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NBA Betting Preview 2024-25: Utah Jazz to Win Overall Odds

NBA Betting Preview 2024-25: Utah Jazz to Win Overall Odds

The Utah Jazz NBA preseason schedule is in full swing. The Jazz had a strong start to last season but chose to tank rather than continue fighting for a playoff spot. Despite being in the midst of a rebuild, the Jazz have decided to hold on to star Lauri Markkanen this offseason. In our 2024-25 NBA season betting preview, we’ll look at the Jazz’s over/under and see if the win total is worth betting on for your best NBA bet today.

NBA Betting Preview 2024-25: Utah Jazz to Win Overall Odds

*All Utah Jazz odds courtesy of FanDuel.com*

Fighting in the West

For teams with the Jazz’s talent level, the battle in the Western Conference is a losing game. They competed hard at the start of last season and had a record over .500 by mid-January. From that point on they plummeted in the standings. They have lost 25 of their last 30 games, good for 12th place in the Western Conference. That result put them at 31-51 on the season, below their projected win total of 35.5.

Winning just 31 games is the lowest record for the Jazz organization since the 2013-14 season. Although the Jazz have struggled for lottery picks since trading away Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell, they have often exceeded expectations. In the first year without Gobert and Mitchell, they wiped out their projected win total, winning 37 games. They were projected for 23.5. They are projected to win 27.5 games this season, the second-lowest projection of the decade.

Offseason moves

The biggest offseason change for the Jazz was continuing to show their belief in Markkanen. Markkanen played in just 55 games last season but averaged 23.2 points and 8.2 rebounds while shooting 39.9% from three. They rewarded his performance by refusing to trade him for draft picks and other young talent. Markkanen signed a five-year contract extension worth $238 million this summer.

The deal is team-friendly and will potentially provide the Jazz with future trade flexibility. However, many wondered why the Jazz didn’t trade the Finnish big man when his value was at an all-time high.

The Jazz’s other notable offseason additions all came through the draft. They had two first-round draft picks: Cody Williams at 10th overall and Isaiah Collier at 29th overall. Patty Mills was brought in to bring his experienced leadership and presence.

Utah Jazz odds

Bringing in three rookies in the offseason (including Kyle Filipowski) isn’t going to help the Jazz win games now. They are preparing for the future and will not be fighting for a playoff spot in the Western Conference this season. Signing Markkenen could hurt their chances of getting a real tank job as he is talented, improving and now ready to win.

What’s interesting is the Jazz’s projected overall win line of 27.5. They won 31 games last season and have essentially the same squad. The difference, however, is that they likely won’t be competing for a playoff spot in the first half of the season this year.

The Jazz have exceeded their projected win total in five of the last eight years. Young players like Keyonte George have shown that the Jazz’s rebuild is not lacking in hope, but winning 31 games with youth at the helm will be difficult in a highly competitive Western Conference.