Jul 14, 2025; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Utah Jazz guard Isaiah Collier (8) drives the ball against San Antonio Spurs forward David Jones-Garcia (25) during the first half of a NBA basketball game at the Thomas & Mack Center. Mandatory Credit: Lucas Peltier-Imagn Images Lucas Peltier-Imagn Images

Only One Team Ranks Lower Than Utah Jazz in NBA Power Rankings

Originally posted on Utah Jazz on SI | By Jared Koch | Last updated Aug 9, 2025 7:07 PM ET

The NBA season still sits over two months away from going down, but that hasn't stopped a few early power rankings from surfacing across some notable outlets projecting how the landscape of next campaign could go.

And for the Utah Jazz, the expectations in terms of wins and losses next year aren't too glamorous, but in Bleacher Report's newest NBA power rankings from Andy Bailey, they were fortunate enough to land just a tad higher than the worst projected team in the league.

In Bailey's rankings, the Jazz found themselves at 29, which places just one team sitting in the pit below them: the Brooklyn Nets.

"The Utah Jazz's years-long teardown continued this offseason, when they traded John Collins and Collin Sexton and released Jordan Clarkson," Bailey wrote. "Last season, they were a dismal minus-12.2 points per 100 possessions when all three were on the floor. Even with Lauri Markkanen seemingly healthy and on track to play more in 2025-26, the young core responsible for that number is going to play a ton of minutes. A Markkanen trade would fit the trend of the last few years and make the team even worse."

"And at this point, that's fine. Utah still doesn't have a surefire future star on the roster (although Ace Bailey was the No. 2 prospect in his high school class), so another shot at the draft lottery should be what it's after."

For the Nets, it's far from the ideal title to be crowned with as the 30th-ranked team in the league, especially two months before the regular season's even started. But on the other hand, baby steps forward for Utah.

Across the past year, the Jazz have seen their fair share of bottom-tier placements in multiple power rankings, but a summer where the front office made notable strides in the right direction, the consensus might not be quite as bleak.

Sure, the Jazz will be much younger this year, and won't have many of the veterans on the roster from last year, but neither Jordan Clarkson or John Collins wound up playing much anyways. The youth movement appears primed to take some steps forward with an offseason of development, which pairs along with a draft that added two big names for the future in Ace Bailey and Walter Clayton Jr.

In an uber-talented Western Conference, don't be shocked to see the Jazz as the bottom of the barrel once again, but compared to last season, more than 17 wins could certainly be in play as well.