All five of the NBA’s Northwest Division teams began the summer with opportunities to change their rosters and define their futures. Despite a multitude of different options, each team ended up on one of two different paths.
Three of them prioritized future flexibility. The Jazz, Nuggets and Timberwolves all had significant cap space this summer and avoided long-term commitments, though each took steps to improve their roster in the draft and free agency. Utah did the best job of threading the needle by making their team better in the short term by trading for unique big man Boris Diaw and signing seven-time All-Star Joe Johnson without sacrificing too much of their insane 2017 cap space.