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The Triple Team: Kyle Filipowski-led Jazz Show Promise, But Comeback Falls Short Vs. Blazers

Three thoughts on the Utah Jazz's 114-112 loss to Portland Trail Blazers from Salt Lake Tribune Jazz beat writer Andy Larsen.

1. Shot selection in the paint

I don't think Blazers coach Chauncey Billups meant to predict tonight's proceedings in the pre-game press conference, but he ended up doing so:

"I tell our guys to keep it simple, you know, and not play in crowds," Billups said. "So if I'm dribbling and you're guarding me and I see another guy (start to come over), just make it simple. Do your job. Just pass it."

I thought there was a lot of the opposite of that in tonight's game, especially from the Jazz's point of view. The Jazz scored 36 points in the paint, but took 47 shots — just 38% shooting from inside the paint. Here's a quick supercut of those instances just in the first half:

Rather than keeping it simple, they're making it complicated. And yes, sometimes, players get fouled in a crowd. Sometimes they make the shots they throw up from that eight foot mark on the move. But for the most part, the game of basketball rewards those who make the right read over and over and over again — even if it means an three-shot, 14-assist night.

When you watch the best teams in the league play — the Cavs, the Celtics, and the Thunder — that's how they do it. Obviously, making the right read over and over again is easier said than done! But it truly is the difference between players that push their teams to winning and push their teams to mediocrity, getting even 5% better at those decisions.

The Jazz are young, and there's significant hope for them, but they're certainly not there yet with the reads.

2. Kyle Filipowski's 20-point, 10-rebound, five-assist night

We're beginning to see two things happen:

A) Kyle Filipowski is figuring out what he can translate from college to the NBA and what he needs to change, and

B) Will Hardy and the Jazz's coaching staff are figuring out how best to use that skillset for this team.

Regarding the first point, the finishing in traffic is still tough. NBA defenders have a lot of length, and will surprise in their ability to beat even a 7-footer like Filipowski to the backboard on layups.

But Filipowski has changed his jump shot to deal with that speed and length on the perimeter, significantly speeding up his release over the course of the last few months. He told media today that it was a difficult change to undergo in the middle of the season — there were times, he said, when he had practiced the new form only from midrange, but had to take threes in game with the new form. Naturally that didn't go well. But he's starting to see growth there, shooting 45% in February before tonight's 4-4 performance.

The defense is also a lot harder, and he does tend to keep his hands too low and in front of him in isolation. But when he focuses on moving his feet, he does really well.

What has pretty immediately translated is Filipowski's ability to read the game on the perimeter, especially in five-out situations when the Jazz can use off-ball screens to attack both the rim and the 3-point line safely. They give the ball to "Flip," then have three players run a jumble of stuff here until someone gets open in one direction or another:

That works a lot better, though, if he's the one playing center. If Walker Kessler or another traditional rim-protecting big is the center, that man's defender can usually short circuit the threat to the rim, making the rest a lot easier to deal with.

In other words, all of those comparisons to Kelly Olynyk we made when he was first drafted turned out to be pretty right. Like Olynyk has spend 74% of his career playing center, I suspect Filipowski ends up doing the same, because the spacing is too good when he's able to do so. The good news is that he may be able to hang playing the four just as a spacer and mover somewhat better than Olynyk can.

I continue to be pretty excited about Filipowski as a long-term prospect. I don't think he'll ever be a star, but the perfect big man role player (starter or bench) to add to a versatile roster.

3. It's cheap ticket time!

As you'd expect, interest in the Jazz is down during this tanking season. Fewer people are certainly reading these articles, for example, and I don't think I'm a substantially worse writer than I was last year. (Maybe a little worse, though.) Jazz TV ratings are down 44% from last year, according to Sports Business Daily. Again, no surprises here.

Also occurring: Jazz ticket prices are falling, big time. Here's the cheapest ticket price to get in the arena, according to SeatGeek, for the Jazz's remaining home games:

Jazz ticket prices on SeatGeek.

10 of the 12 games remaining cost $10 or less to get in to, excluding fees. (Fees are substantial and heavy — and also at least somewhat end up in Ryan Smith's pocket, as he's an investor in SeatGeek.) To be honest, even these tanking Jazz can be pretty fun, so I'd probably pay that small amount to check out an NBA game at that rate.

I'd also suggest looking at the lower bowl prices. If you wait in the last 30 minutes to hour before the game, you can often find a seat or two available in the lower bowl in the $20-$30 range — again, a pretty stellar deal for NBA entertainment, relatively.

If you don't want to support these tanking efforts, or just want to tune in when this team gets good again, that's fine too, of course.

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How Much Are The Utah Jazz Worth?

SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Jazz might be tied for the second-worst record in the NBA heading into All-Star Weekend, but there's one place where the team sits a little higher in the standings.

CNBC Sports ranks the Jazz as the 20th most valuable franchise among the league's 30 teams, according to its official NBA valuations for 2025 released Friday.

The media outlet values the Jazz at $3.75 billion, about a billion dollars less than the league average of $4.66 billion. Utah comes in just behind the Milwaukee Bucks and slightly ahead of the San Antonio Spurs.

CNBC placed the Jazz's revenue at $367 million, with $106 million in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization or EBITDA. The latter figure is better than 10 teams with higher valuation.

The valuations represent current enterprise values — equity plus net debt — calculated using revenue multiples based on historical control transaction prices. The valuations include the economics of the team's arena, including non-NBA revenue, such as concerts, which accrue to the team's owner, according to CNBC's methodology.

Return on investment

Ryan and Ashley Smith, principals of Smith Entertainment Group, reportedly paid $1.66 billion for the Utah Jazz when they bought the team from longtime owner Gail Miller and her family in 2020. And while the team struggles on the court, its value continues an upward trajectory, now more than $2 billion more than the Smiths paid.

CNBC's valuation of the Jazz isn't much different than figures Forbes and Sportico placed on the franchise.

Forbes' NBA team valuations for the 2024-25 season put the Jazz at $3.55 billion, ranking 23rd in the league and up nearly $500 million from the previous year. Sportico valued the Jazz at $3.67 billion, ranking Utah 22nd in the NBA. Its valuation of the team marked a 13% increase over the previous year.

Smith Entertainment Group owns the Delta Center, the Jazz's home arena and venue for other money-making events including concerts and, since last October, Utah Hockey Club games. The company bought the NHL team last April.

What is the NBA's most valuable team?

The most valuable NBA team — and it's not even close — is the Golden State Warriors at $9.4 billion, according to CNBC.

The Warriors generated $781 million in revenue during the 2023-24 season, the highest in the NBA. The Warriors own their home arena, San Francisco's Chase Center, from which they also earn revenue from non-NBA events. The team took in nearly $200 million in sponsorship revenue last season, nearly double that of any other team, according to a league executive, per CNBC.

"It may not be surprising that the value of the Warriors has increased at a 24% compound annual growth rate since Joe Lacob and Peter Guber paid $450 million for the team in 2010. After all, the Warriors have won four NBA titles over the past decade, moved into their state-of-the-art arena in 2019 and have been led by two-time league MVP Stephen Curry," the article said.

The Memphis Grizzlies have the lowest valuation in the league at $3.2 billion but still have been a great investment for owner Robert Pera.

"The Grizzlies have not been to the NBA Finals since entering the league in 1995 and generally rank in the bottom third of the NBA in average attendance. Yet, the value of the Grizzlies has increased at a 19% annual rate since Pera paid $377 million for the team in 2012," according to CNBC.

What is the Utah Hockey Club worth?

The Smiths this year also bought the NHL's Arizona Coyotes for $1.2 billion and moved the team to Salt Lake City, rebranded as the Utah Hockey Club. Forbes placed the value of the Arizona team at $500 million last year, lowest in the league.

Now five months into its inaugural season, Utah HC isn't the least valuable team in the league anymore. CNBC's Official 2024 NHL Valuations ranks Utah 28th at $1.2 billion, just what the Smiths paid in April.

In addition to the Jazz and Utah HC, Smith Entertainment Group owns the MLS soccer team Real Salt Lake and the Utah Royals of the NWSL.

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.

Jazz Owner Doesn't Believe NBA Could Face A Real Threat From A Startup League Anytime Soon

Jazz owner Ryan Smith, seen here with team minority owner and Hall of Famer Dwyane Wade, doesn't think that the NBA will face a real threat from a rival league anytime soon. (Rob Gray-Imagn Images)

Though LIV Golf's introduction completely shook the sport to a point where it's still trying to come back together even years later, at least one NBA owner doesn't think that type of a fracture is possible in his league.

Utah Jazz owner Ryan Smith shut that idea down on social media on Monday while responding to a former minority owner of the Golden State Warriors. The future of the league, he insisted, is "the brightest it's ever been."

To be fair, Smith is a little biased here. As an owner of the team — he purchased the team for $1.66 billion in 2020, and also owning the NHL's Utah Hockey Club, MLS' Real Salt Lake and the NWSL's Utah Royals — he very clearly benefits when the league itself does well.

The idea started Monday after Chamath Palihapitiya said he sold his minority stake in the Warriors, in part, over fears that a new professional basketball league was going to threaten the NBA. While that may seem like a far-fetched idea, it's already happened elsewhere in the sports world, and new basketball leagues are popping up.

Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund launched its rival league, LIV Golf, to the PGA Tour and inked several of the sport's biggest names to ridiculously lucrative deals. The two sides have been engaged in talks of a merger-of-sorts for over a year now, but golf as a whole is still very fractured.

There has been talk of a new international basketball league, backed by Maverick Carter, and they are seeking to raise $5 billion to get it started. That league apparently has no intention of directly competing with the NBA, but rather aspires to be the "F1 for basketball." Unrivaled, the 3x3 women's basketball league, debuted this year.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver has been open about wanting an NBA Europe league, too. The EuroLeague, National Basketball League in Australia and Chinese Basketball Association are three of the largest and best leagues in the world outside of the NBA, too. The NBA also launched the Basketball Africa League in 2019 in an effort to expand on that continent. The NBA is expected to expand again in the near future, too. Seattle and Las Vegas are frequently seen as cities that are at the top of that list.

But at least at this point, it appears as if a true threat to the NBA is a long way off. Considering how much the PIF spent to launch LIV Golf as a true competitor to the PGA Tour, it would take billions of dollars to threaten the world's top basketball league that consistently brings in the top talent from across the globe.

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