Three thoughts on the Utah Jazz’s 145-111 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder from Salt Lake Tribune Jazz beat writer Andy Larsen.
1. The Jazz’s bench should not lose by that much to Oklahoma City’s bench
For this game, the Jazz and Thunder combined had more players on the injury report than players available. The Thunder sat league MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, All-Star Jalen Williams, Lu Dort, Chet Holmgren, Isaiah Hartenstein, Cason Wallace, Alex Caruso, and Ousmane Dieng. Meanwhile, the Jazz sat Lauri Markkanen, John Collins, Collin Sexton, Jordan Clarkson, Walker Kessler, Taylor Hendricks, KJ Martin, and Elijah Harkless.
That’s a lot of dudes.
In the end, it was the Jazz’s youth against the end of the Thunder’s bench. And it was disappointing to see, after winning a game against Portland on Wednesday night, that the youth allowed those players to score 145 points in regulation to lose by 34 points overall.
The Thunder were playing just one first round pick: Weber State’s Dillon Jones, the 26th pick last year. Then they had four undrafted players and four second-round picks.
The Jazz had three first-round picks, a couple of second rounders, and three undrafted guys — so it’s not hugely different. But it was still disappointing to see the gulf in class that showed itself, to see Adam Flagler outplay Jaden Springer, or Branden Carlson to outplay Micah Potter, or Aaron Wiggins to outplay Keyonte George.
It’s not a huge deal, obviously, in game 81 of this season. I asked Will Hardy his team’s philosophy about acquiring role players, and he said it was simple: they want to try out players who are “smart and tough.”
I see the intelligence, but I don’t see a ton of toughness, to be honest. OKC’s role players are battlers, and I don’t see that from the end of the Jazz’s bench.
2. Ryan Smith’s broadcast interview
The latest in our looks at interviews on the Jazz’s broadcast is team owner Ryan Smith. He spent about 12 minutes on the team’s broadcast, and talked about Kyle Filipowski, Isaiah Collier, Will Hardy, hockey, and more.
The remarks are too long to type up all of, but the most interesting bits, in my opinion:
Ryan Smith on the lottery
“I think it’s a big moment. You know, the Jazz have never moved up in the lottery — (Andy’s note: they did once, to get Enes Kanter in 2011) — and they’ve never had the number one pick. And I think we’re due for something.
“But more than that, I think it’s Danny (Ainge) and Justin (Zanik) and the team and Will (Hardy) and all the hard working folks here to to really do what so many of them done in the past, which is find stars, and put this team together. … As far as looking at talent, judging talent, Danny, you know, he’s been to the Finals 10 times. And you look at how he had the number one pick, then went back for Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, on and on and on and on.
“I think it is a big moment. It’s the next step. And, I’m just super grateful for our fans of being patient. The more patient we are a little bit, the higher the upside is, unfortunately, in this sport.”
Ryan Smith on Will Hardy
“Will is a special human. He’s a special coach. He’s an incredible communicator, and he’s just a great partner to us. … He’s young. I think that’s an advantage for him, because it’s just natural for him to engage and to be out, to share. Kind of the default is open and transparent, and that’s really neat. I think there’s only one story with him. … I hear the message in the locker room, and they’ll go right to the fans and talk to them using the exact same language.”
Ryan Smith on building a contention window
“The drafts that we had, and the picks that we’ve got, and then if you look at this year as well, there’s four more picks. If we draft everyone, I think if you go out in ‘27 — (Andy’s note: at this point, Smith cut himself off)”
“We’re in the talent development business. And the benefit of it is, I mean, look at a team like we’re playing tonight. Although they’re not playing, when you do get it right, or you get a lot of them right, you can generate a pipeline where it can go on for a really long time.”
It wasn’t quite a clear quote, but it did seem to be a hint at a timeline — one that matches what I’ve been hearing privately, too. The Jazz seem to plan to be bad for another season after this one, draft one of the elite prospects in the 2026 NBA Draft, and then try to actually win in 2027.
3. The tale of Lauri’s changing wardrobe
Lauri Markkanen came to today’s game, for which he was sitting out, in a brown/green striped getup that was captured by team photographers:
However, it also drew the attention of the league’s office. Under the NBA’s dress code originally instituted in 2005, players had to wear “business casual” apparel when sitting out of games. That’s been loosened up as of about five years ago, to allow players to wear more informal attire.
But apparently, “The NBA didn’t like his shorts,” Hardy said postgame.
So Markkanen had to go back to the locker room to change in the middle of the game. He switched to wearing this outfit:
Markkanen in his new outfit.
I am reliably informed by fellow beat writer Sarah Todd that Markkanen had to borrow a pair of Walker Kessler’s sweats to complete the change.
The NBA dress code: still a thing that the NBA enforces, it turns out! Given all of the things we do see players wear on the bench, I was surprised that Markkanen’s shorts drew ire, but perhaps his pale legs stuck out.
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