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The Utah Jazz might be the NBA's best-kept secret. It's a secret that the Jazz themselves have fought tooth and nail to protect -- it cost them $500,000 to swallow a few extra losses in their all-out attempt to remain as non-competitive as possible last season, with stars Lauri Markkanen and Jaren Jackson Jr riding the pine in games that the Jazz had previously stood poised and ready to cruise to victory.
The Utah Jazz finished with a 22-60 record last season, which was the worst mark of any team in the Western Conference (though a coin flip with Sacramento was the ultimate deciding factor for that designation), and the fourth-worst win-loss ratio of any team in the NBA.
This was accomplished thanks to the absence of anchoring rim protector Walker Kessler, who suffered an injury just four games into the season before going under the knife for year-ending surgery. Keyonte George, despite a breakout third season that grew legs for his dark horse All-Star candidacy, struggled with occasional lower body injuries for much of the year. Jaren Jackson Jr only appeared in a handful of games after being acquired at the trade deadline from Memphis' fire sale. Lauri Markkanen, despite posting some of the best stats in his entire career -- including his inaugural All-Star season in Utah -- only appeared in 42 games last season.
Though Kessler is out of the picture, darting to Los Angeles and leaving four pieces of Laker draft capital in his place, there remains three All-Star candidates in Will Hardy's rotation this season, and I haven't even mentioned rising star Ace Bailey (whose rookie year was highlighted by a 37-point eruption), elite bench scorer Brice Sensabaugh, or Darryn Peterson, one of the leaders in this season's stacked Rookie of the Year race.
Don't expect to see the Utah Jazz rallying for lottery balls this season, so long as the team can remain healthy.
But the question becomes just how high we could reasonably expect the Jazz to climb in just one year. From external sources, the Jazz's potential seems to be hovering around the Play-In Tournament range: the 7-10 seed lines.
And while this is a reasonable and well-measured projection for a team that has spent its last three seasons wallowing in the mud with the rest of basketball's bottom-feeders, the amount of talent on this Jazz team has me curious if the Play-In isn't too conservative a measure.
Time will tell, and especially as the team will need some time to mesh, it could take a year or more to see what this squad is truly made of. But with strong offseason acquisitions, a blooming young core, and All-Star supports, the Utah Jazz might just be a contender in the West this season.
Don't act surprised when they are.
Continue reading...
The Utah Jazz finished with a 22-60 record last season, which was the worst mark of any team in the Western Conference (though a coin flip with Sacramento was the ultimate deciding factor for that designation), and the fourth-worst win-loss ratio of any team in the NBA.
This was accomplished thanks to the absence of anchoring rim protector Walker Kessler, who suffered an injury just four games into the season before going under the knife for year-ending surgery. Keyonte George, despite a breakout third season that grew legs for his dark horse All-Star candidacy, struggled with occasional lower body injuries for much of the year. Jaren Jackson Jr only appeared in a handful of games after being acquired at the trade deadline from Memphis' fire sale. Lauri Markkanen, despite posting some of the best stats in his entire career -- including his inaugural All-Star season in Utah -- only appeared in 42 games last season.
Though Kessler is out of the picture, darting to Los Angeles and leaving four pieces of Laker draft capital in his place, there remains three All-Star candidates in Will Hardy's rotation this season, and I haven't even mentioned rising star Ace Bailey (whose rookie year was highlighted by a 37-point eruption), elite bench scorer Brice Sensabaugh, or Darryn Peterson, one of the leaders in this season's stacked Rookie of the Year race.
Don't expect to see the Utah Jazz rallying for lottery balls this season, so long as the team can remain healthy.
But the question becomes just how high we could reasonably expect the Jazz to climb in just one year. From external sources, the Jazz's potential seems to be hovering around the Play-In Tournament range: the 7-10 seed lines.
And while this is a reasonable and well-measured projection for a team that has spent its last three seasons wallowing in the mud with the rest of basketball's bottom-feeders, the amount of talent on this Jazz team has me curious if the Play-In isn't too conservative a measure.
Time will tell, and especially as the team will need some time to mesh, it could take a year or more to see what this squad is truly made of. But with strong offseason acquisitions, a blooming young core, and All-Star supports, the Utah Jazz might just be a contender in the West this season.
Don't act surprised when they are.
Continue reading...
