5. Utah Jazz
The Utah Jazz are one of the newest title contenders in the league. For the last two seasons, they’ve been a quality playoff team that’s tough to eliminate, but they haven’t been an actual contender. Now, they’ve finally made the transition from being a tough playoff opponent to a legitimate championship-caliber team.
The addition of Mike Conley is the biggest reason for the Jazz’ jump. Ever since Donovan Mitchell entered the league, he’s been the only real shot creator on the Jazz. It’s been gross to watch in the playoffs. When the Jazz have needed a bucket, it’s basically been either Donovan Mitchell or nobody. Conley gives the Jazz a second shot-creator who can keep defenses honest.
Bojan Bogdanovic was another solid addition for Utah this summer. Last season for the Pacers, he averaged 18 points per game on an extremely efficient 49.7% shooting from the field and 42.5% shooting from 3-point range. He’ll slot in perfectly next to Conley, Mitchell, Joe Ingles and Rudy Gobert. That’s a nasty five-man lineup.