Utah Shocking All!

 

Today’s post will discuss arguably the hottest team in the NBA. That being, the Utah Jazz (“Jazz”). This post will be separated into two separate paragraphs. The first will discuss the Jazz and their preseason expectations, and the second will discuss their current state and record.

Preseason Expectations:

Heading into this past offseason the Jazz were in the process of recovering after a disappointing playoff run. In this run, they would lose in the first round of the playoffs to the Dallas Mavericks. The Jazz were led by their two stars Donovan Mitchell (“Donovan”) and Rudy Gobert (“Rudy”). Donovan for the season would lead the Jazz averaging 25.9 points per game, with 4.2 rebounds and 5.3 assists. As for Rudy, he averaged 15.6 points per game, with 14.7 rebounds and 2.1 blocks. Shockingly, to the news of many in the basketball community, the Jazz would then decide to move on from both stars as they realized they would never win a title with both players. In return, the Jazz would signify to the rest of the league their intentions of rebuilding their roster and their focus on future player development. The Jazz would end up trading Donovan to the Cleveland Cavaliers and Rudy to the Minnesota Timberwolves. In completion of the trades, the Jazz would in turn receive a plethora of future first-round draft picks, as well as pick swaps and young unproven players. Due to said losses and lack of stability, the Jazz were widely projected as one of the worst teams heading into this season. As they were projected to finish with one of the worst records in the league and with one of the best odds to land the number one overall draft pick in this year's upcoming NBA Draft.

Current State of the Jazz:

To this point early in the season, the Jazz have shocked many and proven all doubters wrong. As they are currently first in the Western Conference standings with a 9-3 record. With no star player, the Jazz have been competing and beating opposing teams with a very unselfish team-centered style of play. Their leading scorer is former lottery pick Lauri Markkanen who averages 21.9 points per game with 8.8 rebounds and 2.7 assists. As for other notable key players, Jordan Clarkson, Collin Sexton, and Mike Conley have all played extremely well as they are all averaging double digits in scoring. It remains to be seen if the Jazz can continue this high style of play and potentially make the playoffs. But at this point in time, the Jazz have to be ecstatic at where they're currently at.