NBA: 5 teams that will take a step back in 2020-21

Utah Jazz

It’s not really that much of a surprise to see the Utah Jazz on this list, or at least it shouldn’t be. Even though the Jazz was sitting in a great spot, ranked 4th in the Western Conference, heading into the hiatus, there are still plenty of questions surrounding the future of the team at the moment.

And the first, or most important, revolves around what the team is going to do about the reported divide between Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert. Even though they’ve attempted to quiet down the whispers since the original report was made public, there’s usually a fire where there are smoke rumors in the NBA.

But even if their relationship is perfect, Gobert is an expiring contract after the 2020-21 season. Do they plan on giving him a max extension? If not, it could create some havoc. After that comes the Mike Conley questions. He is almost certainly going to opt-in to the final year of his contract next season but proved that he wasn’t a great fit on this team. Will they try to trade him during the summer?

There’s at least a chance that his team undergoes some sort of facelift during the summer. I’m betting on that, and I’m not sure they’ll be better than the fourth-best team next season. Simple as that.