Jazz Face Steeper Climb in West With NBA's Player Rest Rule Proposal

While the NBA scene has been relatively quiet in recent weeks, the league just made headlines for implementing a new exciting change that could reinvigorate the declining interest in the regular season. However, it may come at the cost of some Utah Jazz success in the process.

According to Shams Charania of The Athletic, the NBA Board of Governors is voting on a rule proposal to forbid teams from resting two star players in the same game. It effectively creates stricter limitations on the league’s load management trend, hopeful of pushing the league’s best players to stay on the court:

NBA Board of Governors is expected to vote this week on new policy that a team is unable to rest two star players in the same game, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. Many league discussions over past 1-2 years have centered around stars playing more, curbing load management.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) September 11, 2023

In terms of how this directly affects the Jazz roster, there lacks much to report. With the current state of the team in Utah lacking multiple All-Star talents, HC Will Hardy will not be dwelling on player rest as much of the league does. Especially with such a youthful and developing roster, delegating playing time to their best players is the utmost priority.

Unless C Walker Kessler quickly makes a surprise All-Star bid in his second pro season, this is a non-factor for the Jazz rotation.

Where this rule change will come into play for Utah derives from the surrounding competition. In a deep, stacked Western Conference, this further encourages aging, more competitive opponents like the Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Clippers, Golden State Warriors, and Phoenix Suns to insert the best players into their lineup night in and night out.

This adjustment makes the push for the coveted Play-In Tournament appearance just a bit tougher for a relatively inexperienced Jazz team. With increased player rest in the cards last season, there was only a six-game difference between the 3rd and 10th seed within the Western Conference. Now, with the entire conference eyeing to play their stars more significantly, that battle might get a bit tighter.

Even borderline playoff teams with top-heavy talent in the West, like the Minnesota Timberwolves, Dallas Mavericks, and New Orleans Pelicans, seek to have significant implications if this rule change is implemented. As a result, this creates an even denser pool of competition for the Jazz to face.

Utah still projects to be in a good place for the 2023-24 season, no matter how many wins are on the stat sheet. Established with a talented, promising, young core; this franchise has only taken positive steps forward across the past 12 months. It now comes down to how quickly they can piece things together to become a perennial threat in the West.

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