In my opinion, one of the most underrated teams in the NBA are the Utah Jazz. Led by young star Donovan Mitchell, the Jazz have made the playoffs each of the ,last two years even defeating the "Big 3" in OKC of Carmelo Anthony, Paul George and Russel Westbrook in RD 1 of the 2018 Playoffs in 6 games. But if there has been one thing in common these past two standings , it;'s getting bounced by the Houston Rockets in five games ending their season.
So that was the Jazz mission in the offseason, " How do we get over the Houston hump?"
After all besides Donovan, the Jazz had a good young center in Rudy Gobert, so with that duo already in Utah, the Jazz were looking for a caliber piece that would form a big 3 for years to come.
They seemed to have found one in Grizzlies star Mike Conley, as they pulled off a blockbuster trade that sent Memphis veterans Kyle Korver, Jae Crowder and Grayson Allen, as well as this years first round pick Daruis Bazley and a future first round pick for Conley.
Even though that may seem like a lot, the Jazz are in a good place right now, as they have formed a big 3 in Mitchel, Gobert and Conley who can thrive under one of the best coaches in the game in Quinn Snyder. Quinn is an experienced coach, who was an assistant on many San Antonio Spurs championship teams with legendary coach Greg Popovich, as well as having many head coaching jobs in other cities like Toronto and the Clippers in LA. He was even a "Coach of the Year" finalist in 2018.
So now while I don't see them defeating the Rockets this upcoming season (Who added Westbrook to their team this offseason) , I do see them being a threat in the West that can hang with the top teams in the NBA and be a force to be reckoned with for years to come. Don't sleep on those Jazz!!!
PREDICTION: 50-32, 7th in West. Eliminated in RD 1 by Clippers in 5 games.
This team I feel, is better then what they do this year. But the reason why I don't want to sleep on this team is because they are mostly a young and developing team, that is consistently a playoff team. They will be a lot better in 2-3 years from now. Keep going Jazz, your time will come sooner then you think!
Comments