I personally don't think we were ever really all that close to winning a title in the Don/Rudy era. Sure, Lindsey missed on some moves and Snyder could have been more flexible in the playoffs and made more adjustments, and it would've helped if Don and Rudy could have got along better. In the end, I think the biggest problem by far is that we just didn't have the top end talent it takes to win in the playoffs. It's almost impossible to win a championship without having a top 5 player on your roster...you need a Jokic or a Kawhi or a Lebron or a Steph or a Gianis etc. We just didn't have that guy on our team.
I just don't think a team with Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell as it's two best/highest paid players would ever be able to win a championship, no matter who their coach, GM or teammates were.