7. Utah Jazz

Placing the Jazz is extremely difficult. They’ve been consistently good this year. Never great. Never bad. Just good. They have a solid defense and they quietly put together one of the most solid rosters in the NBA. Gordon Hayward might be the most underappreciated player in the entire league, Rudy Gobert is a force of nature at the rim, and George Hill has proven to be an excellent point guard. There’s lots of youth on the roster with room to grow, but there’s also a handful of veterans as well such as Boris Diaw and Joe Johnson.

In one sense, it’s unfair to rank Utah this low. They’ve never had the lows of Cleveland, Toronto, or Los Angeles and their defense is ranked third across the entire NBA. Their roster is balanced. They have rim protection. Their offense is solid. On the other hand, can a team with Gordon Hayward as their best player make a deep playoff run? That’s a question they will need to answer. Is Rudy Gobert ready? Can George Hill step up? Utah has never been in this situation before. Utah is the best of the newcomers, but it’s because they’re new that it leaves so many questions about them.

If Utah can handle the playoff atmosphere then they have the potential to go on a deep run. They’re good and the potential to be great is right there. It’s not a matter of if the Jazz can become a playoff threat, but when they do. Maybe that time is now.