Prioritizing veteran depth could stunt Isaiah Collier’s development. Utah must resist the urge to sign ball-dominant guards and instead let their young core define the team's future.
As the Utah Jazz look to make a strong push toward the playoffs this season after several years of rebuilding, it’s tempting to consider veteran players who could enhance this relatively young roster and provide an extra boost.
That becomes even more enticing when considering the playoffs would be an entirely new experience for the vast majority of Utah’s young core.
But one player the Jazz should avoid considering is D’Angelo Russell.
The 30-year-old former All-Star has 11 NBA seasons under his belt and was waived by the Memphis Grizzlies just before training camp. On the surface, it would be easy to talk yourself into the idea of Russell coming off the bench, providing some veteran stability and giving Utah another facilitator and scoring option with the reserve unit.
The better play would be to continue developing Isaiah Collier.
Collier remains an important part of Utah’s young core and could ultimately become the long-term backup point guard even when this team reaches its most competitive version. Those developmental reps have value, especially alongside young guards like Darryn Peterson and Keyonte George, who could be playing together for years.
More importantly, the Jazz haven’t reached a point in their ascension where they even know exactly what they are yet.
The expectation should be that Utah competes for a playoff spot this season, but there’s still a wide range of potential outcomes. There’s a very real scenario in which the Jazz are more of a fringe play-in team, and in that case, continuing to prioritize development throughout the season becomes extremely important.
There’s also a scenario where Utah is better than expected and finds itself fighting for home-court advantage in the first round.
If that happens, the Jazz will have plenty of time before the trade deadline to evaluate the roster, identify exactly what they’re missing and use their collection of assets to add someone who better fits their needs.
There’s no reason to make that decision in September.
Russell was a very good NBA player at his peak, but his recent career trajectory also shouldn’t be ignored. He appeared in only 26 games for Dallas last season, and at this stage of his career, it’s difficult to know how much he would actually elevate Utah’s rotation.
Even beyond that, there’s the question of opportunity cost.
Every possession Russell handles with the second unit is potentially one fewer possession for Collier to develop as a creator. Every minute added to another veteran guard makes an already crowded developmental picture more complicated. Utah should be focused on building cohesion between the players expected to be part of its future rather than introducing another ball-dominant guard before even seeing what the current group looks like together.
That doesn’t mean Utah should avoid veteran help altogether.
If the Jazz get halfway through the season and establish themselves as a legitimate playoff team, the conversation changes. At that point, adding an experienced guard who can stabilize the reserve unit and help in a postseason setting could make plenty of sense.
But Utah doesn’t have to solve that problem today.
The Jazz should take the roster they currently have into the regular season, learn as much as possible about Peterson, George, Collier and the rest of this young group, and determine where the actual weaknesses are.
If another point guard is needed closer to the deadline, Utah has more than enough flexibility and assets to go find one who fits the roster more cleanly and can provide a greater impact than Russell at this stage of his career.
For all of those reasons, despite D’Angelo Russell suddenly becoming available, the Jazz should stay away.
