By Johnny Askounis/ info@eurohoops.net
The Utah Jazz are recalibrating their group chemistry for the 2026–27 NBA Regular Season. Veteran Bosnian center Jusuf Nurkic was absent from the preseason media day on Monday due to personal reasons. However, the active European pillars showed a clear readiness to put the roster ahead of individual stat sheets.
Finnish Lauri Markkanen enters his tenth season in the league and his fifth year in Salt Lake City. His summer highlight was hosting teammates Keyonte George, Ace Bailey, and coach Will Hardy out in Finland to build closer personal ties. “I was very grateful that they made the trip,” he stated, noting that the trip solidified their trust. “Them making the sacrifice of their summer for a couple of days to come visit me, that means a lot to me.”
The 29-year-old forward looks forward to utilizing the team’s new scoring options to create easier open-look opportunities for himself. Markkanen remains driven by higher local benchmarks. “The team expectations are pretty high, and that makes us even more motivated and excited and more focused on the task at hand,” he added.
Ukrainian sharpshooter Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk matches that devotion to the group. He spent his summer break playing for his national team during the FIBA World Cup 2027 Qualifiers. “It helps them stay in game shape,” he noted on international duties during the offseason. “A lot of players, when we start training in the summer, we don’t really play pick-up, five-on-five until later in the summer.”
Hardy’s side now switches to training camp, formally starting Tuesday. Following their preseason games, they open the Regular Season against the Memphis Grizzlies in FedExForum on October 21.
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