2. Utah Jazz
The Utah Jazz has consistently been one of the better teams all season and the fact that Dwyane Wade has joined this team’s ownership should give them so good luck heading into the postseason (I’m mostly joking), there still seems to be something missing for me to consider this team as the prohibitive favorite to win the title.
Maybe it’s just me. And I hope the Jazz prove my doubts wrong and go on to win the NBA championship. It’d actually be a great story and would give hope to many other small(ish)-market fanbases around the country. But I’m afraid my instincts are going to be right in the end.
Still, I believe the Jazz is going to be a handful in the playoffs. Contenders won’t want to face them and they’re going to be dangerous in a seven-game series sample size. I just can’t envision this team beating the defending champs four times out of seven.