This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

Depth, versatility, scoring, defensive potential — on paper, it's all there for the Utah Jazz this coming season.

On paper and in action are different things, though. Especially in the Western Conference, widely regarded as having more depth than the East. So, the expectations for the 2016-17 Utah Jazz — a 50-win season and top-five seed in the West playoffs — and the reality of what will occur are likely to diverge.

What makes this upcoming season so intriguing is, with all the player movement during the summer, the Jazz could win their division and finish third in the West — or they could finish as low as seventh or eighth.

Observers still believe the West to be a two-team race at the top between the Golden State Warriors and the San Antonio Spurs. The Warriors added superstar Kevin Durant to a team that won 73 games in the regular season and finished one win shy of back-to-back NBA championships. The Spurs lost the retiring Tim Duncan, but filled that spot in the lineup with free agent signing Pau Gasol added to LaMarcus Aldridge and Kawhi Leonard in the frontcourt.

After the top two, that's where it gets interesting.

Durant's signing with Golden State is a blow to the Oklahoma City Thunder, who will rely even more on point guard Russell Westbrook. The Thunder did trade for Victor Oladipo from Orlando, but they seem ripe to take a step back from contention. The team most likely to best take advantage of the Thunder falling back to the pack is the Los Angeles Clippers, who are well equipped to move up the pecking order with Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and DeAndre Jordan.

On paper, the next tier is the Jazz, the Memphis Grizzlies, the Portland Trail Blazers and the Houston Rockets.

Of those three, Portland did the least to help themselves during free agency, making a series of small moves by bringing in Evan Turner and center Festus Ezeli, and retaining shooting guard Allen Crabbe, who received a rich offer sheet from the Brooklyn Nets. Memphis gave point guard Mike Conley $150 million, and also paid handsomely for Chandler Parsons, who could be a big addition, if he can stay healthy.

Houston, with new coach Mike D'Antoni, could be the darkhorse in the West. James Harden is still one of the premier scorers in the league. Free agent pickups Eric Gordon and Ryan Anderson (both great shooters) fit Harden's playing style better than some of the players he was surrounded with last season. The Rockets may not stop many people defensively, but they will score a ton of points, and that could still mean a lot of wins during the regular season.

With each team in the West making adjustments, there will continue to be a lot of competition for the Jazz. The conference remains loaded with talent and there is a lot left still for the Jazz to prove after not making the playoffs for several seasons — even if Utah's roster appears to be the deepest and most versatile that Quin Snyder has had in his tenure.

Experience means a lot in the NBA, which is why getting George Hill, Joe Johnson and Boris Diaw — playoff tested veterans — will help ready the rest of the Jazz roster for what is to come.

But the Jazz still have to go out and do it.

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