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Looking ready to play, Gordon Hayward and Alec Burks arrived at Vivint Smart Home Arena just in time for the Jazz's final preseason game Wednesday.

Too bad those determined, eager faces are merely the window decorations on the southeast side of the building.

The Jazz completed their six-game exhibition schedule with an 88-84 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers, theoretically serving as a preview of next Tuesday's regular-season opener in Portland. Jazz coach Quin Snyder wishes the regular season wouldn't start for another month, but it is coming soon.

"The takeaways are that we're a ways away," Snyder said, summarizing the preseason, and who could disagree?

Burks' continuing recovery from last season's health issues and injuries to Hayward, Derrick Favors and Rodney Hood have disrupted the Jazz's October. Snyder's new favorite word is "connectivity," but the ailments have turned this operation into a disconnect, making him wonder as much anyone else what his team will become and when that will happen. The earliest possible date for everybody being available is probably mid-November, when Hayward's broken finger is mended.

Amid the disruption, "You just don't know [about] certain players, certain lineups," Snyder said before the game.

All I know for sure is Wednesday marked the last time Snyder will have Raul Neto, Dante Exum, Chris Johnson, Joel Bolomboy and Henry Sims as his closing fivesome in a tight game.

What the Jazz have learned is that Exum is healthy and improved after missing last season with a knee injury and Rudy Gobert showed growth in October, averaging nearly 15 points and nine rebounds in 24 minutes. Gobert is being more assertive in rolling to the basket, catching passes from Boris Diaw and finishing better than he did in the Olympics in August, when they were French teammates in Rio.

"We'll be fine," said Hood, who returned Wednesday after missing three games. "We're not discouraged by the injuries."

The fallout is that George Hill (who scored 16 points Wednesday), Joe Johnson and Diaw have played more minutes than they ordinarily would have in the preseason, giving them "a chance to kind of get acclimated," Snyder said.

And the Jazz clearly have more depth, which is a good thing. The problem is that while newcomers are getting accustomed to one another, they haven't played much, if at all, with Hayward, Favors or Hood.

That's why I'm sticking with the forecast of a slow start for this team. Snyder himself is cautious, although he said, "I like our group."

Every coach's only choice is to like his personnel. In the Jazz's case, outsiders also like these guys.

In the annual NBA.com survey of general managers, the Jazz were treated well. They were voted No. 2 behind Minnesota among teams likely to improve the most in 2016-17, while being ranked sixth overall in the Western Conference.

The Jazz tied with Indiana for No. 2 among teams making the best offseason moves, never mind that landing Kevin Durant made Golden State the runaway winner. George Hill was named the NBA's most underrated offseason acquisition — in other words, the Jazz's Dennis Lindsey won the non-Durant division.

Gobert was named the No. 2 interior defender in the league, next to the Los Angeles Clippers' DeAndre Jordan. The Jazz tied for third in the voting for the best defensive team, behind San Antonio and Boston, and were fifth in home-court advantage.

So the previews of this Jazz season are favorable, amid their troubles. We'll see how the reviews turn out, if they ever get everybody together.

Twitter: @tribkurt