Things are about to feel different around the Utah Jazz.

After an eventful offseason — not to mention a long rebuild — the Jazz reconvene this week for training camp.

And there may be no better man to explain what’s changed than Austin Ainge, the Jazz’s president of basketball operations.

The Salt Lake Tribune sat down with Ainge to discuss Darryn Peterson, Ace Bailey and why things will “feel different this year.”

Answers may have been slightly edited for length or grammar.

Q: Training camp hasn’t quite started yet, but have any players stood out to you when you watched them throughout the summer?

Ainge: We’ve had a lot of good performances, a lot of guys working really hard. I think Brice [Sensabaugh] has had a particularly good summer, and I think that DP [Darryn Peterson] and Ace [Bailey] have really made good strides.

I thought Isaiah Collier had some really good moments. I thought [Jusuf] Nurkić and Svi [Mykhailiuk] and Lauri [Markkanen] looked good for their national teams. Jaren [Jackson Jr.] has been here most of the summer working hard. I think it’s been a good summer for the group.

Q: You kind of touched on this with Darryn Peterson and Ace Bailey — what have you seen in their development that showed they’ve made strides?

Ainge: They’ve been working on everything. I mean, their bodies, their conditioning, shooting, defensive concepts and just fundamentals.

Look, we do it all. These guys have been running the track and doing defensive slides and hitting the weight room. All the stuff that we’ve asked them to do, they’ve done it, and we can see some improvement.

Q: What do you expect from Darryn this season? What are realistic expectations for him as he goes into his rookie year?

Ainge: My expectations are all process-based. I expect effort, I expect concentration, I expect competitiveness, and I expect humility.

After that, just play to win. The whole kind of goal here is not to get caught up in stats and numbers or worry about those — especially for rookies and young players. Just play to win; make the right read every time.

Q: Keyonte took a big step last season. What’s the next step in his development as a young player?

Ainge: I think all of our players can get better at everything, right? There’s no ceiling or limit. Keyonte can continue to get better at it all. And that’s part of the reason we felt so excited to get him under contract.

We think he’s a really good player right now and can even continue to grow. I think that leadership, playmaking and defense would be three areas that we would highlight.

Q: With the push toward winning and making the playoffs, what would you consider a successful season for the Jazz? Is there a certain benchmark or metric that you’re looking at?

Ainge: All the metrics that I will grade on are process-based. I want to see how well we compete and how well we play together and how well we figure out issues and deal with adversity.

Those types of things will be the most important. Wins and losses usually take care of themselves if you focus on the process.

Q: Do you believe that you guys have the roster to take a big leap forward on the defensive end?

Ainge: I mean, we sure hope so. We’re working toward it. I think that we’re going to focus and try … I think that it’ll be fun to watch and see if we can. That’ll be a big test.

Q: With the focus toward winning, does that change the way you evaluate players?

Ainge: It will feel different this year. We have added more veteran players to this team, but we think the young guys have a lot of talent too, and it’ll be great competition to see how the minutes shake out.

I think coach [Will Hardy] is going to have a hard time figuring out who the minutes should go to because I think we have a lot of good players. And it may take some time because there’s a lot of newness.

Q: Training camp has yet to happen, but do you plan on filling that last roster spot?

Ainge: We’re going to keep an open mind. We have some guys in camp who are talented players competing for things, and there are always guys who become available too.

We don’t really know exactly what we need to add to this roster yet. We’re kind of curious to see how everyone plays together and how it’s all looking.

Q: A topic in the national media lately has been how Keyonte and Darryn fit together. What would you say to the people who are questioning that fit?

Ainge: Are there people who are questioning that? I haven’t actually seen anyone. I feel like everyone sets that up and says, “People are saying ...” and then everyone says, “I think they’ll be a great fit.” I don’t understand that as a question, to be honest.

They’re two good guards. You need lots of good guards.

Q: What are you hoping to see from Ace Bailey as he enters his second season?

Ainge: Just getting better every day is the main thing, but I think we would love Ace to be able to have more of a defensive role on our team. I think he had some good flashes last year.

I think as the game slows down for him, he does have pretty elite physical tools and should really be able to make an impact for us on that end of the court.

Q: What should Jazz fans know about this upcoming season?

Ainge: We have new faces, and we’re really excited to have Jaren Jackson as part of our team, and Ace, Darryn, Keyonte and Lauri, and a lot more depth than we’ve had. We’re really excited to see what kind of a step forward we can make.

Q: Is there anything we have not talked about that you want to address?

Ainge: I would just say that everyone’s in a good place and ready to get to work. We haven’t proven anything yet. We’re excited to get out there and compete. Our guys have been all ready to go.