Austin Ainge breaks down the front office’s exhaustive scouting process, prioritizing long-term value over media narratives as Utah prepares for a franchise-altering decision at the draft.
With the 2026 NBA Draft approaching, Utah Jazz president of basketball operations Austin Ainge offered a detailed look at how the organization is preparing to make one of the most significant decisions in its recent history. Speaking on KSL Sports Zone, Ainge outlined a process built on depth, collaboration and a deliberate effort to avoid locking into a decision too early.
Ainge said the front office’s work intensified once the Jazz secured the second overall pick, allowing the organization to narrow its focus.
“We feel like we know a lot more (about the prospects),” he said. “We’ve been working really hard. Obviously, we’ve spent a lot of time scouting these guys all year. But we only have the second pick this year, so we can go to pretty crazy depths on these guys. That’s statistics, video, medical, all of those things. We’re going to try to treat this as one of the most important decisions in our franchise’s history.”
Ainge emphasized that the Jazz are evaluating the pick through a long‑term lens rather than reacting to what is currently trending in the NBA.
“You have to be cognizant of the competition,” he said. “But we view the second pick as a nine‑or‑10‑year investment. It’s about becoming the best team we can be during that period, and the best teams and players will shift over that time.”
Even with a narrowed list of candidates, Ainge said the team’s internal board remains open to change.
“It does,” he said when asked whether the order can still change this late in the process. “I would say it happens less than it does further down in the draft, but it does happen. We’re almost fighting a consensus or a predetermination. We’re trying to make sure we go through it as thoroughly as possible before we lock in.”
Ainge also described the challenge of filtering out external noise.
“We’re fighting groupthink and media narratives,” he said. “That’s part of the reason we use analytics, because they’re dispassionate and not human. We use them to check ourselves and keep ourselves grounded. We’ll use all the tools we have.”
Inside the Jazz draft room, Ainge said the process is crafted by debate and collaboration.
“You guys can picture a room full of people who spend all their hours watching these games to try and understand these players,” he said. “We don’t have a consensus in our rooms.”
He added that discussions with CEO Danny Ainge and head coach Will Hardy are ongoing as the draft nears.
“I work with a lot of smart people,” he said. “We’re all just trying to share, grow, and learn, and somehow come together in the end.”
With two weeks remaining, Ainge said the Jazz will continue exhausting every resource before finalizing their decision, and while there may be a consensus, it’s clear that within the building all options are still on the table.
