After trading away Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert, it was expected that Utah would be the league’s worst team last season. However, the reality was that until they decided to trade some of their best guards, the Jazz were very competitive and were even included in the playoff picture. From that moment, Utah went in a predictable tanking mode and only won six of their last 20 games.
During their surprising start, Utah had the league’s #4 best offense (after the trades, they completely fell apart). They crashed the boards, drove to the basket in a high clip vol% and played super-fast. Nobody looked better than Lauri Markkanen. He won the MIP award and became an all-star. His inside-out game was impressive and he established himself as one of the most complete offensive players in the league.
2023/24 OUTLOOK:
Rookie Walker Kessler emerged during the second half of last season and should form with Markkanen a great frontcourt duo going forward. Utah traded for Josh Collins from Atlanta and if we add Kelly Olynyk to the mix, the Jazz have an impressive frontcourt depth that very few teams will enjoy this season.
The biggest challenge for this team will be in the backcourt. Utah last season was one of the worst teams in the league at avoiding turnovers and they were ranked #5 in 3pts volume. So, they really need some decent guard play but they did not make any substantial effort to bolster their guard depth during this offseason.
Jordan Clarkson, Collin Sexton and Talen Horton-Tucker remain with the team but none of them are playmakers. Rookie Keyonte George was named to the Las Vegas Summer League first team and he may be a surprise this season, but counting on him to lead the team this year is probably asking too much. So, the Jazz should continue to struggle in this area.