NBA Hope Index: How far is each team from a ring heading into 2017-18?

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GREENBURGH, NY – AUGUST 11: Donovan Mitchell of the Utah Jazz poses for a portrait during the 2017 NBA Rookie Photo Shoot at MSG Training Center on August 11, 2017 in Greenburgh, New York. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images) /

25. Utah Jazz

This feels worse than Memphis.

The Jazz have done everything right as an organization. EVERYTHING right. They’ve spent wisely, bought low on helpful vets, made a big investment in the cornerstone of their team, and hired a good coach to run a dependable system that gives offenses fits. For their trouble, they’re likely to be stuck in the 42 to 45-win friend zone for the foreseeable future.

One has to wonder. What if they just gave Gordon Hayward the max extension he was looking for three years ago, and never gave him the opportunity to get pissed off, sign someone else’s offer sheet, and then get pissed off again when it got matched? It’s impossible to know whether that’s what drove him to Boston, but it’s as likely an explanation as any.

Now they’re left hoping for something that hasn’t happened since Carlos Boozer signed with Utah over a decade ago: poaching another team’s star free agent at some point in the near future.

Path to Glory: Try to develop Donovan Mitchell into the best two-way shooting guard in the league, help Gobert continue to hone his offensive game, teach Ricky Rubio to shoot, keep nurturing Dante Exum until he finds the “it” that go him drafted fourth overall, and find one big name willing to take a meeting when they have cap room in one of the two summers.

Group 2: Let’s Try Not to Make it Too Obvious

The following teams have every incentive to vote against lottery reform, and then lose as many games as possible next season, and possibly beyond.

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