NBA Rumors: 11 Frighteningly bad early-season narratives fans should be worried about

The Utah Jazz are still far away from playoff contention

The 0-4 start to the season that the Utah Jazz have gotten off to is not that surprising. However, after an offseason in which they decided to sign Lauri Markkanen to a long-term extension, it certainly isn't ideal. After locking up your face of the franchise, the last thing the Jazz want to do is to take steps back in their progression as a team. Last season, the Jazz lost six games fewer than they did the previous year. This year, they're on pace to perhaps be on that same trajectory. That's not what you want to see from Utah.

Even though this team is prioritizing their young core, you'd hope they'd be further along than they've shown through the first four games of this season. Right now, they're on pace to miss the playoffs again and will likely not win many more games than 30, if they even get there.

Utah decided they wanted to build a win-now team after signing Markkanen to that extension. But it's hard to imagine how the Jazz are going to make that happen considering they are still pretty far off from contending for a playoff spot in the Western Conference.