The Utah Jazz JUST SHOCKED EVERYONE

THE UTAH JAZZ HAVE TAKEN THE NBA BY STORM! When the Utah Jazz beat the Denver Nuggets 123-102 on opening night, many were surprised. Nobody expected the Jazz to be competitive this year, and for good reason. They sent their franchise center and three-time Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert to the Minnesota Timberwolves and sent three-time All-Star Donovan Mitchell to the Cleveland Cavaliers shortly after. Clearly, it was a sign that the Jazz were in rebuilding mode. They were even pegged as the top 4 teams in the Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes, as they were expected to do everything they could to objectively lose lots of games for a chance at drafting perhaps the greatest prospect the league has seen since LeBron James.

Unfortunately, they didn’t get the memo.

As we speak, the Jazz have a winning record, and at the time of this video, good for 2nd most in the league, just below the undefeated Milwaukee Bucks and tied with the Phoenix Suns and the Cleveland Cavaliers. 5 of those wins have been against playoff teams from last year, with two coming against the Western Conference finalists Memphis Grizzlies. The question is, how are they doing this. More importantly, is this sustainable? Let’s find out.

If you enjoy meaningful NBA content such as this one, I highly suggest that you hit the like and subscribe buttons so you won’t miss out on videos like these. With that out of the way, on to the Jazz and their hot start.

Currently, the Jazz are projected to finish with a 44-38 record and a 68% chance of making the playoffs, according to FiveThirtyEight, which is a far cry from ESPN’s preseason prediction of a 12th place finish for them and an average of 36.5 wins. 44-38 would put the Jazz as the 7th seed in the West, which would be in the play-in games. Vegas actually placed the over/under for wins at 24.5 for Utah, and if they keep up their level of play, they are on pace to shatter that. So just how are the Jazz doing it? There are three main reasons.

Another reason is the unlikely evolution of Jordan Clarkson. After landing in Utah via a mid-season trade with the Cavs in the 2019-2020 season, it became apparent that Clarkson would immediately impact the league’s most struggling bench – for better or worse. On the positive side of things, Clarkson is instant offense, quickly making his impact felt as the key reserve for the Jazz, scoring 15.6 points in the year he was acquired. Clarkson didn’t stop there as he became the first Jazz player in history to win the NBA’s Sixth Man of the Year award for the 2020-2021 season. That season, Clarkson led all NBA reserves in scoring with 18.3 points per game (a career-high) off the bench, to go along with 4 rebounds and 2.4 assists, becoming the first player since Manu Ginobili in 2007-08 to average over 18 points, four boards and two assists as a reserve (minimum 50 games played).But, he also was seen as a ballhog, with fans often complaining that Clarkson didn’t pass much. Those complaints were warranted, as Clarkson ranked 8th league-wide among players with 1000+ minutes in the ratio of received to made passes in two seasons from 2020-2022.

Lastly, it seems like everyone has brought in to the system, and that’s thanks to the Jazz’ new Head Coach in Will Hardy, who they hired after spending time as an assistant coach. This team is very different that we’ve seen in the past era of Utah Jazz basketball. They play fast, share the ball, play tough defense and thrive in clutch situations. They look like they enjoy playing together, and having fun. Each possession, there’s no wasted movement; each pass, screen, handoff, or cut has meaning. Just no waste. And the same goes for the defense. The Jazz are rotating, filling lanes, and helping all on a string. They’re not the best defensive team in the league, but they certainly make things hard on opposing offenses. The Jazz offense has cooled off some and sits at #15 in the league in efficiency. What’s impressive is the defense that has settled into the top 10 at #7. These things are starting to look sustainable. Before their game against the Jazz, Dallas Mavericks Head Coach Jason Kidd said that, “The talk of tanking or playing for Victor [Wembanyama] is all camouflage. They’ve got a group over there who can play.” While detractors may consider this approach foolish, it is important for the league that the competitiveness that the Jazz brings still exists, even for teams that aren’t expected to make any noise come playoff time. Furthermore, Wembanyama might be the greatest draft prospect to ever land in the NBA, but mysterious things happen in the NBA all the time. He may not even pan out. There are going to be several championship-impact dudes coming into the NBA next year. Utah doesn’t need the first pick to get one, nor is Wembanyama actually guaranteed to be such a player. If the Jazz can compete, they should. Culture is also an important building block at building a contender.

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