It’s been a theme this offseason and even toward the end of last year that the Utah Jazz have left the wasteland that is NBA obscurity. Yes, there are still the occasional “Joe Ingles defends like a barstool” moments of ignorance, but it’s becoming an exception rather than the well established rule.
One example of this comes from how high the Jazz have made it in preseason predictions. They’ve made it as high as the second seed and usually no lower than fourth. And now, even the juggernaut Golden State Warriors are taking peeks over their shoulder at what may be a challenger to their dominance in the coming years.