I don't agree with this. The issue is play style. Jazz have a small, old-fashioned PG in Mike Conley, and a big gangly center in Gobert. The 5-out model, where everyone scores and everyone defends is a better model.
Salt Lake isn't a great market, but neither are Sacramento, San Antonio, Charlotte, Minnesota, Milwaukee, Orlando, Cleveland, Detroit, or Toronto. You can't just write off one-third of the league because the markets aren't attractive.
The Bucks and Suns were in the Finals last year.
Every level of competition, even in the workforce, is going to have outliers that go against the expectation.
But you listed out a bunch of teams who've largely done either about as well as the Jazz the last 40 years or significantly worse.
Sacramento has made the NBA Playoffs ten times in the last forty seasons. They last made it in 2006! They've made one Western Conference Finals (2002) and never made a NBA Finals.
Charlotte (including the old Hornets, the Bobcats and the new Hornets) have made the playoffs just ten times in their history - their first season being 1988. They've been out of the first round four times in their franchise's history. They've never made it out of the semifinals and to the Eastern Conference Finals, however.
Their last playoff series win was in 2002 ... before the franchise relocated to New Orleans.
Their last actual trip to the playoffs was in 2016.
Minnesota came into the NBA a year after Charlotte. In that span, they've made the NBA playoffs 10 times as well. They've only advanced beyond the first round ONCE. In the history of the franchise, the Timberwolves have just 19 playoff wins all-time and TEN of those came in one playoff (when they made the WCF in 2004).
Milwaukee I've gone over.
Orlando had success in the 2000s with Dwight Howard, when they made the NBA Finals in a weak Eastern Conference, and I will concede they've done relatively well. But they still have zero NBA titles and have only made the playoffs twice since 2012.
Cleveland I don't think is comparable to Salt Lake, even though it does get a bad wrap.
See Cleveland for Detroit.
The big knock against Toronto is that they're a Canadian city but they're the fifth largest city in NORTH AMERICA so I just don't see it as a comparison.
Phoenix is where the Jazz have been most their history: good and yet have yet to prove it. We'll see if that changes this year.
San Antonio is an anomaly and always has been.
I think this list shows just how difficult it is to win a title in the NBA when you're not a power market. It takes a perfect storm, like with the Cavs getting LeBron to return after he went to Miami. He was a Hometown Hero who decided to come back and win it all - but there isn't anything remotely similar beyond the Jazz getting Lillard (and he's no LeBron).
The Spurs lucked out. They tanked for one season and got Duncan. Duncan saved a franchise that was very similar to the Jazz - winning Midwest Division titles, being good but just not good enough.
But the Spurs without Duncan haven't done much. Since he retired, the Spurs have had one run in the playoffs: 2017 where they made the WCF and were swept by the Warriors (oddly, a similar season as Utah's in 2007 after Stockton and Malone had retired/left, albeit a bit longer in between those seasons). Since? They've lost the first-round to the Warriors (swept), Nuggets and haven't made the playoffs.
Maybe the Jazz can get an all-time top player in NBA history through the draft. It sure worked for the Bucks too.
But all those other teams I listed out have drafted star players and have as many rings to show for it as Utah. And a lot less consistency.
