We are less than a month away from teams reporting to training camps around the NBA, and the official first sign that the new season is almost upon us is the annual release of the latest installment of the NBA 2K franchise, NBA 2K24.
While fans of the game will be concerned mostly with the gameplay changes and updated game modes, general NBA fans are always interested in seeing how the ratings folks at 2K grade out all of the players and teams in the league. Player ratings always spark debate, particularly among how they rank top stars and regarding players whose impact often isn’t fully felt in the box score — or, vice versa, those who put up big stats but might not always contribute to winning basketball. As far as team ratings, 2K has moved away from dramatic differences between top and bottom teams, as the lowest rated team in this year’s edition is an 86 OVR and they don’t even show team ratings in the game setup screen (you can find them in MySeason mode when picking through teams to start a franchise with).
After a surprising 2022-23 season in which they were nearly a Play-In team in the West, the Utah Jazz are once again not expected to be a playoff squad this year, but enter the season with more optimism about their long-term prospects. Lauri Markkanen emerged as a star a year ago and boasts their top 2K rating, while Walker Kessler had a tremendous rookie year as their new rim protector. They added John Collins in a buy-low trade this summer, and while there’s some fascination with how all the pieces will fit, the frontcourt has plenty of talent. The question for Utah is in the backcourt, where Jordan Clarkson has become a steady scoring presence but they lack a seasoned point guard. They’ll look to evaluate Collin Sexton and the rest of their backcourt options this season, before likely making some more roster changes next year to further push their rebuild along.
Utah Jazz: 88 OVR, 92 OFF, 83 DEF
Lauri Markkanen: 86
Walker Kessler: 83
Collin Sexton: 80
Jordan Clarkson: 80
John Collins: 80
Talen Horton-Tucker: 78
Kelly Olynyk: 78
Ochai Agbaji: 76
Kris Dunn: 74
Omer Yurtseven: 74
Taylor Hendricks: 73
Keyonte George: 72
Simone Fontecchio: 72
Brice Sensabaugh: 71
Luka Samanic: 70
Johnny Juzang: 68
Micah Potter: 67
