NBA's Biggest Surprise: The Utah Jazz

The Utah Jazz are undeniably the biggest surprise of the early NBA season. As of Tuesday, the Jazz are 1st in the Western Conference with a 9-3 record that nobody saw coming. They rank second in the league in scoring, averaging an absurd 118.3 PPG. The Jazz are the 3rd ranked offense and 8th ranked defense which puts them in rare territory as one of four teams (Raptors, Cavs, Suns)

to rank in the top 10 in each category. The Jazz also rank 3rd in 3PM and 6th in APG which may tell part of the story. They are moving the ball well, playing unselfishly, and knocking down open shots.

Among the standouts for the Jazz this season, is Lauri Markkanen, a 6th year player out of Arizona who is coming off a great summer in EuroBasket representing Finland. He is among the league's MVP candidates to start the season, averaging 21.9 PPG, 8.8 RPG, 2.7 APG on 52.9 FG%. Behind Markkanen are 5 other players averaging double-digits including one of the other players acquired in the offseason from Cleveland, Collin Sexton. Sexton is coming off a torn meniscus that kept him out most of last season, which led to the decision to ease him back by bringing him off the bench. In 22.7 MPG off the bench, Sexton is putting up 14.7 PPG on 47.5% shooting and 38.1% from 3-point range.

How sustainable is Utah's early season success? Well, it seems unlikely that they will shoot over 37% from 3 all year. Defensively, they are giving up just 32.6% from 3 (last year's team gave up 35%) so at some point they are going to run into opponents who will knock it down from range. But if they continue to pass the ball at a top 10 rate, they have enough depth and scoring (Mike Conley, Collin Sexton, Jordan Clarkson, Lauri Markkanen , Malik Beasley, Kelly Olynyk) to keep teams on their heels.

Unfortunately for Jazz fans, their team picked a bad year to have a surprise season. The 2023 draft is so strong at the top with Victor Wembanyama and Scoot Henderson, that the NBA has preemptively looked into sanctions for teams that might be trying to tank this season. With the Houston Rockets and Orlando Magic already 6.5 games behind the Jazz at 2-9 and a long list of other teams at the bottom of the standings, it seems unlikely that the Jazz will have a realistic shot at Victor. So might as well ride it out and see if the Lauri Markkanen-led Jazz can make some noise.