Utah has barely changed anything on their structure for this season, which makes sense as the Jazz reached the conference final two years ago and last season, they were eliminated by the Lakers in the conference semi finals, so the main question for the team this season is to know if they are good enough to be a contender for the title.

If we look to the Western conference, we see that the starting five of the Jazz is one of the youngest, with Okur being the oldest with 29 years old. So, this group of players has still a lot of years in front of them and a lot to give to the league. The same can't be said about the Spurs, Mavs or Suns, which look to be on the downfall, due to the advanced age of some of their main stars. However, I think the Jazz are still missing something and eventually the solution would be acquiring some veterans which could make the roster be deeper and help with their experience in the postseason. For some reason, the Celtics acquired Sam Cassell and PJ Brown last season.

The team's current roster is equilibrated and the Jazz should easily reach the 55 wins mark at least in the regular season. The whole team is based on their PG Deron Williams, who even though isn't as mediatic as his "draft rival" Chris Paul, had a fantastic season with 18.8 ppg, 3.0 rpg and 10.5 apg, with 50.7% FG. It seems almost unbelievable, but Deron wasn't selected to the All-Star game last season! For this season, I expect him to have another great season. The system is the same, his team mates are also the same, so it wouldn't be a surprise if he ends this season averaging 20-10 (pts-ast). The team made a trade in the guards position, sending Jason Hart to the Clippers and receiving Brevin Knight, who will be useful on the team, much more than Hart was last season. Knight is a veteran who will understand his role in the team and he will be a good backup for Deron Williams, something the Jazz lack since Fisher went to the Lakers.

For the SG position, the Jazz have a good duo with Brewer and Korver, who give different solutions to the team. Korver came last season from the Sixers and gave the team a bigger dimension in the exterior game, where the team had only Deron and Okur as solutions. Also his FT % is extremely important to the team at the end of the games, as he is coming from back to back seasons with more than 90% FT. Brewer was a nice surprise last season, as he went from 4.6 ppg on his rookie season from 12.0 ppg last season. His athletic ability makes him a very good player on counter attacks and with Deron coordinating the offense, Brewer will always have good opportunities on the offensive game of the season. However, both Brewer and Korver aren't good defenders and it will be for this position than the Jazz would have interest in hiring a veteran SG, who could defend the SG of their opponents. Remember Kobe Bryant scored 33.2 ppg on the Jazz vs Lakers series last season!

The frontcourt of the team continues to be one of the most powerful and athletic of the league. The Jazz were 3rd in the league last season in terms of rebound margin (+3,05) and the key of the team will be Andrei Kirilenko. I would even say that AK47 will be difference of the Jazz being a strong team or being a strong contender for the title. If Jerry Sloan can motivate him and AK has a season at the same level that he had in 2005-2006, with 15.3 ppg. 8.0 rpg, 4.3 apg and 3.2 bpg, then the Jazz will be ready to give the jump they need to win the title. He is the most versatile player of the team and the best defender too, so his importance on the team is much bigger than most people think.

Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur complete the frontcourt of the Jazz and naturally everybody expects them to have another good year this season. Boozer comes from a great season with 21.1 ppg and 10.4 rpg - second season in a row with 20-10 (pts-reb) numbers and together with Deron Williams they make the hardest pick n' roll to be stopped this season. On the other side, Okur adds a lot of quality to the team, thanks to his great exterior shooting ability, even though he wasn't as good last season as he was in 2006/2007. The backups of Okur and Boozer are a concern. Millsap is an explosive player and averaged 8.1 ppg and 5.6 rpg, but his height (6'8'') is an handicap for the Jazz, if he has to face powerful PF's. For the center position, the problems are even bigger. Kosta Koufas is a talented rookie, but we are yet to know how much time will he need to adapt to the league and Jarron Colins is a non-factor on the team. It would also be good if the Jazz could add a veteran center to the roster, especially one who is a good defender.

Utah is once again this season one of the strongest teams in the league and they just need to play a little bit better on the road this season. The solution for this problem of playing on the road could be solved with getting the best record on the league, as that would guarantee them home court advantage during the whole postseason, where they were almost unbeatable on last season's regular season with a 37-4 record. I expect Utah to hire a couple of players in mid season, in order to try to finally win the title this season.

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