Utah Jazz: Who will take the loaded Northwest Division?

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SALT LAKE CITY, UT – APRIL 27: Royce O’Neale #23 of the Utah Jazz grabs the ball in front of Paul George #13 of the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second half during Game Six of Round One of the 2018 NBA Playoffs at Vivint Smart Home Arena on April 27, 2018 in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Jazz beat the Thunder 96-91 to advance to the second round of the NBA Playoffs. 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 Gene Sweeney Jr./Getty Images) /

The Utah Jazz face stiff competition in the Northwest Division. Can they come out atop the pack come season’s end in 2018-19?

We all know that the Western Conference is deep and dangerous. However, when it comes to the division that is the staunchest from top to bottom, really none of them can hold a candle to the Northwest Division. You’ll find no bottom dwellers like the Sacramento Kings here. No rebuilding squads like the Dallas Mavericks either. What you get is five teams either surging or established that are all very much in the playoff conversation.

Even the Denver Nuggets, the lone team of the bunch to miss the playoffs last year, were still right in the thick of things until the final game of the season wherein they lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves and finished ninth in the West. Had Paul Millsap been able to stay healthy, such may have not been the case at all.

And many are high on the Nuggets’ chances of being much-improved this year and finally earning a spot after a relatively lengthy absence. If such holds true, it’s going to make the division all that much more challenging. It’s pretty rare for every team in a division to make the playoffs, but it’s certainly possible and has happened in years past.

Whether that ends up being the case or not, the fact remains that the Utah Jazz will have their work cut out for them as they go head-to-head against their staunch division rivals and ultimately seek to finish at the top of the pack. They narrowly missed out on doing so last season as the Portland Trail Blazers won the division by a mere game. Fortunately, the Utah Jazz got the last laugh by going further in the playoffs than any of their divisional foes.

But how will things shake up this year? Well, I’m here to take my stab at determining just that. Here are my preseason projections for the standings in the loaded Northwest Division–

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