Ben Anderson: Jazz somewhere between contender and pretender

SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Jazz saw both ends of the wide spectrum of Western Conference playoff teams over the weekend.

On Friday, the Jazz ended the Oklahoma City Thunder’s season after taking the first-round series 4-2. On Sunday, it felt as if the end of the Jazz season was fast approaching after getting thoroughly dismantled in Game 1 of the conference semifinals against the Houston Rockets.

The two games, played within 48 hours of one another, revealed that despite the great growth the Jazz have shown since they sat nine games under .500 in mid-January to winning a first-round playoff series, they are likely less than halfway to their hopeful destination: an NBA championship.

It places the Jazz in a bizarre spot between the league’s truly elite, who are contending for an NBA championship, and the rest of the teams — I’ll call them pretenders — who may be competing for the playoffs but likely little else.

Joining the Jazz and Rockets in the semifinals are last year’s champions the Golden State Warriors, and the surprising New Orleans Pelicans, who swept the third-seeded Portland Trail Blazers in the first round. The Warriors are legit contenders, while the Pelicans find themselves in a similar situation as the Jazz: somewhere between dismissing the pretenders in the Western Conference, and being steamrolled by an elite roster.

Though both the Jazz and Pelicans would prefer to be contenders, their current in-between status is an enviable position to all but the Rockets and Warriors in the West.

By knocking off the Thunder in the first round, the Jazz laid a series of micro — and macro — questions at the feet of the Oklahoma City front office. Does a first-round exit guarantee the departure of five-time All-Star Paul George? Does Carmelo Anthony do anything to help a basketball team win games? The big picture: do Russell Westbrook’s teammates get better when they no longer play alongside the high usage guard? Can Russell Westbrook be the focal point of a contending team?

Similarly, the four-game sweep at the hands of the Pelicans left the Blazers asking if their guard-centric offense can win in the playoffs. Can Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum carry a team in the postseason, or does one need to be traded to bring in draft picks and young players to diversify the roster?

Other first-round losers, the Minnesota Timberwolves, are left wondering whether their two No. 1 overall picks, Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins, have the toughness to win together in the Twin Cities. Meanwhile, the San Antonio Spurs have to figure out how likely star Kawhi Leonard is to re-sign in San Antonio this offseason, and whether the aging Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker are ready to leave the game after a decade and half of dominance.

Even the Pelicans, who appear to be on similar ground to the Jazz, must face their own difficult question this summer: do they re-sign Demarcus Cousins this summer and risk limiting their future financial freedom, or do they let the talented big man walk, understanding that they won a first-round playoff series without him.

In comparison, the Jazz face a complicated question about whether to offer Derrick Favors an offseason contract extension, understanding that replacing a player of his caliber isn’t always easy but knowing that if he should leave, Jae Crowder is an adequate replacement who may lay a style more conducive to beating the NBA’s best teams.

The Jazz also face a difficult question about the future of Dante Exum, who is eligible to sign a rookie extension this summer, but has shown little so far in the postseason to make anyone believe he will reach his immense talent. Exum simply may not find the uber-competitive spending market this summer, and would be better served developing in Utah on a short contract, hoping to raise his earning potential.

The Jazz also must decide whether to re-sign Thabo Sefolosha, Jonas Jerebko and Ekpe Udoh — a small cost, but a cost nonetheless. More importantly, the Jazz must decide if they would rather watch all of the previously mentioned players walk this summer, clearing cap space to bring in another high-level player in hopes of expediting themselves into contender status, or choose to wait out the championship status of the Warriors and Rockets, preferring to spend money in 2019 and beyond.

The Jazz can’t consider themselves contenders if they continue to get blown out by a truly elite Western Conference team in the Rockets. However, their back-to-back first-round series victories over the past two season, mixed with the explosive trajectory of Donovan Mitchell’s career, likely means the Jazz have separated themselves from the pretender status of most of the other teams in the West.

Now, the Jazz must decide if they believe they can reach their ultimate goal and an NBA championship by adding one major piece in the near future or if they’d be better served waiting for the eventual demise of the Rockets and the Warriors.

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