The Utah Jazz always knew exactly what they needed and have done a good job improving their roster in the past three seasons. However, they never reached the Western Conference finals in any of those seasons, not even when they were leading the Conference last season.

Back in 2019, they lost to the Houston Rockets 4-1 in the first round. Coach Quin Snyder had figured out a strange-looking but effective way of limiting James Harden by working behind him. Nonetheless, the Jazz's disappointing 3-point rate of 26.3 percent (47-179) cost them the series.

The team realized how risky it was to count on inconsistent shooters, so they sent away Ricky Rubio and Jae Crowder, landing Mike Conley, Bojan Bogdanovic and Jordan Clarkson.

The Jazz led the NBA with a 3-point rate (38 percent) and ranked seventh in volumes (13.4 triples made per game) in the 2019-20 season. However, Bogdanovic failed to appear in the postseason due to injury. Donovan Mitchell filled in his offensive vacancy by putting down 36.3 points per game, including two 50+point games in the first-round series against the Denver Nuggets. But Jamal Murray was just as ridiculous as Mitchell while Nikola Jokic destroyed every defender in front of him. The Jazz lost 4-3 after Conley missed that last desperate 3-pointer in Game 7.

They signed back Derrick Favors in summer 2020 to make sure they always have a reliable rim protector on the floor. They led the league in both triples made (16.7) and attempts (43) with the fourth-best 3-point rate of 38.9 percent in the 2020-21 season. The Jazz entered the playoffs and knocked out the Memphis Grizzlies 4-1 in the first round.

Then in the second round, they met the Los Angeles Clippers and their small-five squad. Rudy Gobert was not comfortable trying to catch up with the opponents, but the Clippers were could not stop Mitchell either. When Kawhi Leonard quit the series because of a knee problem after four games, the Jazz already saw the dawn of victory.

Then Terance Mann came out of nowhere and humiliated Gobert by draining seven triples to get 39 points in Game 6; The Jazz lost to the Clipper 4-2.

The Jazz were probably one of the most unfortunate teams in the NBA during those three seasons. But life must go on, so they made changes again this summer.

The team let Favors go and added Eric Paschall, Rudy Gay and Hassan Whiteside to their roster. Paschall is an undersized big man with limited contributions to make defensively, but he can punish his defender in a mismatch. By contrast, Gay is a full-size swing forward and made career-high 2.8 triples at 38.1 percent per 36 minutes in the San Antonio Spurs last season.

The two will give coach Snyder the option to go small when game is on the line. They can join Mitchell, Joe Ingles, Royce O'Neal and Bogdanovic to match the opponents' small-ball squad in speed and with likely advantage in power.

Having Whiteside on the bench should relieve Gobert's workload and give the team a backup plan just in case the French giant makes too many fouls.

Generally speaking, the Jazz may not make visible progress, as they did in the past two seasons, but they are already a top team in the league, a level at which it is hard to improve. However, they learned their lesson of relying on one predictable lineup and have tried to diversify their options.

At least now, the Jazz do not seem hopeless because all of their major opponents have problems. In the West, the Los Angeles Lakers lack chemistry.  Meanwhile, the Phoenix Suns have not settled their contract extension with Deandre Ayton and Mikal Bridges; the Nuggets lack Murray, and the Clippers miss Leonard. In the East, the Brooklyn Nets have the problem of Kyrie Irving, and the Philadelphia 76ers have the headache of Ben Simmons.

This may be the best opportunity for the Jazz to make a difference.