If we were to tell you in January that you'd be watching one of the worst seasons in Utah Jazz history play out, would you believe us? The Jazz were doing pretty good in January, having a winning record as late as Jan. 27, 2024. The Jazz management decided that wasn't good enough, however, and blew up the team, putting it on a collision course with history.
The Jazz have had the worst record in the NBA since the trade deadline, and have gone just 3-18 in that stretch. Now, the Jazz has gone from a potential playoff team to one that is about to set new records in futility.
The Jazz are fortunately a franchise with few terrible years to its name, with only 16 losing seasons in 50 years. That's incredible. This year, however, is going to add to the worst of the worst. Right now the Jazz have a winning percentage of .397, which puts it currently at 11th all-time, one spot below the 2022-2023 season.
Last season's squad won 37 games. This season's squad has won just 29, and is entering arguably the hardest stretch of games the squad will have faced all season. This is not a good time of the year for the Jazz to try and break up a slump, and considering the next nine games are likely to be all losses unless the Jazz can have a miracle one or two, then the Jazz will likely finish the season with just 29 wins.
Should the current seven-game losing streak turn into a 16-game losing streak, the Jazz will finish with a record of 29-53, which would put this season at eight all-time worst records in franchise history. This isn't what fans expected when they came into the season, and the fact that we're looking at a Top 10 worse season in franchise history because of two trades is extremely troubling.