NBA: 3 February takeaways and 3 March predictions

March Prediction: The Jazz aren’t dead yet

The Jazz has been awful lately – no way around that. The addition of Mike Conley was supposed to put them up next to the elite teams in the NBA but he’s been about as bad as he could possibly be when he’s even healthy enough to play.

Should you be worried about the Jazz? Absolutely. Should you completely write them off? Not a chance.

For all their struggles, the Jazz is still a good team and not a group that anyone wants to see in the playoffs. Even if they don’t close the year strong, would it be a shocker if they pushed the Nuggets in the first round or even beat them? Not at all.

It’s still a team that has arguably the best defensive big man in the league in Rudy Gobert. They have Donovan Mitchell who, don’t forget, was the best player on the floor in a playoff series against Russell Westbrook and Paul George just two years ago.

And despite the team’s struggles of late in the win/loss column, Conley is quietly playing his best basketball of the season. Per NBA.com, Conley scored nearly 17 points per game on roughly 45 percent from the field and nearly 44 percent from 3 on six such attempts per game in February – huge signs of improvement from his season averages of 13 points per game on 39 percent from the floor and 36 percent from 3.

So yes, the Jazz is struggling. But if you want to sell your stock in them I’ll gladly take all of it. They’re much more likely to have a major turnaround than a major collapse down the stretch.