While the Utah Jazz Having not made any drastic roster adjustments for the 2024-25 NBA season, projections around the league seem to indicate that this team is taking a step back for its upcoming campaign.
Latest Predictions for the Next NBA Year come from ESPNwho released their latest predictions for the Western Conference standings for next season. It’s a group that expects to be very competitive throughout the 82-game stretch and has several contenders who could finish at the top.
But, unsurprisingly, Jazz was not among those top contenders. On the contrary, it was quite the opposite.
When they faced the West for the 2024-25 campaign, the Jazz found themselves near the bottom of the pack in a group dubbed “the bottom five” as the 14th-ranked team in the conference, projected to finish the year with a 26-56 record.
As for the summit of the conference, the Oklahoma City Thunder finished in first place, with a projected record of 57-25.
THE Portland Trail Blazers were the only team to finish lower than Utah with a 22-60 record. Sitting above the Jazz in the bottom five, they ended up being the San Antonio Spursas well as the Los Angeles Lakerssand The Los Angeles Clippers narrowly missing the Play-In tournament.
The outlook for next season for the Jazz is bleak, but it’s hard to imagine a record this low. Utah seems more intent on prioritizing youth movement for the upcoming season, which could hopefully move the needle on this rebuild as a whole. Regular-season wins may not come immediately as a result, but the more these young players play, the better the long-term vision.
Lauri Markkanen is still ready to lead the charge for the third straight season, which should keep the Jazz from falling strictly to the bottom of the standings, but beyond that, Utah’s roster is a bit far behind the top contenders in the Western Conference. Even when it comes to play-in-worthy teams like the Houston Rockets And Memphis GrizzliesThis team is probably a few steps away from reaching similar levels.
Sure, the Jazz have the potential to start the season strong and emerge as an early surprise in the West standings like they did the previous two years, but with two mediocre lottery results to show for it, Utah might be better off going in a different direction for 2024-25.
Even though the win-loss ratio looks shaky for Utah next season, expect the Jazz to trend higher heading into next summer with a chance to get a good spot in the lottery for a loaded draft class.
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