Five Things the Utah Jazz Need to Make the Playoffs

What do the Utah Jazz need to do to turn their playoff hopes into reality next season?

The Las Vegas oddsmakers recently released the championship odds for all 30 NBA teams in 2016-17, pinning the Jazz’s chances at 80:1. While this isn’t exactly reassuring, it’s interesting to see Vegas slot Utah’s championship odds above those of a handful of teams who qualified for the postseason this year.

Namely, the Indiana Pacers, Dallas Mavericks and Detroit Pistons, all of whom came in at odds of 100:1.

With that being said, 80:1 is still very much a long shot. However, it’s still better than the shot Lloyd Christmas had at winning over Mary Swanson and he remained optimistic, so how about we do the same!

While it seems almost unfathomable that a team that missed the playoffs entirely could go on to win it all in the upcoming season, stranger things have certainly happened. Nevertheless, it seems much more realistic to focus instead on how the Jazz can take the next crucial step in their progress: making the playoffs.

It was a goal that was very much in reach this past season, but, in the end, the Jazz fell short. Here’s a look at five things that must happen this offseason and beyond if the Jazz are to finally make it into the postseason in 2016-17.

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