Therefore, it’s somewhat ironic that the player ranked above him on ESPN’s top 100 is a 20-year-old point guard heading into his second NBA season with a tremendous amount of hype.
LaMelo Ball ranks 47 on ESPN’s list. The knees of Utah Jazz fans are jerking in such widespread unison that it’s audible in Charlotte. However, fairness dictates that we apply the same statistical analysis in a comparison of the two talented point guards.
The advanced metrics tell us that Mike Conley Jr. was still considerably better than Ball throughout the 2020-21 season. His 19.2 PER towers over Ball’s 17.5, and his 2.4 VORP does the same over Ball’s 1.4.
In giving ESPN the benefit of the doubt, one has to assume that they are baking-in some presumed development for Ball, as well as some likely regression for the 33-year-old Conley Jr. When viewed through that lens, Ball’s ranking ahead of the Utah Jazz floor general is justifiable, but that’s not the same as saying that it’s right. In other words, this one is a tough call.
In the case of Tobias Harris’ 46th ranking, the call is considerably easier to make. He edged Conley Jr. in both PER and VORP over the 2020-21 season, with respective marks of 20.0 and 2.7.
Fans of the Utah Jazz could be forgiven for resenting LaMelo Ball’s ranking over Mike Conley Jr., but when factoring age and role into the equation, it feels (barely) fair as well.
we covered 3 Jazzmen ranked in the 100 to 51 portion of the rankings</a>, buying or selling their position. We looked at each’s Player Efficiency Rating (PER) and Value Over Replacement Player (VORP), as well as their role and style of play to evaluate whether they may have deserved to be ranked over the first two players ranked ahead of them.</p>
<p>Since then, ESPN has released their rankings from <a href=https://thejnotes.com/2021/09/24/utah-jazz-players-espn-top-100-2/2/"https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/32244615/nbarank-2021-ranking-best-players-2021-22-50-26" target="_blank" rel="noopener">50 to 26,</a> and <a href=https://thejnotes.com/2021/09/24/utah-jazz-players-espn-top-100-2/2/"https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/32249592/nbarank-2021-ranking-best-players-2021-22-25-6">25 to 6</a> in separate articles. Unsurprisingly, three more members of the Utah Jazz earned placements on the list.</p>
<p>You probably don’t have to be an NBA insider to guess which three.</p>
<p>In this article, we’ll be buying or selling the rankings of Mike Conley Jr., Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell using the same criteria as before. Here’s hoping that the Utah Jazz faithful can read it without any deep feelings of outrage and disgust.</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #00265D" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://thejnotes.com/2021/09/24/utah-jazz-players-espn-top-100-2/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Mike Conley Jr. </a>
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has become so synonymous</a> with “underrated” that it’s difficult to avoid a knee-jerk reaction whenever he’s ranked in any sort of list. After all, this is a player who earned his first All-Star appearance 14-years into a storied career: realistically, he deserved at least one-or-two more trips to the league’s midseason dance.</p>
<p>Therefore, it’s somewhat ironic that the player ranked above him on ESPN’s top 100 is a 20-year-old point guard heading into his second NBA season with a tremendous amount of hype.</p>
<p>LaMelo Ball ranks 47 on ESPN’s list. The knees of Utah Jazz fans are jerking in such widespread unison that it’s audible in Charlotte. However, fairness dictates that we apply the same statistical analysis in a comparison of the two talented point guards.</p>
<p>The advanced metrics tell us that Mike Conley Jr. was still considerably better than Ball throughout the 2020-21 season. His 19.2 PER towers over Ball’s 17.5, and his 2.4 VORP does the same over Ball’s 1.4.</p>
<p>In giving ESPN the benefit of the doubt, one has to assume that they are baking-in some presumed development for Ball, as well as some likely regression for the 33-year-old Conley Jr. When viewed through that lens, Ball’s ranking ahead of the Utah Jazz floor general is justifiable, but that’s not the same as saying that it’s right. In other words, this one is a tough call.</p>
<p>In the case of Tobias Harris’ 46th ranking, the call is considerably easier to make. He edged Conley Jr. in both PER and VORP over the 2020-21 season, with respective marks of 20.0 and 2.7.</p>
<p>Harris’ gargantuan contract has <a href=https://thejnotes.com/2021/09/24/utah-jazz-players-espn-top-100-2/2/"https://www.si.com/nba/76ers/news/sixers-tobias-harris-overpaid-nba" target="_blank" rel="noopener">colored his perception around the league</a>, but this is still an effective stretch 4 who gave the 76ers 19.5 points per game on a tidy 59.7 True Shooting % (TS%) last season. The question of whether he’s worth his contract is certainly debatable, but his 46th overall placement on ESPN’s top 100 list is much less so.</p>
<p>Fans of the Utah Jazz could be forgiven for resenting LaMelo Ball’s ranking over Mike Conley Jr., but when factoring age and role into the equation, it feels (barely) fair as well.</p>
<p><em><strong>Verdict: Buy (with apprehension) </strong></em></p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #00265D" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://thejnotes.com/2021/09/24/utah-jazz-players-espn-top-100-2/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Rudy Gobert </a>
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a non-spacing, non-switching big like Gobert</a> could be named the 25th best player in the National Basketball Association. While the league may be generally trending away from players like Gobert, he remains an exception, coming off a season in which he was awarded his 3rd Defensive Player of the Year award. Certainly, he deserves his 25th overall ranking: the only question is whether he deserves a higher one.</p>
<p>The player ranked one spot ahead of Gobert is essentially his antithesis in Karl-Anthony Towns. A former number-one overall pick, Towns epitomizes the modern big: in fact, he’s <a href=https://thejnotes.com/2021/09/24/utah-jazz-players-espn-top-100-2/2/"https://dunkingwithwolves.com/2019/12/01/minnesota-timberwolves-all-star-karl-anthony-towns-is-on-a-historic-3-point-pace/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">arguably the best shooting center in NBA history</a>. In 2019-20, Towns hit 41.2% of his 7.9 three-point attempts per game. Those are marks any guard in the league not named Curry would be satisfied to hit.</p>
<p>On the other hand, for every advantage Towns has over the Utah Jazz rim protector on offense, he may give up an equal amount on the less glamorous end of the floor. A comparison between the two star centers actually amounts to an interesting case study on its own. Last season, Gobert bested Towns in both of the key metrics we’re using in this exercise. His PER of 23.5 edged KAT’s 23.1, and his VORP of 3.6 towers (pun intended) over Towns’ 2.7 mark.</p>
<p>Towns, amidst personal tragedy and health concerns, had a down year last season, and ESPN may be banking on a return to his prior form. His 26.5 PER in 2019-20 is much more reflective of the type of superstar he’s widely regarded to be. The question is, has Towns earned that benefit of the doubt?</p>
<p>Next season, he’ll be sharing the floor with burgeoning superstar Anthony Edwards, as well as a ball-dominant, offensively gifted point guard in D’Angelo Russell. There are no guarantees that KAT can find his former footing. Meanwhile, his already problematic defense hit a career-low last season as he posted as a 113 Defensive Rating. Gobert, on the other hand, posted a characteristically elite 101.</p>
<p>Nobody is necessarily saying that Rudy Gobert is better at basketball than Karl-Anthony Towns. He is, quite obviously, a significantly less skilled offensive player. However, it feels likely that he’ll contribute to winning more significantly for the Utah Jazz than Towns is likely to for his Timberwolves, and that makes ESPN’s ranking in this case questionable-at-best.</p>
<p>On the other hand, Zion Williamson’s 23rd ranking feels like an open-and-shut case. His 27.1 PER and 3.8 VORP exceed both Gobert and Towns’ marks in each metric, and at 21, improvement is the assumed outcome heading into the 2021-22 season.</p>
<p>Still, the placement of Towns over Gobert shouldn’t sit right with fans of the Utah Jazz.</p>
<p><em><strong>Verdict: Sell </strong></em></p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #00265D" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://thejnotes.com/2021/09/24/utah-jazz-players-espn-top-100-2/2/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Donovan Mitchell </a>
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certainly has room to improve</a> and increase his stock in next offseason’s version of the list. In the meantime, we can only look at whether he’s fairly placed this season.</p>
<p>One spot ahead of Mitchell we find another young, star guard in the Atlanta Hawks’ Trae Young. The two metrics we’ve used in these rankings seem to validate Young’s placement ahead of Mitchell, as both his PER of 23.0 and VORP of 3.0 exceed Mitchell’s marks of 21.3 and 2.5.</p>
<p>The temptation to scramble for a reason to dispute this ranking is overwhelming, but there is little evidence to suggest Mitchell was wronged in this instant. Neither player has a tremendous reputation as a defender. Mitchell’s mediocre Defensive Rating of 110 may outrank Young’s pedestrian 116 mark, but given that neither player graded out as a difference maker on that end of the floor, it’s hard to award Mitchell many marks for that accomplishment.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, both players are the focal points of their team’s offenses, but Young’s ability to make plays for his teammates (9.4 assists per game last season) separates him from Mitchell, given that Young is also an elite bucket-getter. ESPN will get no debate for their placement of Young ahead of Mitchell.</p>
<div class="fs-shortcode" data-type="StoryLink" data-theme="dark" data-text="How the Nuggets handed the Jazz a contending core" data-url="https://thejnotes.com/2021/09/23/nuggets-handed-utah-jazz-core/" data-call-to-action="Next"
> <div class="story-link-next"> <a class="story-link-next-btn" style="background: #00265D" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="story-link-next-shortcode" href=https://thejnotes.com/2021/09/24/utah-jazz-players-espn-top-100-2/2/"https://thejnotes.com/2021/09/23/nuggets-handed-utah-jazz-core/"> <span class="call_to_action">Next:</span> How the Nuggets handed the Jazz a contending core </a> </div>
</div>
<p>Veteran Miami Heat forward Jimmy Butler ranked two spots ahead of Mitchell at 16th. It’s even more difficult to debate that decision. His 26.5 PER and 4.2 VORP from 2020-21 are both several paces ahead of either Mitchell or Young, and in contrast to the two young guards, he’s an elite defender to boot.</p>
<p>In other words, it seems as if Mitchell’s 18th overall ranking by ESPN is pretty fair. Any Utah Jazz fans who disagree are left to hope that Spida vindicates their belief throughout the 2021-22 season.</p><!—pageview_candidate—>">