Utah Jazz have three players among the NBA’s top 30 per SI

Sports Illustrated has come to the same conclusion as Utah Jazz fans — the talent level at the top of the team’s roster is elite.

‘Tis the time of season (or offseason, rather) when publications and media outlets around the hoops blogosphere unveil their rankings of the top players across the NBA. Subjective though they may be, these lists give fans a semblance of an idea about whether their teams have the talent sufficient to make a splash during the upcoming campaign.

Or maybe they just give us something to argue about? In either case, training camp is still a few weeks away. And, if you’re a Utah Jazz fan, the 2019 FIBA World Cup just got a lot less interesting. So, this is probably the best Jazz/NBA-related diversion out there at the moment.

This week, the first major top 100 list hit the ‘net, courtesy of Sports Illustrated. If you count yourself among the Jazzland masses, SI’s appraisal of the team’s revamped core of players is sure to get you going.

According to SI’s rankings, the Jazz have a legitimate big three in Rudy Gobert, Donovan Mitchell and Mike Conley. All three checked in as top 30 players across the whole of the Association.

Gobert was the highest-ranking Jazzman, coming in at No. 14. He was followed by Conley at No. 26 and Mitchell at No. 29.

Two other Jazzmen showed in the Top 100 as well. Namely Bojan Bogdanovic at No. 52 and Joe Ingles, who hit the list at No. 65.

Per SI’s Rob Mahoney, the rankings were assigned based on “a fluid combination of subjective assessment and objective data.” Past performance was also a key factor in appraisals.

Every player ranking was accompanied by a write-up explaining why players fell where they did. For me, though, the key write-up on the Jazz core was Mahoney’s overview of Mitchell, who probably has the most to prove of the aforementioned players —

"You can slow Mitchell down, but it takes a village: the right perimeter defenders, the right rim protectors, and the right peripheral coverage to make him feel like the walls are closing in. Tactical advancement is Mitchell’s next frontier. What happens when he learns to better pick his spots? How will defenses reckon with Mitchell once he’s better able to pass his way out of trouble? With Mitchell entering his third NBA season and likely learning from a third straight playoff run, we could get our answers sooner rather than later."

Following a World Cup run with USA Basketball that left some people yearning for more from Utah’s go-to guy, some familiar criticisms of Mitchell have begun to resurface; he’s too inefficient to lead a good team, his decision-making is shaky, his defense is worse than advertised, etc.

All I know is this — Mitchell has been on a steady upward trajectory since entering the league. And not many people noticed, but he closed out the 2018-19 season playing at an MVP level.

As I pointed out earlier this week, over the final 42 games of the season, Mitchell put up 27 points and nearly five rebounds and five assists per game. Also: he shot 45 percent from the floor and 41 percent from 3-point range.

Tactical advancement is great, but if he can even just replicate what he already showed over the back half of ’18-19, the Jazz are going to bust some heads. With another year and a World Cup Summer under his belt, as well as Conley and Bogdanovic joining the fold, I like his chances of continuing the progression.

Other Jazz people/alums on the list include Paul Millsap at No. 43, Derrick Favors at No. 55, Gordon Hayward at No. 59 and Ricky Rubio at No. 73.