In their franchise history spanning more than 50 years, the Utah Jazz are one of ten teams in the NBA that have yet to reach the pinnacle of the league by finding their way to a victory in the NBA Finals.

Of course, this is a team that has had some close calls in the past, most recently in the 1997 and 1998 appearances against the Chicago Bulls. However, thanks to the dominance of Michael Jeffrey Jordan and his 90s dynasty, Utah narrowly missed its long-standing goal and now finds itself without a ring in 2024.

Utah hasn’t reached those NBA heights yet, but that doesn’t mean this team isn’t on track to get there in the near future. The Jazz have done an impressive job over the past few summers of bringing together young, veteran and future prospects to position them as one of the league’s most attractive rebuilds. By fostering the right development and time within this core, a championship roster could be just around the corner in Salt Lake City.

But when it comes to that ESPN When assessing the title chances of the titleless NBA teams, the Jazz were not particularly optimistic of the ten candidates.

ESPN’s Neil Paine searched through the ten zero-championship teams across the NBA to assess their chances of becoming the next one to get over the hump, with the Jazz coming in at eighth place, just ahead of the Charlotte Hornets and Brooklyn Nets.

“The Jazz are one of the biggest wild cards on our list,” Paine said. “Utah has not yet made the playoffs under coach Will Hardy, winning just 31 games last season and the previous season.” ESPN BET The chances of winning the title are very high. However, between Lauri Markkanen and Collin Sexton – both still 27 or younger – the Jazz have an intriguing core that is one of the youngest squads in the league. Markkanen signed a major contract extension in August. So if Utah sees success in the postseason, he will likely play a big role in it. The rest of the roster has a lot of flexibility after the next few seasons, making it difficult to predict the Jazz’s long-term future, for better or worse.”

From the collection, Utah had a 3.8% chance of becoming the inaugural champion if there was an inaugural winner in the next six years. Right in front of them were the Los Angeles Clippers with a 7.3% chance.

At the top of the list was the Minnesota Timberwolves, who were in the Western Conference Finals for the first time in 20 seasons. As for their percentage chance of winning a title, the number is well above the Jazz’s at 24.9%. The Indiana Pacers and Phoenix Suns rounded out the top three.

While the Jazz may be just a few steps away from immediate title contention unlike franchises like the Timberwolves, Pacers and Suns, the makings of putting together a serious team over the next half decade are there. They have a chance to secure 12 first-round picks over the next five years, and while they already have an established young core, that youth will arrive in due course. As soon as this is the case, the odds for a championship also apply.

It may be a slow process in the meantime, but with the right timing and development, Salt Lake City’s title drought may not last much longer.

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