The J-Notes
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Utah Jazz are one of the Association’s elite teams in NBA 2K20

By Ryan Aston

SALT LAKE CITY, UT - FEBRUARY 2: Rudy Gobert #27, and Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Utah Jazz hug during the game against the Houston Rockets on February 2, 2019 at Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah. Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Chris Elise/NBAE via Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, UT - FEBRUARY 2: Rudy Gobert #27, and Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Utah Jazz hug during the game against the Houston Rockets on February 2, 2019 at Vivint Smart Home Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah. Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Chris Elise/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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If you put any kind of stock in NBA 2K20 ratings, the Utah Jazz have been confirmed as legit title contenders next season.

After the insanity that was the first few weeks of the NBA offseason, the Utah Jazz had gone from possible favorites in the Western Conference to a team that could be battling for position in the middle of the bracket again next season. Hope remains that they can challenge for a title with Mike Conley and Bojan Bogdanovic joining the fold, but Kawhi Leonard and Paul George joining the LA Clippers and Russell Westbrook reuniting with James Harden in Houston has sure muddied the waters.

Still, the Jazz are unquestionably a vastly improved squad on paper –particularly on the offensive end — and, if you put any stock in NBA 2K20 ratings, the big moves around the conference did little to knock them out of the title picture.

With 2K20 set to drop worldwide for all platforms on September 6, individual player and team ratings are out en masse and, as one might expect, they’ve been a hot topic around the hoops blogosphere this week.

If you’re one of the Jazzland diehards, you’re probably feeling pretty good about the ratings — the Jazz have the third-highest average rating of any team in the Association.

The aforementioned Clips came in at the top with an average rating of 78.69. Hot on their heels are the LA Lakers at 78.27, followed by the Jazz at 78.17. The Denver Nuggets (78.08) and the Golden State Warriors (77.71) round out the top five.

Really, this placement should come as no surprise given the fact that the Jazz have three players in the high 80s with Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert at 88, followed by Mike Conley at 87. Make no mistake about it, the Jazz have a star trio and it’s nice to see the ratings team at 2K recognize that.

The role players came in pretty well, too. In looking at the individual player ratings for the remainder of the roster, it’s really hard to find fault in the Jazz’s ratings, which look pretty friendly on the whole. The lone bugbear in the bunch is probably the 73 awarded to Royce O’Neale.

Next. Utah Jazz podcast: Summer, schedule and the Ex-man. dark

If I had to put money on it, I’d bet O’Neale bumps that one up several notches by mid-season.

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