Jazz Issued Bleak Record Prediction by ESPN for 2024-25 NBA Season

The Utah Jazz could find themselves struggling across this coming year.

Mar 27, 2024; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen (23) reacts to a play against the San Antonio Spurs during the fourth quarter at Delta Center. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-USA TODAY Sports / Rob Gray-USA TODAY Sports

The projections are looking a bit low when it comes to the Utah Jazz for this coming season.

After a summer that remained relatively conservative for the Jazz without many changes outside of the incoming newly drafted rookies, this group of young players on a rebuilding roster could see a bit of a drop in the standings for the 2024-25 campaign. Especially when placed inside an improving and already strong Western Conference, the road to putting wins on the board only begins to get tougher.

ESPN recently dropped their predictions for the Western Conference records across the 2024-25 NBA season, and the forecast didn't look too bright for the Jazz. Utah found themselves ranked one placement away from dead last at 14th, getting a projection of a 26-56 record. The only squad to be below them is the Portland Trail Blazers, who sits at 22-60.

The 26-56 projection leaves the Jazz with a bit of a steep drop-off from the final results of their 2023 season, in which their record turned out as 37-45. As this roster continues to get younger and prioritize development, their chances of putting together a team that's ready to win games now continues to dwindle.

While the Jazz didn't get significantly worse throughout this summer, the surrounding competition only got better. When factoring in the improving health of the Memphis Grizzlies, the improvements from the San Antonio Spurs & year two Victor Wembanyama jump, as well as the star-studded teams who already finished ahead of Utah last season, the chances at even just a Play-In berth is tough to see.

Even with the re-signing of All-Star Lauri Markkanen back into the fold for the foreseeable future, it may not help their case in wins and losses for the season ahead. There are still several holes to patch and development to be made on this roster before this team reaches competitive status, especially on the defense end. Until those get ironed out, a bottom three placement in the conference may be in order.

Thankfully for the Jazz, this season could be the prime opportunity to position themselves well enough for top talent in the draft, as opposed to their fringe top-ten positions across the past two summers. Considering the prestige of the incoming 2025 class, this could be the season to see Utah bottom out to secure its next franchise cornerstone.

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