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With the season over the media was able to interview the Utah Jazz team and coaches. Here are some of the most interesting quotes.
Will Hardy wants Walker Kessler to get stronger, not necessarily bigger.
Will Hardy says he wants Walker Kessler to work on getting stronger this summer. Not necessarily bigger, but stronger. The Jazz want him to gain strength without taking away from his athleticsm
— Tony Jones (@Tjonesonthenba) April 12, 2023
Kessler had a fantastic rookie season but, just like all rookies, there were times he had some tough matchups to learn from. One of those matchups was the end of season matchup against Brook Lopez who dominated the matchup. Adding strength while keeping his surprising athleticism would help with matchups like this next season.
Who is playing summer league?
Will Hardy says Luka Samanic will be playing in summer league, along with Ochai Agbaji
— Tony Jones (@Tjonesonthenba) April 12, 2023
This makes sense and allows Ochai Agbaji to show what he improves on this offseason. Hardy also mentioned wanting Agbaji to expand his game. With the flashes he showed as the season went on, there’s no reason to think that he can’t.
The Jazz want to improve their defense this offseason
Will Hardy said a primary goal this summer will be trying to figure out how the Jazz get better defensively
— Tony Jones (@Tjonesonthenba) April 12, 2023
Will Hardy: There were times where our man to man defense was horrendous. So, we need to be able to go to a few things
— Tony Jones (@Tjonesonthenba) April 12, 2023
It’s nice to see a Jazz team that’s aware of their weaknesses and wants to improve on them. That type of self awareness was absent with the former head coach and Dennis Lindsey that is now a part of what the Jazz do. The question is, how do the Jazz improve on that. Will it be through the draft, free agency, or by trade? We’ll find out soon.
The Jazz will pick up Kelly Olynyk’s option
Justin Zanik says he anticipates the Jazz picking up Kelly Olynyk's team option and having him back on the roster next year
— Tony Jones (@Tjonesonthenba) April 12, 2023
Olynyk was an integral part of the Jazz’s season with his locker room presence and his unselfish style of play. Olynyk plays with infectious intensity and moves the ball on offense which contributed to one of the best offenses in the league at times this season. Bringing him on to the team is a no-brainer.
Most Jazz draft workouts will not be made available to media and we won’t know when workouts are happening
Word from the Jazz: most Jazz draft workouts will not be made available to the media this season. We won't generally know which workouts are happening, nor will we get to interview prospects — with a few exceptions when the Jazz work out local prospects.
— Andy Larsen (@andyblarsen) April 12, 2023
Jazz say it's for competitive reasons — hoping to make opposition teams less knowledgeable about what the Jazz are doing. They also say most of the league's teams also don't make their workout participants publicly known.
— Andy Larsen (@andyblarsen) April 12, 2023
This makes a lot of sense and it’s another smart adjustment by the team to find every competitive advantage they can moving forward. Being higher in the lottery in such a good draft means they have a chance to get a great player and there’s no way the Jazz want to help out any of the dumber teams before or after them with any sort of intel.
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