Utah Jazz 2022/2023 Season Preview

A 49-33 record last season was again marred by a disappointing Playoff exit for Utah, who have decided to go in a drastically different direction as they approach their new campaign.

Nearly everything has changed in the past few months in Salt Lake City as the Jazz embark on a rebuild. They traded Rudy Gobert to the Timberwolves for a king’s ransom and swung a deal to send Donovan Mitchell to Cleveland for even more assets. They have also already moved Bogdanovich and Royce O’Neal as the youth movement is well and truly underway heading into the season. The front office even chose to go in a new direction on the sideline with Head Coach Will Hardy accepting his first chance at the top job at just 34 years of age.

That’s not to say there isn’t established talent on their roster, however. Lauri Markkanen, Collin Sexton, Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt all remain with the team at this point, though that may change as the season progresses.

New Utah Jazz Head Coach Will Hardy (pictured) will be tasked with starting a new era for the franchise. Credit: The Salt Lake Tribune

Predicting the results for a team who has experienced this much roster turnover in a short space of time is difficult to say the least. The fact the team is assumed to be further exploring trade options for currently rostered veterans adds even more uncertainty around what the ceiling and floor for the Jazz looks like heading into the season.

There is still established talent on this Utah Jazz roster heading into the season. Vanderbilt, Conley, Markkanen, Olynyk and Beasley all provide enough experience to potentially hold the team together to win games against low-ranked opposition. The odds of any of those players being traded for further assets potentially off-sets this benefit however, and I’d expect the Jazz to look to give significant opportunities to Talen Horton-Tucker, Walker Kessler, Collin Sexton and other young players as they enter a rebuild.

Ceiling: 12th seed

Floor: 14th seed