Having entered a new era last season, the Jazz outperformed expectations for much of the year before slowing down in the backend. They unearthed a new star in Lauri Markkanen, found their post-Gobert defensive anchor in Walker Kessler, and blossomed under the tutelage of rookie head coach Will Hardy. In these previews, we will take a look at each team’s key acquisitions, fantasy stars, and projected finish.
Key Acquisitions
The Jazz continued their rebuild over the summer adding talent in a variety of ways including disgruntled Hawk John Collins, a trio of first round rookies – Central Florida’s Taylor Hendricks, Baylor’s Keyonte George, and Ohio State’s Brice Sensabaugh – and a pair of former first rounders looking to spread their wings in a new city in Romeo Langford and Josh Christopher.
After being involved in seemingly endless trade chatter, Collins will look to move on from an up-and-down stay in Atlanta and solidify himself in Utah’s frontcourt.
The 26-year-old is coming off a year in which he averaged 13.1 ppg and 6.5 rpg on 59.3 TS% but there will be optimism in Utah that he can recapture the form he showed the four seasons prior in which he put up 18.5 ppg and 8.7 rpg on 63.5 TS%.
Hendricks – the ninth pick in June’s draft – offers the Jazz a versatile defensive prospect with three-point shooting upside that provides a clear path towards becoming a meaningful NBA player.
George, meanwhile, who the Jazz drafted at No. 16, has already put up multiple double-digit outings in the preseason after impressing in Summer League and has enough offensive upside to thrive as a scoring guard.
Fantasy Stars
Markkanen (27th overall, 9th SF/9th PF) and Kessler (54th overall, 18th C) are the two Utahns most relevant in fantasy circles heading into the season.
Markkanen last season averaged 25.6 ppg and 8.6 rpg on 64.0 TS% en route to a Most Improved Player nod and maiden All-Star berth with the Finnish star revelling after being traded to Utah prior to the season.
Kessler, meanwhile, put up 9.2 ppg, 8.4 rpg, and 2.3 bpg on 70.2 TS% as a rookie with those numbers leaping to 11.9 ppg, 10.5 rpg, and 2.9 bpg when he was permanently elevated into the starting lineup in mid-January.
Projected Finish
The Jazz are a good team, but the ferocity of the Western Conference likely keeps them out of the playoff mix.
Markkanen last year was a genuine star, Kessler exhibited Defensive Player of the Year-level upside on one end and was ultra-efficient and played within himself on the other, Collins, Kelly Olynyk, Jordan Clarkson and Collin Sexton are useful NBA players and their crop of first- and second-year players is intriguing to say the least.
With Hardy having shown himself to be a difference-making coach a year ago, a play-in berth would hardly be surprising for the Jazz but deciding which team(s) they leap ahead of becomes tricky.
