Every season there's always one up-start team that surprises everyone. One team that takes the league by storm, becomes an NBA League pass favorite, maybe makes an upset or two, and sets a base for the future. This year, that team was the Utah Jazz.

After taking down the crippled Clippers while people climbed hand over foot onto the bandwagon, that said bandwagon was derailed in just four games at the hands of the Golden State Warriors. There's the problem within itself. There's no future for this team. Not while there are super teams roaming the NBA universe.

Utah has to take the long road.

The ugly truth that is the future

Look, it's not easy for the Utah Jazz to hit that big red button that's staring them in the face, wondering what their future would be like if they didn't treat their franchise like Wile E Coyote with a stick of dynamite. But let's face the facts. Gordon Hayward is the best player on this team.

There was a chance Utah's first All-Star in six seasons would stay if the Jazz somehow made it an actual series against the Warriors. Despite the best effort from Hayward and his band of merry underdogs, they didn't even make a dent in the seemingly indestructible machine that is Golden State. Now, all eyes look past this season for Hayward.

He's one of the best unrestricted free agents on the board, and there's nobody hitting the market that can score like he can. Just take a peek at his performance in his very first postseason.

We live in a world where people like Timofey Mozgov is making over $60 million dollars.

Teams are going to have no problem backing up the Brinks Trucks to give Commissioner Gordon as much money as he wants. The question is, is it worth it in Utah? His heart there, but like other stars before him, is the idea of a future with other stars brighter than being the man in Utah? Yes, Utah was a 50+ win team this season for the first time since Deron Williams and Carlos Boozer were doing their best knockoff impression of Stockton and Malone.

Yes, Hayward has a perennial DPOY in the Stifle Tower, the French Rejection, the EscarNO, Rudy Gobert. They have a few decent role players and young prospects who could possibly develop into something.

Yet, no matter what, you have to judge their ceiling next to that of San Antonio, Houston, and of course, Golden State. It's hard to imagine being better than 50 wins.

In the NBA, mediocrity is the kiss of death. Yes, winning 50 games and getting back into the playoffs is a beautiful storyline. It turned some heads and had people talking about something other than the slopes for the first time in over five years. It still isn't something that is going to eventually take out Golden State.

As long as the Big 4 is around, they can't beat them with their current roster.

Just look at the carnage from this past series. Keeping this team together will essentially make them the Raptors of the West.

Go big or go tanking

There's only one way this team keeps Hayward. Aim for the moon. The league today is filled with super teams. That's why we had a Cavs/Warriors finals last year, that's while we'll have one this year, and that's why people should pencil these two teams in until an even bigger and better monster comes along.

Right now, the Jazz need to upgrade at shooting guard or point guard. George Hill has been great commanding the offense for this team. However, he's also a free agent and he's pushing 30 and isn't even close to sniffing an invite to the top point guards table.

He doesn't even know what restaurant they're eating at. They have Dante Exum, who does have a number of highlights under his belt.

He may have saved his best stuff for last, but it's still hard to think of him as the reason for Hayward to stay considering he's averaged just 5.4 points and 2.1 assists since he entered the league back in 2014.

An upgrade here may be a big name like Kyle Lowry or Chris Paul. Lowry is the same age as Hill but is clearly significantly better, and a pick and roll with him and Gobert while Hayward slashes along the key is just a beautiful thought.

Paul is a little more unlikely, but he's a perfect court general who locks up on the other end.

At the two guard, they need plenty of help. The big contract they signed Alec Burkes can be chalked up as a mistake, Joe Johnson is 35 years old which might as well be 70 in NBA years, and saying Rodney Hood was awful this past series is possibly the understatement of the Jazz's postseason. It's a problem that needs to be addressed, and fast.

If they can't upgrade at either of those spots, maybe it's best to let Hayward walk. If he leaves, Hill is also as good as gone, which leaves space for the youth to either show up or get off the roster.

That way, the Jazz with the core group of Exum, Trey Lyles and Gobert can plummet back into the depths of the West from which they came as they bring in a high draft pick for next season. Just wait for the day until the Warriors All-Star unit breaks up so the NBA can be fair once again.

It's the bottom or the top. Those are the places to be in the NBA.
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