Ceiling, floor for Utah Jazz: A competitive rebuild
The arrow is pointing up in Utah as the Jazz appear ahead of the curve in their rebuild after the Donovan Mitchell-Rudy Gobert era.
Ceiling: 42-40 and a ticket to the play-in tournament
One offseason removed from parting with two franchise cornerstones in Mitchell and Gobert, the Jazz retained the majority of their core this summer. Former NBA Sixth Man of the Year Jordan Clarkson signed a three-year contract extension, coming off a career-best 20.8 PPG campaign.
Collin Sexton, who battled injuries late last season, will be given an opportunity to claim primary ball-handling duties now that Mike Conley is in Minnesota. Sexton is one of four Jazz players with a 20-plus PPG season under his belt since 2019-20, joining Clarkson, reigning Most Improved Player of the Year Lauri Markkanen and prized offseason acquisition John Collins.
Collins said his growth was being stunted in Atlanta — a fair assessment for a player who posted a 21.6-10.1 line and shot 40.1% from three in 2019-20. Only 26, Collins has the opportunity to blossom into a top-12 power forward while playing alongside Markkanen and seven-footer Walker Kessler.
Utah could easily creep into play-in contention, but it still remains a few years away from making a legitimate push in the Western Conference.
Floor: 38-44, better but not good enough
While Sexton has proven capable of putting up numbers, he has yet to showcase an ability to be more than a score-first point guard. His career assists average (3.2) pales in comparison to his career scoring average (19).
Rookie Keyonte George could eventually push Sexton off the ball, but there will be a trial-and-error period to begin the season. In the meantime, the offensively inept Talen Horton-Tucker is penciled in as the team's starting two-guard. Horton-Tucker shot just 28.6% from three last season and adds little to nothing beyond the arc for a team that finished in the bottom-11 of team three-point percentage (35.3).
Utah is still a player or two away, but it is trending in the right direction. Markkanen is on the brink of stardom and Sexton and Collins present All-Star upside. The Jazz will be competitive throughout the season, but they could still find themselves on the outside looking in at the play-in tournament.
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