Jazz Are One of Seven Teams With an Opening Win Total Greater Than 50; Do They Belong in This Group?

• The Utah Jazz are one of seven teams with a regular season win total of 50 or more.
• The Jazz won 50 games last season.
• The Northwest Division figures to be easier next year as the Oklahoma City Thunder have moved to rebuild.

The 2019-20 NBA win totals have been released. One of the early surprises is how many teams are listed in the 50’s as there are seven of them in total. After having a positive offseason, the Utah Jazz are one of them, but is that number too high? Let’s take a look and see what the best bet is with this team.

2020 NBA Regular Season Win Totals

*Odds taken 07/15/19. For a full list of NBA team win totals, click the link in the table.

Jazz Enjoy Positive Offseason

The Jazz were one of the winners of the offseason as they rounded out their roster with plenty of talent. They started with the acquisition of point guard Mike Conley Jr., who gives the team a Big Three with Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell. That was just the beginning, though.

The Jazz then added Bojan Bogdanovic, Ed Davis and Jeff Green, which gives them three-point shooting, rebounding and a versatile bench player. Meanwhile, they lost Derrick Favors, Kyle Korver and Ricky Rubio, but if you look closely, they upgraded over all of those losses.

The Jazz were a playoff team last season, so adding Conley alone makes them a title contender. They did much more than that, though, so you have to give them high marks. This is now a championship contender.

Jazz Were a 50-Win Team

Remember that the Jazz won 50 games last season, so the oddsmakers are not asking for a huge increase in the 2019-20 season. This is a team that has Gobert, a two-time Defensive Player of the Year, Joe Ingles, who is a career 40% three-point shooter and Mitchell, who is already near All-Star quality.

Now you add Conley, an intelligent point guard that can shoot, Bogdanovic, a career 39% three-point shooter, Davis, an underrated rebounder, and Green, who can play multiple positions, and the Jazz look like they’re in great shape.

Don’t forget that they also added Emmanuel Mudiay, who’ll serve as a backup point guard, and should get more out of Dante Exum, who is still just 24 years old but has battled injuries the last two years. This roster is loaded, versatile, has shooting and they play great defense. That’s why they’re a contender.

Is the West Better?

One of the reasons people are betting the under with the Jazz is the thinking that the West is tougher. It probably is but not by as much as most people think. Houston, Portland and Denver should all be about the same (each won at least 53 games). Golden State should fall back while the Los Angeles Lakers will shoot up.

The Los Angeles Clippers will improve but not a ton (in terms of wins); remember, they won 48 games last year. I’m expecting a 5-10 win jump. It’s not as if they were terrible. But while they’re up, Oklahoma City – who was a 49-win team – is now one of the worst in the league.

The West is tough but it was tough last year with all eight playoff teams winning 48 games. The Jazz still won 50 games, so 53 isn’t a reach.

Bet the Over

The over looks good with the Jazz as they won 50 games last year, had what was arguably their best offseason in franchise history and will face a weaker division in 2019-20. Sure, Portland and Denver are still strong in the Northwest, but Minnesota is bad and Oklahoma City is even worse.

Given their coaching, defense and team chemistry, the Jazz should get over the number. Conley is a big addition and I’m expecting Mitchell to take another step this year. This is a quality team in the West, so bet over.

The Pick: Over 52.5 win (-115)