For the Utah Jazz, complacency is not an option. Yet this offseason has, once again, sent signals around the NBA that the team prefers a holding pattern rather than an aggressive approach on the market.

Last season Utah went 54-28 but lost to the Los Angeles Lakers in the second round of the playoffs. While most teams would call this a successful season, the Jazz have made minimal strides toward improvement since the season ended.

Utah’s front office would likely tell you that they like their current team and their salary cap situation didn’t allow for any major moves.

More so, they would probably point to last year’s acquisition of Kyle Korver as a key move that didn’t have the chance, over a whole season, to reveal its impact.

They may also say that their core is a younger one, so they can be expected to improve without outside help.

All of these are fair arguments, but in response I would offer a reminder and a warning – this is a franchise that, except for three years from 2003-2006, has been a perennial contender with no championship banners to show for it.

Since 1983, Utah has been in the thick of things in the NBA’s regular season standings, but they are the NBA’s most glaring example of the cliché, “always a bride’s maid, never a bride.”

The Jazz have played in 43 playoff series since 1983, including six seasons where they reached the conference finals or further. They also had the unfortunate luck of running into Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls in back-to-back years when their dynamic duo of old, Karl Malone and John Stockton, peaked as a tandem.

In the 1990s, the Jazz had a rather large window of time to make a real run at the title, but even in the years they didn’t run into Chicago, they fell short.

If you look at the rosters for those teams, it’s clear that they never really surrounded Stockton and Malone with much help. Jeff Malone was great for a short time and Jeff Hornacek provided a strong third option for most of the decade, but there was never any great depth when it came to scoring or rebounding.

Now, after a three-year retooling period, the Jazz are once again on the brink of greatness in the Western Conference. Led by up-and-coming point guard Deron Williams and in-the-paint beast Carlos Boozer, the Jazz also boast Ronnie Brewer, Kyle Korver, Andrei Kirilenko, Paul Millsap and Mehmet Okur. Compared to Utah teams from the decade past, this incarnation is far deeper. However, the league has also changed such that boasting a rotation with five good players and two stars is not enough to guarantee success, or even a playoff spot.

Heading into next season Utah is one of the best teams in the West even without major moves. Williams is an excellent talent and they have a good mix of inside and outside scoring and defense. They were a small cult-favorite to come out of the West this year, and the only real knock against them was their inexplicable inability to win on the road.

The Jazz could head into the 2008-09 season having not made a move, and I would predict them to finish in the top four in the standings. But that confidence certainly doesn’t stretch as far as an NBA championship or even an invitation to the Western Conference Finals.

With $62.4 million committed in salary, the Jazz are over the cap, yet they have enough room to at least use their full mid-level exception without risking luxury tax. While the free agent market was somewhat thin, the Jazz have made minimal moves to improve their roster.

Last month they drafted two European players that are pegged as projects and who won’t make an impact for a few years if at all while spending their first round on Kosta Koufos, who will likely struggle to find consistent playing time behind Boozer, Okur and Millsap.

I know free agency isn’t over yet, and the Jazz could very well be waiting to see if the market leaves them a less expensive option who won’t tie up future cap space. There is still the heavily discussed option of moving Kirilenko, too, though his market value swings too much to accurately judge what they could net in return and whether it would be worthwhile.

However, this is a team built for the now, with an aging coach and a less than desirable cap situation when it comes time for Williams’ first contract extension.

The Jazz are faced with a small window of opportunity, maybe only two or three seasons, to win a championship without some sort of rebuilding. That’s why it’s been frustrating to watch them do little to help their team this offseason, while the teams around them make moves to improve.

Complacency kills, as Utah learned in the ’90s, and hopefully before the season begins the front office remembers that lesson.