With a lot of uncertainty still surrounding the Utah Jazz, it’s difficult to place an estimate on their win total next season. Will Donovan Mitchell be back? Will the Jazz even try to win games? Will any of the young role players they got in the Rudy Gobert trade break out? Depending on the answer to that question, the Jazz could be a playoff team or be headed for the loaded NBA Draft lottery.
Utah Jazz: How many wins should fans expect from the team in 2022-23?
Draft Kings sportsbook places the Utah Jazz at 32.5 wins next season. Are Rudy Gobert and Royce O’Neale really worth 17 games? Those odds could change without any notice, so as soon as the Jazz make a move–if they ever do–the odds could shift depending on what the Vegas people think.
The much more interesting calculation is the one made by the fine folks at ESPN. They seem to think the Utah Jazz will only win 26 games next year. That’s where the sportsbooks have the Oklahoma City Thunder. Even without Mitchell, I think the Jazz will be better than that.
ESPN win projections list the Jazz with 26 wins this season. How exciting is that?
— David James (@DavidDJJames) August 10, 2022
The ESPN guestimate is very intriguing for me because ESPN is a news outlet. They have no money to make or gain based on how many people wager on the over or under from their number, so it stands to reason that 26 wins is a very unbiased number. That being said, if you can find a sportsbook that has the odds set in the twenties, I would jump right on that. As the Jazz currently sit, I think they could win 40 games.
With no trade for Mitchell in sight, I would place money on any casino that sets the win total around 37 games. The Jazz may even make moves to get even better, so I think ESPN’s stagnant number is rather hasty, as there is still a lot of uncertainty.