The Utah Jazz will see five of their own take on the world in the FIBA World Cup.
The FIBA World Cup is right around the corner and the entire professional basketball world is taking a break from their regular schedule to accommodate this. While some of the biggest names in the game, like LeBron James, and some of the best names like Nikola Jokic, are sitting out, that doesn’t mean everyone is.
In fact, if we all agree that Jokic is the number one player in the world right now, and how could he not be, can we also agree that Giannis Antetokounmpo and Luka Doncic are the next two in any order? Both men are playing, with Antetokounmpo playing for Greece and Doncic for Slovenia.
They’re not the only top guys playing, as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (No. 8 in CBS Top 50 players list), Tyrese Haliburton (No. 16), Jalen Brunson (No. 29), Anthony Edwards (No. 30), and many more of the best NBA players in the world are taking their talents to the international level.
Yet, among NBA teams, there is only one squad sending more players than the Utah Jazz’s five to the FIBA tournament. And that team is none other than the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Thunder will have more representatives than the Jazz, with six total.
Despite that, it’s only the Jazz who can take claim to a unique honor. No other team in the NBA can say they are supplying as many countries with players as the Utah Jazz. They’ll have five players playing for five different countries in the international games.
And because of that, we decided we would rank the impact and significance of each player on said team.
5. C/PF Kelly Olynyk – Canada
It’s unfortunate for Kelly Olynyk that Team Canada is as stacked as it is. Olynyk will likely start for the team at power forward but with Dwight Powell, R.J. Barrett, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Jamal Murray, it’s unlikely he’ll get any real action as a scorer. That’s not even talking about the bench players that Olynyk will have to compete with for touches.
We’re talking about Kyle Alexander, Dillon Brooks, Luo Dort, Phil, and Thomas Scrubb, and Kevin Pangos. Those are some solid players right there, and while Olynyk will be able to stretch the court to help provide scoring, he’s just not going to get that many touches. In fact, it’s entirely possible the team goes with Brooks at power forward just for a faster, more small-ball-focused lineup.
Olynyk will be important if Team Canada wants to make noise, but it’s not fair to say that he’s as important as Gilgeous Alexander or Murray, as the offense will run through them first and foremost. He and Powell are among the team’s only two NBA-caliber bigs, so whether he starts or not won’t truly matter, he’ll get at least 20 a game just due to his sheer size.
The rest of the names on this list, however, are far more important to their team’s success.
No. 4 C Walker Kessler – USA
Like with Kelly Olynyk, Walker Kessler’s impact on Team USA will also not be as prominent as the others on this list. They’re going to be more in line with the centerpieces of their respective team’s offense, if not both sides of the court. Kessler won’t be the featured player offensively, not with names like Paolo Banchero, Tyrese Haliburton, and Jalen Brunson hanging about. What Kessler will be, however, is the focus of the team’s defense.
It’d be fair to say that Kessler is either the best, or one of the two best defensive players on Team USA’s FIBA squad already, and he’s just in his second year as a pro. He’s already seen as a Defensive Player of the Year candidate by some and his impact on the defense will be important.
Not only that, but the team lacks significant bigs, at least of Kessler’s size, so the team will be running a lot of small ball units when he’s not in. Considering teams like Canada, Australia, Spain, and others are going to have some serious heft to their squads, Kessler will be very important to Team USA. He’s the only guy with the size needed to clear the paint.
No. 3, F Simone Fontecchio – Italy
Simone Fontecchio found himself the centerpiece of Team Italy after Team USA’s Paolo Banchero pulled out of a promise to play for the country his father and he shares ties with. Without Banchero, the focus of the offense falls to Fontecchio, a backup wing for the Jazz, and now the centerpiece of Itay’s offense.
He’s averaged 19.3 points per game for Team Italy during EuroBasket and has led them to a 4-3 record in the games he’s played. When the action went from EuroBakset to European Qualifiers of the World Cup, he took a leap to 20.5 points per game, along with 5.5 rebounds and 4 assists. He also shot 60% from three, as he became the focus of the team. They won both of their two qualifying games, in part due to Fontecchio.
Fans in Utah didn’t see the best from him during his most recent season with the team, but now he’s going to look to provide the shooting and scoring pop needed, on a team that features Nicolo
Melli, and Nico Mannion.
With Italian icon Danilo Gallinari no longer on the team, it’ll be mostly on Fontecchio’s shoulders to help get the team deep into the FIBA World Cup tournament.
No one expects Italy to win, but showing up and being a tough out is reasonable.
2. PG/SG Jordan Clarkson – Philippines
The Utah Jazz are going to see a lot of what Jordan Clarkson can do as the focal point of a team in a major competition, as he was given the reigns for Team Philippines. Due to international rules, however, the Philippines had to give up a major player to get Clarkson, one who outperformed him.
Justin Brownlee had a better outing with the Philippine national team in the two games in the World Cup Asia Quafliers, but despite averaging more points (29 to 25), rebounds (8 to 4), field goal and three-point percentages, and a higher efficiency rating, the national team went with Clarkson over Brownlee.
Due to neither being citizens of the country, they could only compete for them if they were naturalized players in the eyes of FIBA, and FIBA only allows one naturalized player per team. Brownlee isn’t technically gone, he’s still a member of the 18-man squad, but he’ll likely play in the Hangzhou Asian Games instead while representing the Philippines.
Should Clarkson go down with an injury and have to be removed from the official 12-man roster, it’s likely that they’ll be able to bring back Brownlee. So now it’s on Clarkson’s shoulders to do better than Brownlee going forward and lead this team to a respectable outcome. If not, they may wonder why they went with Clarkson at all.
1. SF/PF Lauri Markkanen – Team Finland
Everyone we’ve talked about so far on this list has been either a part of the equation or the player these nations have built their teams around. Yet, they all vary differently on their respective national teams and on the Utah Jazz. Jordan Clarkson and Simone Fontecchio are stars for their respective teams, but neither of them are All-Stars in the NBA.
Kelly Olynyk is a necessary part of both Team Canada and the Utah Jazz’s success, but he’s not the focal point on his squad. Walker Kessler is a walking defensive nightmare for a team, but he’s going to be relegated to Mr. Defense on both the Jazz and Team USA this season.
No one, except for Lauri Markkanen, is coming into the FIBA World Cup (from the Utah Jazz) with the expectation that he’ll not only carry his country, Finland but also his NBA team as well. Not only that, but he’ll also be the only NBA-caliber player, that we know of, heading into the tournament.
No other player the Jazz are sending over has that issue. Even Jordan Clarkson has Kai Sotto, an NBA prospect for next year’s draft, ready to break out. Markkanen does not. Sure, one may emerge from the tournament, but Markkanen is going to be a man on his own in this FIBA World Cup.
The importance of Markkanen for Team Finland can’t be understated. Of everyone on Team Finland during EuroBasket, only one, Sasu Salin, averaged double-digits in points. Finland will only go as far as Markkanen can carry them.