Anything short of the play-in tournament for the Utah Jazz would be a failure

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Anything short of the play-in tournament for the Utah Jazz would be a failure

Utah Jazz forward Lauri Markkanen is guarded by Breakers' Izayah Le' Afa as the Utah Jazz and the New Zealand Breakers play at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Monday, Oct. 16, 2023. The Jazz All-Star anchors a 2023-24 Jazz squad that should be stronger and more competitive this season. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

Sarah Todd · Deseret News

Tue, Oct 24, 2023 ·

7 min read

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Last year, the Utah Jazz , who were widely expected to be one of the worst teams in the league and were not scheduled to play a single game on national television, shocked the NBA world by becoming the first team in the league to have 10 wins in the 2022-23 season.

It was their best start to a season in 16 years.

"The doubt," Collin Sexton said when asked what had propelled the team to such a shocking start. "People doubting that we would be good and people thinking that we're gonna tank and stuff like that. I felt like that gave us some type of motivation."

Jazz coach Will Hardy was looking like a mastermind. Following a summer of huge trades and roster turnover, he got the newly put together team to play fast and play for each other, leading to a breakout season for Lauri Markkanen and rookie Walker Kessler .

But eventually, the Jazz front office would pin one of Hardy's hands behind his back. The team made even more moves that took away some of the things that made the Jazz click early — Mike Conley was central to everything — and then the team became ultracautious with anything resembling an injury.

Jordan Clarkson missed 19 of the Jazz's final 20 games of the season, Markkanen missed nine of the final 12 games, Sexton played in just 48 games and even Kessler was watching from the sidelines in the final four games of the year.

Though the Jazz started hot, the team fizzled a bit and then went 9-2 at the end of the season. In total, they won 37 games and finished 12th in the Western Conference.

As the team prepares to open up the 2023-24 campaign Wednesday night, many will be wondering what a successful season for the Jazz will look like.

"We're trying to win every night," Hardy said. "Whether that results in us making the playoffs, the play-in, so on and so forth, well, we'll find out. We've got to remain healthy and we've got to have some guys play well and I need to coach better. … But there isn't a line that we've set to say like this would be a success this year and anything short of that would be a failure."

Hardy might not set the line or make a declaration on what would make this team successful, but I will.

The Utah Jazz should make the playoffs. At the very least, they should be in the play-in tournament.

If 37 wins was possible with Rudy Gay and Jarred Vanderbilt and Udoka Azubuike while Markkanen and Clarkson were watching in street clothes, then this year's team, if healthy — with the continued success of the returning players and the addition of John Collins , Kris Dunn and Keyonte George — should be able to cobble together a handful of wins that would push them into a playoff berth.

And while Hardy isn't saying that into a microphone, the players on his team certainly are.

It was doubt and disbelief that motivated his team last year. This year, it's playing beyond the regular season that has them ready to fight.

"The motivation is the playoffs, the motivation is win more games," Sexton said. "Closing the games out a lot better, doing it day-by-day, stacking wins and continuing to push."

While every team that wasn't a championship contender had a 7-foot-4, French reason to lose games last season, they don't have the same carrot to chase down to the bottom of the standings this season.

So, barring any serious injuries or setbacks, there's no reason for the Jazz to be less than a playoff team. The Oklahoma City Thunder won 40 games and were the 10th seed in the play-in tournament and the Los Angeles Lakers only needed 43 wins for the seventh seed.

I find it hard to believe that inserting Markkanen and Clarkson back into the lineup at the end of the year wouldn't have netted the Jazz another five wins at least. Adding to that, I think this team is better than the post-trade deadline Jazz of last season, and so do the players — even the ones that have yet to play in a regular-season game with the Jazz.

"At least a playoff berth for us would show that we're progressing and going in the right direction," Collins said. "I want that Larry O'Brien Trophy at the end of the day, that's what I'm here for, that's what I'm playing this game for. … But right now I'd say for us, improving, getting to the playoffs and getting some experience would be good."

That's not to say any of this will be easy.

Markkanen, who has zero playoff experience, is going to be paid a lot more attention by the best defenders in the league. Kessler is going to have to improve on an impressive rookie season. George is going to have to learn a lot in a short amount of time. Collins is going to have to acclimate to this team and prove that he isn't the declining player the Atlanta Hawks believed him to be.

The Jazz went all-in with Danny Ainge. Will he deliver the goods?

"That's the goal, that's what we're trying to work towards," Markkanen said. "I still haven't made the playoffs. So, I'm looking forward to getting on that stage and really experiencing that. That's the one motivator for all of us."

Dunn, who has quickly become one of the most sage and trusted voices in the locker room, believes the Jazz are a playoff team so long as they continue to buy into what Hardy is selling, play together and put in the work.

"It's not gonna be easy," Dunn said. "As you can see, a lot of teams out there are making moves. But if you just look at the FIBA games, the teams that play together, they win. So I think if we play together, play hard, anything's possible. We've just got to have that mentality."

The oddsmakers have set the Jazz's projected win total for the 2023-24 season at 35.5. That's less than last season, which I just can't wrap my head around. This team should absolutely be able to win 40 games. Falling short of last year's win total would be almost laughable.

And if my math isn't convincing enough, maybe Kelly Olynyk 's will be.

"Yeah, for sure," Olynyk said when I asked if the Jazz were a playoff team. "I think we have a good mix, we have a lot of competitive guys, and the playoffs (and play-in) is 10 teams or whatever. So, if we can't make it there (pause for an indignant laugh) then we've got some work to do."

I'll go one step further. If the Jazz can't make it there, the 2023-24 season was a failure.

Utah Jazz general manager Justin Zanik, left, and head coach Will Hardy speak at a press conference at the Zions Bank Basketball Campus in Salt Lake City on Friday, Sept. 29, 2023. | Megan Nielsen, Deseret News

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