Would Lauri Markkanen be a top 15 player in the playoffs had the Utah Jazz made it?

Lauri Markkanen is the top guy in Salt Lake City but is the Utah Jazz's sole All-Star on the level of the Top 15 players in the NBA playoffs currently? That's what we're going to be looking at. Markkannen, known for his three-level scoring, has made the Jazz much better than anyone would have expected at this point in the team's rebuild.

He's played so well that the team has to actually hinder Markkanen by trading away his better and more reliable two-way teammates. If the Jazz didn't single-handily hold Markkanen and company back, the Jazz may be in the playoffs right now.

He's not, however, and instead, he's watching the most exciting brand of basketball the NBA offers from the comfort of his own home. This is giving him plenty of time to watch the best of the best in the NBA. But is he on the best of the best's level?

Well, ESPN posted their Top 15 players this postseason (via NBA Central) and it's a pretty controversial list.

As you can see, some big names are missing from the list, namely Giannis Antetokounmpo, who has been injured heading into the playoffs. He's missed both games the Milwaukee Bucks have played, but Joel Embiid, who can barely move because he's so injured, is fourth. He's shooting just 39% from the floor but is apparently over Anthony Edwards, who's crushing it right now.

Anthony Davis and LeBron James, while putting up nice offensive stats are not putting forth the effort on defense necessary to win. It's clear that while this list overrated the name value of some players, we'd have a strong case for putting Lauri Markkanen in the Top 15 somewhere. Just look at Tyrese Haliburton and how he's absolutely disappeared.

Some guys are all hype and the playoffs are proving that, others are aging out. Yes, I think it's within the realm of possibility that the Jazz's big, dubbed the Finnisher would be on this list if he had made the playoffs.