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SLAM Top 50 Underrates Utah Jazz Players

Apr 14, 2014; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Utah Jazz guard Gordon Hayward (left) and center Derrick Favors (15) and guard Alec Burks (10) react on the bench late during the fourth quarter against the Los Angeles Lakers at EnergySolutions Arena. The Lakers won 119-104. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports
Apr 14, 2014; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Utah Jazz guard Gordon Hayward (left) and center Derrick Favors (15) and guard Alec Burks (10) react on the bench late during the fourth quarter against the Los Angeles Lakers at EnergySolutions Arena. The Lakers won 119-104. Mandatory Credit: Russ Isabella-USA TODAY Sports

Utah Jazz stars Gordon Hayward, Derrick Favors and Rudy Gobert get the short end of the stick in SLAM’s Top 50 NBA Players countdown.

With the summer reaching its conclusion and the preseason fast-approaching, the basketball press is ramping up its NBA coverage. In what has become an annual tradition during this time of year, multiple publications are putting out their player rankings; lists that are tediously crafted by panels of respected hardwood pundits.

In Sports Illustrated’s Top 100 list, the Utah Jazz received a lot of love. All five of the team’s projected starting five appeared in the rankings, with Gordon Hayward and Derrick Favors showing up inside the Top 30.

Rudy Gobert fell just short of that distinction at No. 33.

Over the past month, SLAM Magazine has followed SI’s lead, revealing the players that comprise their Top 50 at a rate of one per day. However, these rankings differ from SI’s in a major way as relates to the Jazz.

According to SLAM, the Big Three of the Jazz aren’t all that.

For the record, I dig SLAM. For hoops junkies like myself, it’s one of the better spots on the ‘net for NBA talk. But their appraisal of Utah’s stars has left something to be desired.

Let’s start with the publication’s most recent Jazz reveal on Thursday, which was Hayward at No. 33. It comes as a curious valuation given how much the Jazz relied on Hayward and how well he performed under such a heavy burden.

Outside of players like LeBron James and James Harden, no player was forced to carry the load Hayward did. The Jazz wing was second in the league in total minutes played behind Harden and covered an incredible 203 miles on the court in those minutes, which was also good for second in the league.

He quite literally walked, ran and jumped across a greater distance than almost any player in the league for his team.

And despite that wear and tear, his statistical performance placed him among the league’s elite. Hayward was one of just 10 players to average at least 19 points, five rebounds and 3.5 assists last season. The other nine are all perennial All-Stars and MVP types, including players like Harden, James, Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant.

Hayward also ranked in the Top 20 in the league in both Value Above Replacement Player (VORP) and Offensive Win Shares.

Nevertheless, SLAM didn’t feel he warranted Top 20 (or even Top 30) consideration in their rankings. Going so far as to refer to him as “a guy who’s most well-known for missing a shot once.”

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Utah’s starting big man duo got it even worse. Gobert hit the rankings at No. 40, while Favors barely made the cut at No. 48.

This seems particularly egregious when you consider some of the players who were ranked ahead of them. Both fell behind aging/diminished frontcourt players like Dwight Howard, Kevin Love and Dirk Nowitzki and an inexperienced Kristaps Porzingis. Favors was also outranked by second-year guard Devin Booker, among others.

As with Hayward, statistics tell a tale of a different color.

Favors was a 16-point, eight-rebound, 1.5-block guy last season. Only Anthony Davis, Paul Millsap, Karl-Anthony Towns and Pau Gasol could say the same. Again — multi-time All-Stars and legit franchise cornerstones.

He also ranked in the Top 20 in the league in blocks per game, field goal percentage, Player Efficiency Rating (PER) and Defensive Box Plus/Minus.

Gobert, meanwhile, was third in the league in blocks per game, seventh in rebounding and was second overall in Defensive Box Plus/Minus. He was also Top 20 in overall Box Plus/Minus and Defensive Win Shares.

Now, having said all of that, I’d stop short of saying that SLAM has “done the Jazz trio dirty.” However, it’s plain to see that Hayward, Favors and Gobert aren’t getting all of the credit they deserve.

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Of course, these lists are always subjective to a degree. And whether we agree with them or not, SLAM’s rankings definitely serve to foster debate and discussion.

Still, I’m probably not alone in the belief that the core players of the Jazz are going to make them look silly this season.

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