coolest parts of the Delta Center was the way fans behind the basket were so close to the action. Now, well, they’re up to 12 feet farther away in the top rows of the lower bowl.
But for a basketball and hockey dual-purpose arena, this might be the best implementation I’ve seen in the league.
The Delta Center has the “steepest sightlines of any dual-sport arena in professional sports,” SEG said.
So it’s not as steep as it once was for basketball, but it’s passable.
We also experienced new public address announcer Marque Denmon’s first game in the Delta Center, and I was impressed.
(Francisco Kjolseth | The Salt Lake Tribune) The Utah Jazz introduce Marque Denmon as the new voice of the Jazz during an NBA basketball preseason game in Salt Lake City on Monday, Oct. 13, 2025.
I adore Dan Roberts and the level he set for 46 years in that chair, so I was concerned about how I’d react to a new voice — but Denmon’s voice sounded strong in the Delta Center, and I thought he brought a good mix of energy and authority to the role. I might decrease his volume by five decibels, but it was a terrific debut.
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