A dozen games do not define a season – but don't tell that to Utah Jazz fans. Through 12 games in the 2022-23 campaign, their team has messed around enough to now find themselves at the very top of the Western Conference standings. The team that looked the readiest to tank for Victor Wembanyama suddenly finds itself on the opposite end of the spectrum with the best record in the West.
#3 – The Jazz could actually be legit (maybe)
Everyone expected the Utah Jazz to be terrible. While they did lose their two All-Stars as well as their second-leading scorer in Bojan Bogdanovic, the roster that remained was far from a lineup filled with G Leaguers.
Collin Sexton was once seen as a potential franchise pillar for the Cavs. Lauri Markkanen has always flashed the talent to be a potent post scorer. Jarred Vanderbilt, Kelly Olynyk, and Malik Beasley have all played a part in winning rosters in the past.
Giving a handful of young, talented yet previously poorly situated players a clean slate on a new franchise all at once was like a petri dish experiment for the basketball scientist.
With veterans Jordan Clarkson and Mike Conley Jr. providing veteran stability as Jazz mainstays, the rest of the players have found a way to coexist for a common goal.
And boy, does it show with their play. The Jazz own an offensive rating of 115.7 thus far, good for third best in the NBA. The offense flows with players, who have hardly played with one another, empowering each other and playing unselfish basketball. Their 27.8 assists per game ranks 6th in the league.
Teams with a top 10 offense and defense:
Cavs
Suns
Raptors
Jazz pic.twitter.com/ujrRpPf9iA— StatMuse (@statmuse) November 8, 2022
The Jazz have wins over the Grizzlies, Clippers, Nuggets, and Pelicans, all teams expected to be fighting for the top spot in the West. That spot belongs to Utah right now and they at least deserve a chance to see how long they can hang with the big boys.
#2 – Not tanking doesn't mean they won't crash eventually
Jazz fans will want to ride this run of wins for as long as it lasts. But if their early season cushion disappears and they start slipping closer to the play-in side of standings, it might be the sign to then tinker with the roster.
This situation is exactly what the NBA hoped to happen after they flattened the lottery odds. With every top three team getting a 14 percent chance at best at landing game-changing prospects like Victor Wembanyama and the odds difference of going down a few picks not being as steep, it makes trying to win early only to change course in the middle of the season much more worthwhile of an option.
If the team does decide to sell midseason, the veterans on the roster may have perked up their value a little bit thanks to the early success. Clarkson, Beasley, Olynyk, and Conley Jr. all look capable of helping other playoff teams in exchange for a few draft assets here and there. That's when the team can go full youth movement, focusing on development in exchange for a few more Ls on the schedule.
In the past, tacking on nine wins this early in the season would be a death knell for chasing the coveted ping pong ball combinations. Now, not so much – and they might be able to bump of their team's trade valuation in the process.
#1 – Cultivating team culture is grossly underrated
On the subject of tanking, there are a couple of contrasting teams in the Eastern Conference from the past decade that the Jazz must learn from.
The first is the Philadelphia 76ers, who had their logo on the pamphlet for what tanking was all about. Led by tanking's patron saint and martyr Sam Hinkie, they got the results that they hoped for selecting in the top three in four consecutive seasons from 2014-2017.
Yes, they ended up with an MVP-caliber player in Joel Embiid. But one thing they never did establish was a strong team culture. They watched all of their top draft picks leave, with Ben Simmons being a very visible developmental failure in a locker room that never developed a true identity.
On the other hand, you have the Toronto Raptors and Miami Heat. Despite not having enough firepower to get over the LeBron James-sized hump in the East throughout the 2010s, neither team bottomed out entirely. Instead, their focus became on forging a team identity despite never selecting high enough in the draft to select elite talent.
The Raptors and Heat were able to attract and acquire the stars they needed to make the NBA Finals in 2019 and 2020, respectively. The Sixers have yet to make it past the second round.
Perhaps the most significant reason why the Jazz should stay on their current path while they can is that it fosters the exact environment that it takes to, well, win. Just listen to the interviews being given by their players like Lauri Markkanen on the team's mindset throughout the season and you'll hear a team banded together for a common goal.
“It definitely feeds us,” the Jazz forward said of discussions about tanking. “We hate to see that every morning when we win, we see that it’s a surprise. We use that as our motivation to try to keep this team going and stack up more wins and prove people wrong.”
Utah’s burgeoning star Lauri Markkanen sits down with @Stadium: “(Tanking chatter) definitely feeds us. We hate to see that every morning when we win, we see that it’s a surprise.” Also: Jazz-Cavs trade and similarities, All-Star goal, joyless finish with the Bulls, much more. pic.twitter.com/VHWzkiKF1x
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) November 8, 2022
Perennial losing takes the soul away from most locker rooms, with players learning to play for their own success rather than the team's bottom line.
It's early into their new era, and the vibes are immaculate in Utah right now.
There may be no guarantees that the wins continue to flow beyond the first 12-game sample size. If the wheels fall off eventually, Victor Wembanyama could still be on the table. But for now, Jazz fans have every reason to enjoy the ride.
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