Utah Jazz's Turnover Woes Reached Historic Levels Last Season

For the past two regular seasons, the Utah Jazz have had no shortage of issues when it comes to their ball security and limiting their turnovers, ending up among the bottom of the barrel in the NBA for said category.

However, looking back to last season, the Jazz didn't just have a rough season in terms of their turnover numbers; they were some of the worst the league has seen in nearly 50 years.

In his latest batch of power rankings, NBA.com analyst John Schuhmann detailed one fascinating stat surrounding the Jazz and their turnover lapses from last season in the process of slotting them in as dead-last within the Western Conference: their historically low turnover differential of 5.4.

"The Jazz committed 5.4 more turnovers than their opponents, the worst differential for any team in the 48 seasons in which turnovers have been counted by a wide margin. (Next worst is 4.3 more per game.) They ranked last in turnover rate (17.0 per 100 possessions), opponent turnover rate (11.6 per 100) and deflections per game (13.3)."

Along with such a high turnover differential, the Jazz also struggled in another area laid out by Schuhmann: transition points per game, sitting at 29.7 a night.

"They allowed 29.7 transition points per game, 2.5 more than any other team in the 21 seasons of Synergy tracking data."

So overall, the Jazz were not only some of the more frequent flyers when it comes to turning the ball over, but in doing so, they were the league's worst at stopping the ball in transition (and even recent NBA history). That's far from a recipe for success for any team.

Feb 8, 2025; Inglewood, California, USA; Utah Jazz guard Keyonte George (3) looses a ball against Los Angeles Clippers forward Derrick Jones Jr. (55) during the first quarter at Intuit Dome. Mandatory Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images | Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images

It's a young core the Jazz have been building, and a group without an extended amount of experience, including the guard position held down by notable youthful ball handlers like Keyonte George and Isaiah Collier–– the latter being a true standout playmaker during his first year in the fold.

With that in mind, though, the mistakes are bound to arise in the turnover margin for Utah as these young players, and especially guards, continue to find their place early in the league, a factor that was apparent on this Jazz offense last season.

Even in just the case of Collier, while he was a productive piece on the offensive end and held a ton of playmaking upside, he still led the team in turnovers (2.9) with only the seventh-most minutes (25.9) on the floor, proving that even the more impactful distributors on the roster have work to do.

Apr 6, 2025; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Utah Jazz guard Isaiah Collier (13) shoots against the Atlanta Hawks in the third quarter at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

While next season could very well have similar turnover woes for this budding Jazz rotation, as a younger team tends to have, with another summer of development and an additional year in Will Hardy's system, there's certainly an added layer of optimism on how this team's ball security can inevitably pan out.

Limiting those turnovers on a nightly basis is much easier said than done, but the quicker that the Jazz can do that, along with becoming more refined on the defensive end, the quicker we'll see Utah back into a contending window.

More Utah Jazz Content