In our last story, we talked about the three teams with super stars and their prospects in the Western Conference. Well, they are not the only championship candidates in this conference because super stars are only your key to the throne, not a guarantee. The following two teams, the Utah Jazz and the Denver Nuggets don't have the "give me the ball and I will carry you" kind of star players but that does not keep them from being competitive.

Jazz: make the right change, see how it works

First, we should make it clear that Ricky Rubio and Derrick Favors, who Utah were willing to let go this summer, are definitely good players. It's true that Rubio's 3-point shots made Utah fans desperate in the last series against the Houston Rockets – in his defense, the whole team was terrible in that area – he did an excellent job in everything else.

In offense, Rubio dropped an average of 15.4 points, 8.6 assists per game and kept a remarkable field goal rate of 62.5 percent under the rim. At defense, his contribution is way more than the average of 2.4 steals – thanks to his and the rest of the team's efforts – Utah reduced the average Houston score to 98.3 points in the last three games. James Harden who claimed 72 points in Game 1 and Game 3 only got 88 points in the following three games.

Favors was doing well too. His 20.6 percent in ball possessions was higher than the 14.2 percent of Rudy Gobert. He put down 11.8 points with an FG rate of 64.9 points. Even in defense, Favors delivered an average of 1.8 blocks while limiting the Rockets FG rate in the paint down to 45.2 percent when he was on the court without Gobert. Note: Favors only played 20.6 minutes on average in the series.

However, there's not doubt that the Jazz made the right decision letting Favors leave and landing Mike Conley, Bojan Bogdanovic, Jeff Green and Ed Davis. The reason is simple, Rubio and Favors were doing good work as the wrong players. In today's NBA, a point guard who poses no threat from the 3-point line cannot help the team as much as a guard who keeps 37.5 percent of rate in the same area. Moreover, the one thing the Jazz needs from Favors and what he can't seem to do is stretch out the space.

Conley will take over the orchestrating job from Rubio while scoring around 20 points per game. Meanwhile, he will share that responsibility with Joe Ingles and Bogdanovic, who by the way, maintained above 40 percent of 3-pointer rate in the past two seasons. Thanks to the new additions, Donovan Mitchell will find the space around him way wider when he breaks into the opponent's paint and he only needs to focus on how to put the ball into the basket.

Both Conley and Bogdanovic are smart passers so they will help Utah maintain their complex offensive system that relies on passing and off-ball movement. Meanwhile, Davis and Green will be the improvement to the system. The former can help the team raise their success rate in offense with his rebounding while the latter can be the very isolation scorer from the bench that Utah has been wanting for years.

Nuggets: Jamal Murray is their hope

Is Jamal Murray worth the five-year, 170-million-U.S.-dollar contract Denver signed with him? Based on his performance and growth so far, no. Then was it the right call to sign that deal with him? Yes.

One must point out is that even if Denver collects enough salary space for maximum contract, no super star free agent will join them. Therefore, the team can only count on the players they already have for improvement and Murray is their best option. Michael Porter Jr. may have remarkable potential but has not played even one NBA game.

What kind of player is Murray? He is more of a scorer than orchestrator; he does not have the monstrous physical talents of Russell Westbrook or John Wall but he does not have apparent weakness in offense; he is a liability in defense, especially facing small forwards. He's familiar with how to play with Nikola Jokic and able to carry more for the team.

The Nuggets do not need Murray to become a Damian Lillard or a Harden, but he needs to do better in the following areas: increasing his assists – 4.8 assists and 2.1 turnovers per game is not acceptable, especially in a team like the Nuggets where everyone has to know how to pass; raising his FG rate, both in the middle range and from the 3-point line – it's Jokic's job to create opportunities for Murray and it's Murray's job to score; earning how defend in mismatch – there are not many top scorers in the forward position, Stephen Curry can do it and he's not stronger than Murray.

Denver won't see much change to their way of playing in the new season. Jokic will still be the team's engine in offense but Murry will have to contribute more to production. Acquiring Jerami Grant gave Denver height in the forward position, finishing ability near the basket, and rim protection in defense.

Denver still doesn't have enough 3-point shooters and their reliance on perimeter shots is dangerous because they don't have master skills in that area either. Packing several players to trade for an All-Star seems both likely and necessary and it is Murray's job to prove that joining Denver is one step closer to the championship.