Jazz Sign Head Coach Will Hardy To Extension Through 2031

The Utah Jazz have agreed to an extension with head coach Will Hardy through 2031.

Hardy first came on board from the Boston Celtics before the 2022-23 season. He has shepherded the team’s current rebuild after the departures of stars Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert. Three seasons in, he has a record of 85-161 and went 17-65 this season.

The 37-year-old also has prior experience with the San Antonio Spurs as an assistant under the recently departed Gregg Popovich. He was a member of the Team USA coaching staff that won Olympic gold in 2020.

“I’m humbled and honored,” Hardy said. “This is an incredible franchise. To be able to be committed to the next phase of our process is hard to explain. Moments like this are very surreal. I’m so excited.”

What Next For Jazz, Hardy?

A week from now, Utah and Hardy will be praying to the lottery gods to land the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft.

Utah finished with the worst record in the league at 17-65, but the flattening of the odds means both the Washington Wizards and Charlotte Hornets have just as good a shot at the top pick at 14 percent.

Landing the top overall selection would effectively be earning the right to draft No. 1 prospect Cooper Flagg. Dylan Harper, Ace Bailey, and VJ Edgecombe are very good players in their own right, but Flagg is the clear grand prize.

After that, it’s a question of determining roster fits. Is Lauri Markkanen still a long-term piece with Kyle Filipowski in the mix? What about Walker Kessler and John Collins?

Isaiah Collier emerged as the starting point guard but they will have to be clear about how they view Keyonte George soon.

There are a lot of young pieces on the roster and Markkanen is clearly the best player as things stand. He became ineligible for trade last season after signing an extension but will surely be a hot name in the trade market if made available now.