How Jazz's New Energy Could Alter 2022-23 Outlook
On Wednesday night, the Utah Jazz opened their 49th season as a franchise with an uncertain roster and future. Earlier that same day, Utah's one and only nationally televised game against the New York Knicks was flexed for Brooklyn Nets vs. Sacramento Kings.
NBA power rankings have been slotting the Jazz as a bottom-5 team. All the preseason games seemed to reinforce the notion that this team was in store for a dreadful regular season. The media agreed that tanking was the move, seeing the stacked upcoming 2023 NBA draft class.
However, the Jazz looked tough and resilient in their first regular season game that resulted in a 123-102 victory against reigning MVP Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets. It was shocking, to say the least.
The Nuggets surely didn’t look like themselves, and the Jazz won't hit 16 three-pointers every night, but this was a huge win for a team that has never played together.
Vivint Arena is known for its rowdy and loud fans, but the energy hasn’t been matched for over a year. That was a complete 48 minutes of basketball, and there was team defensive toughness that was rarely matched over the past few years.
The Jazz aren’t winning a championship with this roster, but they have 10 rotational players that could give you 15-20 points on a given night. Jazz head coach Will Hardy ran a short, hockey-style rotation that infused fresh legs and high energy onto the court every few minutes.
The Nuggets were obviously caught off guard and probably expected to walk away easily with a win. This will be the Jazz’s best advantage this season going up against teams on a night-to-night basis.
The oddsmakers set Utah's over/under win total at 25.5 before the season started. If the Jazz continue at this level, though, this team could easily be a 39-to-43-win team.
This is just game one, so the outlook could change over the next few weeks, but this team is deep with mid-level talent. It might disappoint the pro-tanking fan base, but the Jazz have plenty of draft picks and assets to be flexible in the coming years.
Utah's roster and incoming assets are more valuable than most teams in the bottom half of the league. This flexibility is much more reassuring than the likes of the Detroit Pistons and Charlotte Hornets of the league.
These teams have been fighting for a chance at the next great draft pick for years now, while their fans watch them live on the bottom, only stimulated by the lottery selection and yearly draft.
Jazz fans should feel excited and hopeful about this team and its future. This energy is what they’ve been missing over the past couple of years, despite the presence of marque talent.
As for the future, Jazz Nation should feel safe with its 18 draft picks over the next seven years. Just enjoy the ride, one game at a time.
Follow Andrew on Twitter @ArembaczNBA.
