Utah Jazz: Donovan Mitchell hits SI Top 100 at No. 34

Utah Jazz star Donovan Mitchell has quickly become a force to be reckoned with in the NBA. He enters SI’s Top 100 countdown in the 30s.

The next wave in Sports Illustrated’s Top 100 NBA Players list hit the web on Tuesday. And much like the back 50, spots 50-31 were prime real estate for the Utah Jazz.

Coming in at No. 34 on the countdown, which was arranged by SI’s Rob Mahoney and Ben Golliver, was Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell, last year’s Rookie of the Year runner-up and Slam Dunk Contest champion.

For the record, that’s five spots ahead of fellow first-year phenom Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics.

Meanwhile, Jazz center Rudy Gobert was noticeably absent from this section of the list, which means the reigning Defensive Player of the Year will appear somewhere in the Top 30 once again. The Stifle Tower came in at No. 15 in last year’s list. Mitchell’s rookie rival, Ben Simmons, will also make the first 30.

Former Jazzman Paul Millsap was ranked 37th.

Regarding Mitchell, Golliver offered some high praise and a promising forecast for the future —

"If Rose was Chicago’s first superstar of the post-Jordan era, Mitchell might very well become Utah’s most beloved and decorated player since Stockton and Malone."

I would argue that Mitchell has already attained that status, as much for his personality and activity off the court as the incredible work he puts in on it. The Jazz have undoubtedly had some great players come through since their glory days — Gordon Hayward, Deron Williams, Carlos Boozer, Andrei Kirilenko and Mehmet Okur come to mind — but none have captured the imagination of the Jazz faithful like Mitchell.

He’s been the most publicly visible professional athlete in Utah of the last 15 years, making news locally, as well as nationally, with his actions in and around Salt Lake City.

Between that and his acumen on the hardwood, where he averaged 20-4-4 and led the Jazz to nearly 50 wins and a first-round playoff series victory, I expect his profile to continue its rise over the season to come. A year from now, he should be well within the Top 30 in this sort of list.

Per the authors, SI’s Top 100 rankings were assigned “based on a fluid combination of subjective assessment and objective data.”

To this point, Jazz players have been ranked as follows —

34. Donovan Mitchell
51. Derrick Favors
56. Joe Ingles
57. Ricky Rubio