Are the Utah Jazz Finally Ready to Take the Final Step?

This article is also posted at hoops4life.com, an NBA fan site. Back in the '90s, the Utah Jazz were perennial contenders. Future Hall of Famers such as John Stockton and Karl Malone led them to back-to-back NBA Finals. Only Michael Jordan and his Bulls separated them from the title.  After Stockton’s and Malone’s retirement, the Jazz faced a forced rebuilding—a hard and long process. Teams have to take good draft decisions, make good moves, and be patient. They also have to be lucky. The Jazz have done an unusually good job of rebuilding. Since their dynamic duo left, they have only had one losing season, and they have only missed the playoffs three times. In their two winning non-playoff seasons they were short by one and three games, respectively, of making the postseason.    During this span, they drafted Andrei Kirilenko and Deron Williams, they signed free agent Carlos Boozer and traded Carlos Arroyo for Mehmet Okur. All four are starters and key ... (link)