While the Utah Jazz The team isn’t expected to be the most competitive in the league next season, but that doesn’t mean this team is devoid of talent on the depth chart. There are several key names on the team that enter the 2024-25 season poised to have a big season in Salt Lake City.
The youth movement of this team is a major focus when taking a step back to examine the state of the Jazz, but a few veterans in place will still have a vital role in Utah’s rotation and, ultimately, the success of the upcoming campaign.
Among these veterans, the writer Grant Hughes of Bleacher Report sees Collin Sexton as the Jazz’s best-kept secret for the coming year, earning him a considerable spot as the team’s second most valuable player behind Lauri Markkanen
“Lauri Markkanen is the undisputed best player on the Utah Jazz, but most people wouldn’t suspect that the gap between him and Collin Sexton was pretty small last season… In fact, Sexton contributed more to the Jazz than Dunn and Walker Kessler (2.3 wins), who ranked fourth, combined… After two years of trying to get back on the court regularly, he was finally ready to reintroduce himself to a wider audience last season. Whether Utah trades him for draft picks or tries to win 40 or so games, Sexton has every chance of being the team’s second-most valuable player.”
– Grant Hughes, Bleacher Report
Sexton is coming off one of his best seasons in recent memory, averaging 18.7 points, 2.6 rebounds and 4.9 assists on a 48.7/39.4/85.9 shooting ratio. He emerged as one of Utah’s top offensive contributors last season, finishing second in scoring behind Markkanen’s 24.5 points.
He’s sometimes a bit of an overlooked piece of this Jazz core, as he’s not exactly part of the new, refreshed youth movement, but rather was brought in as an additional piece in the 2022 Donovan Mitchell trade. However, since rehabbing his torn meniscus, he’s improved each of his two years in Utah and will look to build on that for a third in 2024.
While his role on this new Jazz team is unknown two months before the season begins, whether it’s a return to the starting lineup or a return to the bench, there’s plenty of reason to expect another 20-plus PPG output from the former lottery pick in his age-25 season.
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