The Utah Jazz are not having a good season. The team is just 7-13 and have seen several major names struggle to make an impact. The team is a poorly assembled collection of skilled players who all need the ball in their hands to make an impact. The defense is next to non-existent and they remain one of the least effeceint offenses in the league, mostly due to the shot selection of Jordan Clarkson, Talen Horton-Tucker and Keyonte George.
They aren't a good team, at least not yet, and that's being reflected in ESPN's most recent power ranking. In this week's ranking, the Jazz stays steady as the 23rd-best team in the league, a spot they held the week prior. And with the Dallas Mavericks and Oklahoma City Thunder making up two of the team's next three games, it's very likely that the team stumbles even further down the list.
The Power Ranking's write-up does feature a blurb about the pending return of Lauri Markkanen, and how the Jazz has gone 3-2 since his injury but what the article doesn't mention is that during that same five-game spell, Clarkson has largely been absent from the action.
Clarkson has missed three games and in those three games, the Jazz are 2-1 and are just giving up 104.7 points per game on defense; which is which is 1.2 points less than what that league's top defensive scoring team, the Minnesota Timberwolves, is averaging for the season. The T-Wovles are the top dogs in the NBA with the fewest amount of points given up, so to be able to surpass them, granted in a three-game stretch, should show you just how much Clarkson holds the team back.
The Jazz are better without Clarkson and the last five games prove that, and assuming Jazz head coach Will Hardy is seeing this as well, the Jazz may be able to move up in the Power Rankings list over the coming weeks.