Expectation for the 2026-27 Utah Jazz is the playoffs — period

Utah Jazz head coach Will Hardy talks with guard Keyonte George (3) during the first half of an NBA Cup game against the Sacramento Kings at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News

Will Hardy isn’t willing to say it.

Instead, the Utah Jazz head coach danced around the topic when asked if his team could make the playoffs next season. He talked about the difficulty in projecting wins and how Jaren Jackson Jr. played just three games with the Jazz, he mentioned not knowing exactly what the roster would look like and how much work has to be done.

Austin Ainge had a similar tone Monday.

“I’m going to focus on the process right now,” the Jazz president of basketball operations said. “We’ve got a lot to prove. We’ve got a lot of a big summer ahead of us — our players and our front office — players have to get a lot better and continue to work and our front office, we have some key free agents and a lot of other things to finish out our roster to know where we stand."

But the players aren’t as coy or reluctant to make their feelings known.

“Obviously, our expectation is to get to the postseason,” Keyonte George said. “I wouldn’t say it would be a disappointment (if we didn’t make the playoffs). But I think it would be a disservice to ourselves, just knowing the type of talent that we have, and we have people on the team that know what it takes to get to the postseason.”

That was the sentiment shared across the roster.

Jackson called the Western Conference a “blood bath,” and one that he has been familiar with for the entirety of his NBA career. But that didn’t stop him from saying that the Jazz roster is “100%” capable of making the playoffs next season.

And on and on, from one player to the next, from young players to veterans. But it’s not just the players.

Fans are going to demand success and be disappointed by anything other than a postseason appearance (be it play-in tournament or otherwise), pundits and analysts from around the country will also be expecting more from the Jazz.

The evidence for expectations that will be placed on the Jazz is pretty clear. In order to fall to the bottom of the standings the last couple of years they had to completely shut down the majority of the roster and dismantle any sense of normal rotations in order to lose.

There were games when they pulled Lauri Markkanen off the court early, when they favored unproven and less talented players in the closing minutes of a game in favor of teaching moments, and of course there were nights when G Leaguers, two-way players and 10-day contract players made up the bulk of the Jazz’s rotation.

In the 2026-27 season, that should not be the case. The Jazz will have All-Stars, a former Defensive Player of the Year award winner, rising stars and All-Rookie honorees on the court. They will be expected to play more, longer and at a higher level than they had in previous seasons. Hardy will finally be unshackled and allowed to use his full arsenal.

Frankly, if this Jazz team, no matter what moves around the edges they make during the offseason, is not able to cobble together the roughly 15 more wins that it would need to be a play-in qualifying team, it would be a major disappointment. And George is right, everyone involved will have done a disservice to themselves and the fans.

Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen, left, and forward Jaren Jackson Jr., right, celebrate on the bench after guard John Konchar (55), not pictured, completed his triple double during the second half of an NBA game against the Memphis Grizzlies at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Friday, April 10, 2026. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News

Even Markkanen, who has yet to make a playoff appearance, knows how difficult it is to make it to that point and is often more measured with his expectations, said that the players have all discussed that the postseason is where they expect to be.

“We definitely have a chance,” he said. “That’s our mindset going into the year, that we will make the playoffs, that’s everybody’s goal. I’ve talked to the guys, and they’re ready to go into the offseason and work out and get better in every way possible, and be ready to go in October."

Whether the Jazz coaching staff or front office want to admit into a microphone and on camera that there are expectations, internal or external, for the team next season is a moot point. The players understand what is at stake, they know the expectations that everyone on the outside will have and they’ve willingly applied that pressure to themselves.

The goal for the 2026-27 Utah Jazz is to make the playoffs — period.

Austin Ainge, president of basketball operations, left, and Ryan Smith, chairman and CEO of Smith Entertainment Group and governor of the Utah Jazz, right, speak to media during the Utah Jazz media day at the Zions Bank Basketball Campus in Salt Lake City on Monday, Sept. 29, 2025. | Rio Giancarlo, Deseret News