Utah Jazz: 3 things to hope for in the new year

As the 2017 year comes to a close, here are three things the Utah Jazz hope for as the calendar year flips over to 2018.

The final three months of the 2017 calendar year have been somewhat of a whirlwind for the Utah Jazz. Following the loss of Gordon Hayward to the Boston Celtics in the offseason, the new-look Jazz began the 2017-18 season looking to not have skipped a beat.

Utah opened up the year having won five of its first eight games, making a case to remain in the thick of things in the rugged Western Conference.

Since that point, the struggles began for the Jazz, who have gone 11-18 since the hot start, quickly falling out of the playoff picture with a record of 16-21 while approaching the halfway mark in the season.

Even with the ups and the downs that Utah has been dealt with so far in the NBA season, it is still in position to make a run at securing a playoff spot in the West during the second half of the regular season.

And as the calendar season flips from 2017 to 2018, here are three things the Jazz will hope for in the new year.