Jazz Place 12th in NBA.com’s Latest Western Conference Power Rankings

The Western Conference in the NBA during the 2022-23 season was extremely competitive down to the wire. With only two teams reaching records with more than 50 wins, the talent across the West consisted of a ton of parity that the Utah Jazz held some significant stake in up until the very end.

Even with the front office doing all they could to tank the team into the ground, the roster exceeded all expectations by floating above .500 into February. It took multiple starters, including first-time All-Star Lauri Markkanen practically forced out of the lineup to later improve the team’s draft positioning.

Now, after an offseason of moves past us, the Western Conference shakes up to be a tight battle once again. The Jazz come into 2023 with a refreshed rotation with three new rookies, and John Collins coming from the Atlanta Hawks looking to revive his career.

Despite the optimism the Jazz roster provides, NBA.com still placed the Jazz at 12th in their latest Offseason Power Rankings, putting them in the same spot they finished in the West last season with a record of 37-45.

With the rank, here’s what John Schuhmann of NBA.com had to say about Utah going into their second season post-reset:

The Jazz will surely play Markkanen, Collins, and Walker Kessler together. They outscored their opponents by

5.3 points per 100 possessions

in 454 minutes with Markkanen, Kelly Olynyk and Kessler on the floor together last season, and

Collins will be a defensive upgrade as part of that trio.

That’s a lot of talent up front, but the guard positions are more interesting.

Talen Horton-Tucker put up good numbers (18.2, 5.1 and 6.0) as the starting point guard after the All-Star break last season, and the Jazz have a couple of vets — Jordan Clarkson and Collin Sexton — who could start at the two (and are both under contract for three more years). But those guys are also best suited to come off the bench and

the next generation — George and Ochai Agbaji — is here and needs to play

. Agbaji was super fun to watch as a rookie, with good shooting in the paint (55.6%) for a rookie guard and a very good mark (44-for-96, 45.8%) on corner 3s."

Schuhmann had all nice things to say about the Jazz after a respectable offseason, as there is a lot for fans to appreciate about what Utah is building. With such a deep conference with tons of competition surrounding them, it might be hard to imagine the Jazz head and shoulders above other teams in the West.

Teams placed just ahead of the Jazz in these rankings such as the Oklahoma City Thunder (11th), and Minnesota Timberwolves (10th) are entering next season with lots of optimism and upside as well, along with every other team that ended up ahead of the Jazz in last year’s standings.

A late major move to the roster could help boost this team’s pre-season rank, but the Jazz are taking on this rebuild with a patient approach. There may not be a team quite ready to contend for a championship in Salt Lake City now. In due time, though, this roster will soon find its way to the top of the conference with youth development and future roster splashes.

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