The Utah Jazz's roster for the 2026-27 season is officially set.
After a busy offseason of getting this roster totally right for the new year ahead, the Jazz finally have a full 15-man set of traditional signings, three two-way deals, and are looking prepared to have their most successful season since first starting their rebuild a few summers back.
But in the midst of the Jazz's work around the roster this past offseason, there was one decision made throughout it all that came a bit more head-scratching than the others–– and that's the move to not bring back Kevin Love for one more year in Utah.
Why Kevin Love Should've Been Signed Back to Utah
Heading into the final week before the new season started up, the Jazz had just one final spot to hand out on their 15-man roster. Utah had one opening because of their move with the Minnesota Timberwolves to ship out Cody Williams and John Konchar weeks before the season's tip-off, and it was only a matter of time for them to fill it.
And once we got closer to the season, it became apparent the Jazz could use another big man on the back-end of their roster with that final opening.
Jusuf Nurkic is dealing with a foot injury heading into the year, and thus left Utah's center depth down to Jaxson Hayes, Kyle Filipowski, and Mo Bamba for the first few weeks of the season.
So on paper, adding another big man like Kevin Love would've made a ton of sense for the Jazz. Love was a beloved veteran in the locker room all of last season, was vocal in his interest in signing back to Utah after the season, and even played decently well as a backup five in the short stints he played in last season.
Love appeared in a total of 37 games to average 6.7 points, 5.8 rebounds, 1.8 assists while shooting 39.7% from three in a little over 16 minutes a night. He provides some rebounding, some size, and some shooting ability that any team––especially in the Jazz's situation––could use.
So did the Jazz go out and use that final roster spot to give Love a veteran minimum contract? They did not.
Instead, they pivoted to former Utah first-round pick Tony Bradley to offer that big man depth. Who, to be fair, is still worthy of a traditional NBA contract somewhere in the league, even at this point in his career. Yet, he doesn't tend to make as much sense for the Jazz in particular when factoring in their prior history with Love.
If the Jazz were going to sign a big man, why and not bring in a familiar face like Love who already has prior chemistry with the team and the surrounding coaching staff? That feels like a way more sensible approach for Utah to have taken, and still achieved their goal of getting more depth in the frotncourt.
But rather, Love now sits as an NBA free agent as opening day kicks off, Bradley got the call-up off of waivers after being released from the New York Knicks, and the Jazz roster is completely filled for game one of 82.
Maybe the Jazz and Love can find their way to a reunion over the course of this season that gives him more of a ceremonious end to his Hall of Fame career. But for now, the two have gone their separate ways.
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