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Peterson silenced any doubts about his zeal for joining the Jazz immediately after being selected. He stressed in several interviews that night that he felt "super comfortable" during his meeting with Hardy and the Utah contingent at the scouting combine in Chicago. Peterson expressed appreciation that Jazz CEO Danny Ainge, president of basketball operations Austin Ainge, general manager Justin Zanik and vice president of player development Avery Bradley traveled to Peterson's hometown to meet with him days before the draft. Over the course of 17 days and two Salt Lake City Summer League games, the Jazz are confident their rebuild is coming to an end. With Peterson's potential and Keyonte George coming off a breakout campaign, Utah's backcourt has the chance to be special, especially alongside 2025 No. 5 pick Ace Bailey and midseason addition Jaren Jackson Jr. "What excites me the most is being able to be a part of the young core," Peterson said. "It's just a great basketball organization. I think everyone would agree with me, and we've kind of talked about it: It's time to win. So, to be a part of that is like a dream come true for me."
Inside a sterile room on the edge of Lake Michigan, Austin Ainge let out a “yes” that cut through the quiet. “Well, I couldn’t just sit there and do nothing,” Ainge justified later, smirking. The Utah Jazz’s president of basketball operations spent the last year trying to create NBA draft lottery luck in a place where none previously existed. Not only did he guide his team to 60 losses to secure the fourth-best odds, he personally surveyed every potential draft room representative to see who had the best fortune — only to see the battle scars of the past four years laid out in front of him. “Who wants it?” Ainge asked among the Jazz’s front office executives. “Justin Zanik said he’d already gone and lost. [Danny Ainge] same thing. Ryan Smith went and didn’t get the pick. You’re all fired, I said. I’ll be the one to go.”
Chris Fedor: We all know the complications for the Cavs when it comes to trades. They can't aggregate salaries. They only have really one first-round draft pick that they can trade. They have to be like right on the number in terms of salary matching purposes. But my sources tell me that the Cavs and the Lakers have discussed a general framework surrounding De'Andre Hunter, Rui Hachimura and Dalton Knecht and then bringing in a third team. Now look, there are there are third teams that could be helpful. Brooklyn has the lowest salary number of any team in the NBA. They might be a destination that is willing to take some salary. Um, the Utah Jazz, they are 29th in salary in the NBA. They might be a destination that's willing to take some salary back. By the way, the team that the Cavs have traded with most frequently in the Koby Altman era is Utah, and one of his best friends is Justin Zanik, an executive for the Utah Jazz.
Carlos Boozer strode confidently through Zions Bank Basketball Center, the Utah Jazz training facility. Once upon a time, he walked this space as a player. Those were his All-Star days. His Olympian days. The days of Deron Williams, Andrei Kirilenko and the late, great Jerry Sloan. The days of Utah’s powder blue uniform. Today, Boozer is back with the organization, and, along with Avery Bradley, is a key cog in a front office tasked with selecting the fifth pick in Wednesday night’s NBA Draft. Utah’s war room will be different for Boozer, not only because he’s no longer a player, but also because the building has undergone renovations since his playing days. And we’re talking about a front office that has transitioned in general managers from Kevin O’Connor to Dennis Lindsey, to Justin Zanik, to Danny Ainge, and now to Austin Ainge.
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Andy Larsen: Finally, Ryan Smith was asked about Justin Zanik's role with the Jazz: "Justin's the GM in the organization. His role hasn't changed at all. If you think about the skill set that Austin has, and JZ's skill set, they actually work really well."
Andy Larsen: Jazz GM Justin Zanik on drafting No. 5: "This was always the most likely individual outcome that we expected and kind of prepared for, given that the flattened lottery odds since 2019."
Andy Larsen: Jazz GM Justin Zanik, whose team just lost the lottery, on whether or not the lottery is rigged: "It's definitely not rigged. I guess the main thing is you definitely feel the 14% chance, not the 86% chance that it's not (the No. 1 pick.)"
• Brooklyn Nets: Makar Gevorkian, VP of Basketball Operations Alignment and Strategic Planning • Charlotte Hornets: Rick Schnall, Co-Chairman and Governor • Chicago Bulls: Faizan Hasnany, Manager, Basketball Strategy and Analytics • Dallas Mavericks: Matt Riccardi, Assistant General Manager • Houston Rockets: Sam Strantz, Senior Team Counsel • New Orleans Pelicans: Joe Dumars, Executive Vice President • Oklahoma City Thunder: Sam Presti, Executive Vice President and General Manager • Philadelphia 76ers: Ned Cohen, Assistant General Manager • Portland Trail Blazers: Andrae Patterson, Assistant General Manager • Sacramento Kings: Alvin Gentry, Vice President of Basketball Engagement • San Antonio Spurs: Brian Wright, General Manager • Toronto Raptors: Bobby Webster, General Manager • Utah Jazz: Justin Zanik, General Manager • Washington Wizards: Will Dawkins, General Manager
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There’s no way to know now what will happen with Markkanen this offseason. If the Jazz front office is presented with a deal that they think makes more sense for the future than it does to keep Markkanen on the roster, then they’ll take it into serious consideration. But they don’t want for Markkanen to think that they are shopping him around. “We’ll see when opportunities come up to add to the roster, but I see Lauri as a central part of what we’re doing, that’s why we signed him,” Jazz general manager Justin Zanik said. “We think he can be a huge piece for us as we join the competitive rings.”
In each of the three years, the Suns will only receive the least favorable of the first-round picks that the Jazz own, thus limiting the potential value of them. That was a key point that Zanik emphasized on the broadcast. “The way it makes sense for us is that we now have another shot at a pick that has a lot of variability,” Zanik told Craig Bolerjak and Thurl Bailey. “The three picks we traded have no chance to be the number one pick, and this one does.”
“It (the trade) balances out what we want,” Zanik said. “We’ve always talked about bites at the apple or more swings in the draft, but it is also about the quality of the swings, and this is, in my opinion, the most valuable asset on the market right now.”
When last season ended, the Utah Jazz were prepared to go "big game hunting" this offseason per CEO Danny Ainge. Instead, Utah ended up using most of their cap space to renegotiate-and-extend Lauri Markkanen and to sign a handful of veteran role players. “You guys have seen how things evolve in an offseason,” Jazz GM Justin Zanik said. “In this organization, we are extremely aggressive with pursuing any and all means necessary to make this a championship-caliber roster. When those opportunities come up, we’re ready for it. There weren’t any. “And so to sit there and not do anything, we decided that our plan was to completely throw our focus into our young guys and the best player on our roster in Lauri Markkanen.”