The Utah Jazz NBA preseason schedule is fully underway. The Jazz had a strong start to last season but opted to tank rather than continue to fight for a playoff spot. Although the Jazz are amidst a rebuild, they opted to hang onto star Lauri Markkanen this offseason. Our 2024-25 NBA season betting preview will look at the Jazz over/under and see if taking their win total is worth your best NBA bet today.
2024-25 NBA Betting Preview: Utah Jazz Win Total Odds
*All Utah Jazz odds are courtesy of FanDuel.com*
Fighting in the West
All-Star F Lauri Markkanen to ESPN on his new deal to stay with the Utah Jazz pic.twitter.com/5ghCsyEfmk
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 7, 2024
For teams with the talent level of the Jazz, fighting in the Western Conference is a losing game. They competed hard at the start of last season and had a record above .500 in the middle of January. From that point, they plummeted in the standings. They lost 25 of their last 30 games, good for the 12th seed in the Western Conference. This finish put them at 31-51 on the season, going under their projected win total of 35.5.
Winning only 31 games is the lowest total for the Jazz organization since the 2013-14 season. Although the Jazz have been fighting for lottery picks since trading away Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell, they have often outperformed expectations. They obliterated their projected win total in the first year without Gobert and Mitchell, winning 37 games. They were projected for 23.5. This season, they are projected to win 27.5 games, their second-lowest projection of the decade.
Utah Jazz point guard Keyonte George is helped to locker room after sliding on his right foot after trying a crossover. #Mavs #MFFL #NBAPreseason pic.twitter.com/7Nue29lpZp
— Dorothy J. Gentry (@DorothyJGentry) October 11, 2024
Offseason Moves
The biggest offseason move for the Jazz was further showing their belief in Markkanen. Markkanen only played 55 games last season but averaged 23.2 points and 8.2 rebounds while shooting 39.9% from three. They rewarded his performance by refusing to trade him for draft picks and other young talent. Markkanen signed a five-year, $238-million contract extension this summer.
The deal is team-friendly and will potentially provide the Jazz with future trade flexibility. That being said, many wondered why the Jazz didn’t trade the Finnish big man while his value was at an all-time high.
The Jazz’s other notable offseason additions all came through the draft. They had two first-round draft picks, Cody Williams at 10th overall and Isaiah Collier at 29th overall. Patty Mills was signed to bring his veteran leadership and presence.
Isaiah Collier is leading the Utah Jazz in assists per game this preseason with 4.3 APG
Is he the best passer on the squad? pic.twitter.com/h9t9eP4MNX
— Jazz Lead (@JazzLead) October 14, 2024
Utah Jazz Odds
Bringing three rookies in the offseason (Kyle Filipowski as well) will not help the Jazz win games now. They are setting themselves up for the future and will not compete for a playoff position in the Western Conference this season. Signing Markkenen may end up hurting their chances at a proper tank job, as he is talented, improving, and ready to win now.
The Jazz’s projected win total line of 27.5 is interesting. They won 31 games last season and are running back essentially the same squad. What is different, however, is that this year, they probably won’t be competing for a playoff spot in the first half of the season.
The Jazz have gone over their projected win total in five of the last eight years. Young players like Keyonte George showed that the Jazz rebuild isn’t lacking hope, but winning 31 games with the youth in the driver’s seat will be hard in a competitive Western Conference.
