The Hive Sports

by Alma Bean

Feature Image by Rick Bowmer of AP Photo

Each year comes with its own set of challenges. Whether it’s the strength of schedule, new acquisitions or the weight of the season lying on everyone’s shoulders, each season is also met with optimism. After being plagued with injuries to finish the season with a 37-45 record and 12th in the Western Conference, Utah’s roster shows a lot of promise. With injuries and trades, Utah had 23 different lineups for first-time head coach Will Hardy to construct.

With a new season right around the corner, here is who I think will be the be the top five performances that Utah will need to account for.

Houston Rockets

On top of their big contracts that Houston gave to Dillon Brooks and Fred VanVleet, Utah fans will most likely be watching Cam Whitmore, who most Utah fans wanted in this year’s draft. Houston has a lot of promising talent led by Jalen Green and Alperen Sengun, but chemistry and consistent play will be the death or revival for Houston.

Last season, Houston ranked in the bottom five in most differential categories. Houston’s strength came from rebounding on both ends of the court being second in the league in offensive rebound differential (+2.9) and sixth in defensive rebound differential (+1.8). Those numbers led to Houston leading the league in overall rebounding differential at +4.9.

If Houston can bring their shooting numbers up while being dominant on the boards, they could be a team on the outside looking in.

Minnesota Timberwolves

For the second year in a row, when Minnesota comes to Utah, it will be a homecoming for a fan favorite. This time it will be for Mike Conley. Conley being traded last season near the trade deadline, had to make adjustments late in the year and even helped with Minnesota get to the playoffs.

Minnesota managed to keep their core together this season, even with the emergence of Naz Reid being able to thrive alongside Rudy Gobert and Karl-Anthony Towns. With the front court locked down, Anthony Edwards alongside Conley should make a major jump this season with Minnesota and arguably being a potential MVP candidate this season.

This Minnesota team is scary good even though they may not be on everyone’s radar, I wouldn’t be surprised if this team threatened a top-five finish in the Western Conference.

Oklahoma City Thunder

Oklahoma City has a lot of potential on their roster, along with youth on their side. With the average age of the team just being over 23 years old, Oklahoma City has time on their side and in their favor as a majority of the team already has chemistry together. Being led by Luguentz Dort, Josh Giddey, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jalen Williams, Oklahoma City will be able to welcome their 2022 first-round draft pick Chet Holmgren. Holmgren was out last season with a leg injury.

Both Holmgren and Victor Wembanyama will be fighting for the Rookie of the Year award down to the final game. Holmgren, like Wembanyama, is a force on both ends of the court while being a defensive threat with a block always on their minds.

With the return of Kenrich Williams and the addition of Vasilije Micic and Cason Wallace, Utah will not only need to prepare for the size of this roster, but accounting for speed will also need to be factored into the gameplan.

Phoenix Suns

This offseason became a complete overhaul for Phoenix. From last year’s roster, the Suns retained four players from the previous campaign. With a lot of turnovers on the roster came many great additions. This included the first blockbuster deal of the summer as the Suns acquired Bradley Beal from the Washington Wizards into the Western Conference. Along with Beal, Phoenix added players such as Grayson Allen, Bol Bol, Eric Gordon, Jusuf Nurkic and Yuta Watanabe. With these additions, it looks like Phoenix is wanting to shoot at will from all five positions on the court.

With offense being a focal point for Phoenix this season, it will be interesting to see how much of a hit their defense will take to make this adjustment. After losing a top-15 rebounder in Deandre Ayton, and a top-15 blocker, Bismack Biyombo, expect to see some early season woes. Phoenix will try to create some chemistry with this very talented roster.

San Antonio Spurs

No matter how San Antonio does record wise, the league will talk about Wembanyama. He has shown so far in the preseason that he is worth more than the hype. Able to score at will, dribble like a guard, be a defensive anchor and move with a speed that surpasses other centers, he’s a unicorn in his field.

Zach Collins and Jeremy Sochan are going to complement Wembanyama. Collins being versatile in his shooting abilities on the perimeter and in the paint along with Sochan being effective off the ball should clear up lanes for each other.

Expect their guards to do well. Devin Vassell will continue to progress as he just got a contract extension this offseason. Devonte’ Graham will continue to increase his basketball IQ. San Antonio’s starting unit will give every team in the league a fight. It will be health and depth that will decide if this team can be competitive or if they will be fighting for another top-five pick.

Final Verdict

Though changes may seem minimal with the toughness of the Western Conference and Utah’s record of 37-45 last season, the current roster shows overall improvement from last season. Having a majority of the roster return this season and building chemistry along with three promising rookies and a seasoned veteran, fans can be confident that Utah will finish with a 41-41 record. Though a four-game swing might not seem like a lot, last year that record would’ve been the difference between Utah being in the 12 seed and missing the playoffs to qualifying for the Play-In Tournament. Utah would’ve faced New Orleans for the first elimination game which they were undefeated against last season.

Though there was minimal change, Utah has shown a lot of promise going into the new season.