NBA Season Preview 2019-20: The one reason to watch each and every team

Utah Jazz: A legitimate Finals contender

The secret that was never really a secret is out: The Utah Jazz had the most underrated season in the NBA, and they’re now a trendy pick as a dark horse to win the West. They’ve been a 50-win team for awhile now, but with an influx of rock-solid veterans like Mike Conley, Bojan Bogdanovic and Ed Davis, they’re as prepared for a true playoff run as they’ve been since the days of John Stockton and Karl Malone.

This team has to stay healthy, which has been a problem for Conley and Rudy Gobert in the past, but the Jazz have a good head coach, smothering defenders in nearly every phase, a two-time Defensive Player of the Year in the middle, a steady hand at the 1 and a blossoming star in Donovan Mitchell.

Spida Mitchell will have to be more efficient with improved spacing and more offensive weapons around him, and Utah’s offseason still didn’t quite fix their Houston Rockets puzzle, but in a wide-open season, they’re one of about 10 teams that could realistically win it all if they get the right amount of injury luck and a few favorable playoff matchups.

Gobert is an underrated, all-NBA caliber big man and has been Utah’s best player for the last few years. Now Mitchell has the accompanying talent to challenge him for that title, and if he makes such a leap, improved depth and a third star like Conley could be enough to make the Jazz truly dangerous come playoff time.