After The Timeout · NBA 2026-27 guide

Western Conference · tip-off October 20

Utah Jazz

Our win estimate next to the market's, the last three seasons, who came and went, and the rotation we expect.

Our estimate

25 wins

Median of 20,000 simulated seasons. Middle 80%: 20 to 31 wins.

The market

39.9 wins

Where the Kalshi yes price for "wins or more" crosses 50%.

Last season

22-60

2025-26 · net rating -8.0 (27th in the NBA)

Our estimate is 14.0 wins below the market.

Treat the gap as a flag, not a verdict. In backtests on 2024-25 and 2025-26 (60 team-seasons) this kind of estimate missed a team's win total by 8.3 wins on average. Last season's wins pulled toward 41 missed by 9.0. Ratings built from games alone said 31 wins for this team.

Two ways to count wins

Our range against the market

The blue bar is the middle 80% of our simulated seasons. The orange line is the market's win total.

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 39.9 market wins in an 82-game season
Our median 25, middle 80%: 20 to 31 Market 39.9

Where we think they finish in the West

Top 6: 0.0% Play-in, 7th to 10th: 0.7% Outside the top 10: 99%
Market prices by strikeKalshi, captured Oct 19, 4:38 pm UTC
Wins or moreBidAskMidOur odds
1095¢ 100¢ 98¢ 100%
1595¢ 100¢ 98¢ 100%
2094¢ 100¢ 97¢ 93%
2593¢ 98¢ 96¢ 58%
3087¢ 88¢ 88¢ 15%
3569¢ 71¢ 70¢ 1%
4049¢ 50¢ 50¢ 0%
4536¢ 38¢ 37¢ 0%
5017¢ 19¢ 18¢ 0%
558¢ 14¢ 11¢ 0%
600¢ 10¢ n/a 0%

A strike with no bid is treated as unpriced. The market win total is a straight line between the two strikes that straddle 50%.

What the scoreboard said

The last three regular seasons

Ratings are points per 100 possessions. Possessions are estimated from box scores, so treat them as close, not exact. Ranks are out of 30.

2025-26 · 22-60 (26th in wins)

Points per game
117.69th
Allowed per game
126.030th
Offensive rating
111.921st
Defensive rating
119.929th
Net rating
-8.027th

2024-25 · 17-65 (30th in wins)

Points per game
111.921st
Allowed per game
121.230th
Offensive rating
108.924th
Defensive rating
118.030th
Net rating
-9.127th

2023-24 · 31-51 (23rd in wins)

Points per game
115.711th
Allowed per game
120.529th
Offensive rating
113.218th
Defensive rating
118.029th
Net rating
-4.823rd

Our preseason ratings

Offense
+0.659th
Defense
+4.7230th
Net, games only
-4.0726th
Roster value
-4.92

Offense, defense and net are points per game against an average team, fitted on every completed game before tip-off (defense: lower is better). Roster value is the on-court net per 48 minutes of the players on the roster list, weighted by minutes.

Who came and who left

Offseason moves

Built from the DraftKings roster list and 2025-26 box scores. Players who left had at least 500 regular-season minutes here last season.

In (7)

  • Josh Okogiefrom HOU
    17.4 min, 4.5 pts a game
  • Jaxson Hayesfrom LAL
    18.3 min, 7.5 pts a game
  • Josh Greenfrom CHA
    15.7 min, 4.3 pts a game
  • Tony Bradleyfrom ATL
    11.3 min, 4.0 pts a game
  • Trey Alexanderfrom NO
    12.3 min, 5.2 pts a game
2 moredepth and rookies
  • Harrison Ingramfrom SA
    3.7 min, 1.6 pts a game
  • Darryn PetersonRookie / newNo NBA box score on file

Out (5)

  • Cody Williamsnow with MIN
    24.3 min, 8.8 pts a game
  • Walter Clayton Jr.now with MEM
    18.0 min, 6.8 pts a game
  • John Koncharnot on a 2026-27 roster we can see
    26.1 min, 5.9 pts a game
  • Kevin Lovenot on a 2026-27 roster we can see
    16.5 min, 6.7 pts a game
  • Elijah Harklessnow with DET
    21.0 min, 6.8 pts a game

The rotation we expect

Top eight by projected minutes

Minutes come from our DFS minutes projection and are not scaled to a 240-minute game. Open a player for three seasons of per-game lines and shooting.

Ace Bailey F · age 20 · 31.0 projected min 2025-26: 72 g, 13.8 pts, 4.2 reb, 1.8 ast

2025-26 · UTAH

72games
27.6min
13.8pts
4.2reb
FG44.3%395/892
3P34.4%137/398
FT75.0%66/88

1.8 assists a game

2024-25

No regular-season games on file.

2023-24

No regular-season games on file.

Lauri Markkanen F · age 29 · 29.7 projected min 2025-26: 42 g, 26.7 pts, 6.9 reb, 2.1 ast

2025-26 · UTAH

42games
34.4min
26.7pts
6.9reb
FG47.7%384/805
3P35.5%115/324
FT89.6%240/268

2.1 assists a game

2024-25 · UTAH

47games
31.4min
19.0pts
5.9reb
FG42.3%296/700
3P34.6%138/399
FT87.6%162/185

1.5 assists a game

2023-24 · UTAH

55games
33.1min
23.2pts
8.2reb
FG48.0%427/890
3P39.9%175/439
FT89.9%249/277

2.0 assists a game

Jaren Jackson Jr. F · age 27 · 28.8 projected min 2025-26: 48 g, 19.4 pts, 5.7 reb, 2.0 ast

2025-26 · MEM/UTAH

48games
30.3min
19.4pts
5.7reb
FG47.6%342/719
3P35.7%84/235
FT80.3%163/203

2.0 assists a game

2024-25 · MEM

74games
29.8min
22.2pts
5.6reb
FG48.8%592/1213
3P37.5%146/389
FT78.1%311/398

2.0 assists a game

2023-24 · MEM

66games
32.2min
22.5pts
5.5reb
FG44.4%516/1161
3P32.0%117/366
FT80.8%337/417

2.3 assists a game

Brice Sensabaugh F · age 22 · 27.9 projected min 2025-26: 74 g, 15.1 pts, 3.1 reb, 1.9 ast

2025-26 · UTAH

74games
23.8min
15.1pts
3.1reb
FG46.0%394/857
3P36.7%162/442
FT82.6%166/201

1.9 assists a game

2024-25 · UTAH

71games
20.2min
10.9pts
3.0reb
FG45.9%275/599
3P42.2%157/372
FT89.0%65/73

1.5 assists a game

2023-24 · UTAH

32games
18.2min
7.5pts
3.2reb
FG39.0%85/218
3P29.6%34/115
FT90.2%37/41

1.7 assists a game

Jusuf Nurkic C · age 32 · 27.9 projected min 2025-26: 41 g, 10.9 pts, 10.4 reb, 4.8 ast

2025-26 · UTAH

41games
26.4min
10.9pts
10.4reb
FG50.3%180/358
3P35.2%25/71
FT54.9%62/113

4.8 assists a game

2024-25 · CHA/PHX

51games
20.8min
8.9pts
7.8reb
FG47.7%168/352
3P30.5%32/105
FT66.4%85/128

2.3 assists a game

2023-24 · PHX

76games
27.3min
10.9pts
11.0reb
FG51.0%320/627
3P24.4%22/90
FT64.0%167/261

4.0 assists a game

Keyonte George G · age 22 · 27.3 projected min 2025-26: 54 g, 23.6 pts, 3.7 reb, 6.1 ast

2025-26 · UTAH

54games
33.1min
23.6pts
3.7reb
FG45.6%402/881
3P37.1%134/361
FT89.2%337/378

6.1 assists a game

2024-25 · UTAH

67games
31.4min
16.8pts
3.8reb
FG39.1%359/919
3P34.3%174/507
FT81.8%233/285

5.6 assists a game

2023-24 · UTAH

75games
27.0min
13.0pts
2.8reb
FG39.1%319/815
3P33.4%147/440
FT84.8%189/223

4.4 assists a game

Isaiah Collier G · age 22 · 27.3 projected min 2025-26: 59 g, 11.7 pts, 2.5 reb, 7.2 ast

2025-26 · UTAH

59games
25.7min
11.7pts
2.5reb
FG49.5%255/515
3P27.0%27/100
FT72.2%151/209

7.2 assists a game

2024-25 · UTAH

71games
25.9min
8.7pts
3.3reb
FG42.2%234/555
3P24.9%42/169
FT68.2%105/154

6.3 assists a game

2023-24

No regular-season games on file.

Kyle Filipowski F · age 22 · 27.0 projected min 2025-26: 77 g, 11.4 pts, 7.2 reb, 2.6 ast

2025-26 · UTAH

77games
23.4min
11.4pts
7.2reb
FG49.2%323/657
3P32.5%74/228
FT75.0%159/212

2.6 assists a game

2024-25 · UTAH

72games
21.1min
9.6pts
6.1reb
FG50.2%260/518
3P35.0%77/220
FT65.0%93/143

1.9 assists a game

2023-24

No regular-season games on file.

How to read this

Method and limits

How our estimate is built
  • Our estimate starts from the roster. Each player's on-court net points per 48 minutes (from his most recent full season, pulled toward zero when the sample is small) is averaged by minutes across the roster list, then turned into wins at about 2.9 wins per point of net.
  • That win total is then pushed through the real 2026-27 schedule 20,000 times, using a home win probability for every game, to get the range and the playoff and play-in odds.
  • Ratings built from games alone (6,153 games before October 20) are kept as a comparison. They fade old games over the offseason, which pulls every team toward average.
  • The market number is the wins where Kalshi's "wins or more" price crosses 50%, read off a straight line between strikes five wins apart.
What the estimate does not know
  • Possessions are an estimate from box totals, not tracked possessions.
  • The season simulation uses each game's win probability from the ratings and nothing else: no rating uncertainty, injuries, trades after the cutoff or in-season rating updates, so the 10th-90th percentile band is narrower than a real season's spread.
  • The 2026-27 schedule file lists 1200 games (80 per team on average) rather than 1230. Each team's missing games ([2] per team) are played against an average opponent at a neutral site with no rest terms.
  • Projection method: (d) roster values. In the walk-forward study its hold-out MAE was 8.3 wins (n = 60 team-seasons) against 9.0 for last season's wins regressed toward 41. Typical error is still about 8 wins per team, so treat every number as a wide estimate.
  • Roster values use each player's box-score plus-minus, which is not adjusted for teammates. Players with no box-score history count as average at 10 minutes a game.
  • Ties in the seeding are broken at random; head-to-head and division rules are not applied.
  • Every team has a usable market median.
  • Market median uses the midpoint of the yes bid and ask for each strike and a straight line between the two strikes (5 wins apart) that straddle 0.5; a strike with no bid is treated as unpriced.
  • Rosters are the DraftKings Best Ball player list for draft group 150564, kept only where the player is on his team's current ESPN roster (ESPN team rosters, 2026-10-19): released and departed players are out. Players DraftKings lists as Out are not in the engine's pool, so they have no projected minutes and are not in the top 8; each team's moves block names them.
  • Projected minutes are the engine's per-player estimates from box scores through 2026-04-12; they are not scaled to the team's 240 minutes and do not model new teammates.
  • Box scores start in 2021-22; a player with no box score on file is marked as a rookie or new, which can include veterans returning from abroad. Ages come from the ESPN player directory (2025-26 file) and are missing for players it does not list.
  • This team has 2 games the schedule file does not list yet; they are treated as games against an average opponent.

Data built Oct 19, 2026. Estimates are ours and can be wrong.