If you had done a poll on who would be the #1 seed after a quarter of the season had passed before the season started, many would choose the Lakers or the Clippers, right? Well, the Utah Jazz are the #1 seed right now and definitely deserve to be. The Jazz deserve all the hype that is coming that way and more.
I’ve kept the eye on the Jazz for the past few seasons ever since they acquired Bojan Bogdanovic (Former Pacer) to their team. Believe it or not, the Jazz were seen as contenders by many prior to last season. When they acquired Mike Conley in a trade and got Bojan Bogdanovic in FA, many saw them as a potential Finals contender.
Sadly, it didn’t go that way in the Conley’s & Bojan’s first year in Utah. The Jazz, in my opinion, underperformed last season with the amount of talent they had. I’m not going to say Donovan Mitchell is a superstar yet (Although, I think he has all the intangibles and tools to be one), but they have so many key stars on that team. Players like Mike Conley, Rudy Gobert, and Bojan Bogdanovic are perfect complimentary stars to Donovan Mitchell and players I thought would be enough for the Jazz to be a top 3 seed in the West last season.
The Jazz ended up being the 6th seed and finishing the season with a 44-28 record. They underperformed given the expectations put on them. To be fair, Bojan got injured and he was having a really good year and Mike Conley had a rough first season in Utah.
This year, it’s been totally different. Mike Conley has started to look like the player he once was in Memphis, Donovan Mitchell has been efficient this season, and Rudy Gobert actually looks decent offensively. Enough for the Jazz to be the #1 seed. Not to mention, they have great bench players in 6th man of the year leading candidate Jordan Clarkson, Joe Ingles, and Georges Niang. All of this has led them to be on a 10 game win streak as well.
Final Take:
Sure, the Jazz do not have a superstar (yet), but they have a team with an extreme amount of talent. I wouldn’t want to play the Jazz in the playoffs, I expect them to continue to shock fans and stay a top 3 seed in the West. Honestly, it wouldn’t surprise me at the least to see the Jazz make the Conference Finals this season. A lot of have slept on the Jazz over the years (even myself), but it’s time we wake up…
