2026-27 projection
| GP | MPG | FG% | FT% | 3PM | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | TO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 72 | 16.0 | .490 | .750 | 0.8 | 8.0 | 5.2 | 1.8 | 0.6 | 0.4 | 1.1 |
- 9-cat: 140-200; points: top 150-205; dynasty: 145-220.
- Role: backup 4/5 and spacing counterweight for Utah Jazz.
- 2025-26 baseline: 77 games, 23.4 minutes, 11.4 points, 7.2 rebounds, 2.6 assists, 1.0 three, 0.9 steals, and 0.5 blocks on .492 FG. ESPN Utah stats, accessed 2026-07-18
Fantasy thesis
Filipowski supplies more passing and shooting than Hayes or Bamba, but less rim defense than either. Hashtag ranks him 187th in analyst dynasty. Walker Kessler's departure initially opened a path; Utah then signed three veteran centers, making role evidence more important than last year's averages. Hashtag dynasty, accessed 2026-07-18 · NBA offseason deals, updated 2026-07-16
Ceiling: wins primary backup center and reaches 23 minutes, returning top-120 to top-150 value. Floor: 12-14 minutes in a three-center committee leaves him outside standard leagues.
Career record
Pre-NBA: Two seasons at Duke (ACC) as a full-time starter in all 72 games he played. As a freshman in 2022-23 he averaged 15.1 points and 9.0 rebounds in 29.1 minutes on .441/.282/.765; as a sophomore in 2023-24 he improved to 16.4 points, 8.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 30.4 minutes on .505/.348/.671. The shooting profile was already the identity — a scoring big with passing feel and a three-point stroke that was streaky rather than reliable. Draft: 2024, second round, 32nd overall, Utah Jazz; signed August 12, 2024.
| Season | Age | Team | GP | MPG | PTS | REB | AST | STL | BLK | 3PM | FG% | FT% | TO |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024-25 | 21 | UTA | 72 | 21.1 | 9.6 | 6.1 | 1.9 | 0.7 | 0.3 | 1.1 | .502 | .650 | 1.4 |
| 2025-26 | 22 | UTA | 77 | 23.4 | 11.4 | 7.2 | 2.6 | 0.9 | 0.5 | 1.0 | .492 | .750 | 1.6 |
| Career | — | UTA | 149 | 22.3 | 10.5 | 6.7 | 2.3 | 0.8 | 0.4 | 1.0 | .496 | .710 | 1.5 |
Durability: Strong. He has played 72 and 77 games in his two NBA seasons with no documented significant NBA injury, though he has taken G League assignments. The medical history is from college: bilateral hip surgery in April 2023 to repair malformed hip joints, and a knee injury on February 24, 2024 when a Wake Forest fan collided with him during a court storming.
Trajectory: Two seasons of real, broad improvement — minutes up, and points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocks all up in year two, with free-throw shooting climbing from an ugly .650 to a usable .750. That is the profile of a 22-year-old second-round pick outperforming his draft slot, and the per-minute production is genuinely startable: 7.2 rebounds and 2.6 assists in 23 minutes is top-150 shape if the minutes hold. Two things cap him. The three-point shot has not developed — 1.0 makes per game at .325, down from .350, so the stretch-big premise is still unproven — and the rim protection is thin at 0.5 blocks, which is why he does not close games. Walker Kessler's departure opened the path, then Utah signed veteran centers behind him, so the 2026-27 question is a rotation count rather than a talent one. He becomes a genuine standard-league asset if he wins the primary backup center job outright or if an injury thins the veteran group, in which case 23-plus minutes returns top-120 to top-150 value; in a three-center committee at 12-14 minutes he is undraftable.
Career sources: ESPN career stats · Kyle Filipowski — Wikipedia · ESPN Utah Jazz team stats · NBA offseason deals 2026
Open questions
- Is Filipowski ahead of Hayes when Utah needs a non-Nurkic center?
- Can he improve enough defensively to close games?