The Utah Jazz have been preparing for the 2025 draft for years, but the pace of the work and the attention to detail is in full gear as we close in on the June 26 draft.
The Jazz interviewed a number of players at the draft combine in Chicago last week, including the players who are the presumptive No. 1 and No. 2 picks, Cooper Flagg and Dylan Harper. Though, the team probably had to put in an interview request list prior to the lottery, so that makes sense.
In addition to those two, the Jazz interviewed just about every player who could possibly be considered with the fifth overall pick, including Ace Bailey (Rutgers), Tre Johnson (Texas), V.J. Edgecombe (Baylor), Jeremiah Fears (Oklahoma), Kon Knueppel (Duke), Khaman Maluach (Duke), Kasparas Jakucionis (Illinois), Derik Queen (Maryland) and Jase Richardson (Michigan State).
The Jazz have also been conducting in-market workouts with draft prospects, but at this point in the pre-draft process most players that are working out with teams are expected to be second-round picks or go undrafted. The Jazz have had or are scheduled to work out Sean Pedulla (Ole Miss) RJ Davis (North Carolina), Milos Uzan (Houston) and Samson Johnson (UConn), team sources told the Deseret News.
The deadline for players to withdraw their names from the draft while still maintaining their college eligibility is May 28, which makes workouts with lower ranked players normal for this time of year.
Between the combine and May 28, a lot of workouts with teams are not only informing the teams on players who could go later in the draft, but they are also helping to inform players who are still deciding about whether to stay in the draft.
For example, the Jazz had planned to have Boogie Fland in for a workout, but Fland, who played at Arkansas last season and then entered the transfer portal, withdrew from the draft and returned to the collegiate ranks, eventually committing to play at Florida next season. Darrion Williams (Texas Tech) is another player that has reportedly withdrawn from draft consideration, cancelled predraft workouts and is courting collegiate teams via the transfer portal
While most of the players in workouts right now are projected to be second-round picks or lower, there are a few late first-rounders that are sprinkled in here and there. This week the Jazz are expected to have UAB forward Yaxel Lendeborg in for a workout, according to league sources.
Lendeborg, is generally considered to be a player that could get picked in the 20s of this year's NBA draft, but he is also the No. 1-ranked player in the transfer portal and reportedly has a multimillion-dollar NIL package available to him to attend Michigan next season. If he thinks that the extra year could help his draft stock for 2026, NBA predraft workouts will be mostly about Lendeborg gaining feedback for the next year.
Predraft workouts for the players that are expected to be selected earlier in the first round, and especially in the top 10, won't do workouts until we get into June (usually around the second week of June). The Jazz are expected to have most, if not all, of the players they interviewed at the combine in for an in-market workout (with the exception of Flagg and Harper).
Additionally, international players that were unable to participate in the combine in Chicago because of playing obligations for their international teams, will take part in what is essentially the NBA combine for international players in the first week of June. The Jazz will have representatives present for the event.