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Utah Jazz Best/Worst Case Series: A tale of two seasons

NEW ORLEANS, LA - MARCH 11: Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Utah Jazz drives with the ball during the first half against the New Orleans Pelicans at the Smoothie King Center on March 11, 2018 in New Orleans, Louisiana. 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 Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
NEW ORLEANS, LA - MARCH 11: Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Utah Jazz drives with the ball during the first half against the New Orleans Pelicans at the Smoothie King Center on March 11, 2018 in New Orleans, Louisiana. 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 Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
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NEW ORLEANS, LA – MARCH 11: Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Utah Jazz drives with the ball during the first half against the New Orleans Pelicans at the Smoothie King Center on March 11, 2018 in New Orleans, Louisiana. 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 Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
NEW ORLEANS, LA – MARCH 11: Donovan Mitchell #45 of the Utah Jazz drives with the ball during the first half against the New Orleans Pelicans at the Smoothie King Center on March 11, 2018 in New Orleans, Louisiana. 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 Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)

Expectations are certainly high for the Utah Jazz heading into next season, and we’ll finish off our Best/Worst Case Scenario Series by looking at the entire Jazz team.

Throughout this offseason, we here at The J-Notes have been running a series of articles focused on the best and worst case scenarios for each player on the Utah Jazz roster. Now that we have focused on each individual player, the time has come to shift our focus to the entire team.

Analyzing Utah’s best and worst case scenarios is an interesting endeavor, because last season really gives us both sides of the spectrum. We had the first half of the season where injuries, inconsistency and chemistry (or lack thereof) played a big part in the Jazz falling to nine games below .500. Then we had the second half of the season, where health, camaraderie and tenacious defense led them all the way up to the fifth seed in the West.

Heading into this next season, a big question has to be: Which is real?

It is hard to judge the second half surge in an NBA season, because we have then reached a point where many teams know their fate and the level of competitiveness changes. You have teams who are tanking to ensure a top draft pick, and in late March and April you have the top teams potentially resting players prior to the playoffs.

The Jazz are an even harder case to judge, because they were not a struggling team who just magically had a strong second half of the season for no reason. There are real quantifiable reasons for their second half resurgence. With that said, let’s take a look at the worst case scenario first, shall we?

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