Will the Utah Jazz Produce an All-Star in 2016-17?

After a long drought without producing an All-Star, will 2016-17 finally be the year that a Utah Jazz player breaks into the NBA’s elite ranks?

Some people think it’s way too early to start speculating about the draft, about free agency, about trades or really about much of anything that’s going to take place in 2016-17. In some ways they may have a point. For crying out loud, the 2016 Finals aren’t even over yet!

Nevertheless–I say, forget those people! Speculation is what the offseason is all about! And yes, despite the Finals still going on, it’s been the offseason for us Jazz fans for quite a while now.  But instead of speculating on things in the near future like this month’s draft, I’m going to go right ahead and skip all the way to the 2017 All-Star Game.

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The 2017 NBA All-Star Game may or may not be held in Charlotte for reasons that have absolutely nothing to do with basketball. Therefore, I will forego weighing in on the matter here and focus strictly on what we at The J Notes know best: Basketball.

It’s been over five years since a Utah Jazz player appeared in an All-Star game. While Utah has players that appear to be on the cusp of stardom, none has been able to make his way over the hump just yet.

Ignoring the possibility that the Jazz add another perennial or current All-Star during the offseason (because we all know Kevin Durant has his eye on SLC, right?), the Jazz players that have the best chance of qualifying are Gordon Hayward, Derrick Favors and Rudy Gobert.

In the fan voting that determines the All-Star starters, none of these players even finished in the top 15 among Western Conference frontcourt players last year. This should come as no surprise as the Utah Jazz are far from winning a national popularity contest, which is all the All-Star fan voting really boils down to.

However, if any one of these three players can make significant strides next season, it’s not out of the question that one could finally break through and receive enough coaches votes to push them into the All-Star reserve mix.

Looking at stats alone, Hayward’s are relatively comparable to the likes of All-Star reserves DeMar DeRozan and Jimmy Butler, as are Favors’ to Andre Drummond, Paul Millsap and LaMarcus Aldridge. This isn’t to say that Hayward or Favors deserved the nod over players such as these (and obviously they couldn’t beat out players from the Eastern Conference anyway), but simply that reaching that All-Star level isn’t unrealistic.

Of course there are other factors that contribute to an All-Star selection. For example, Butler is unquestionably a better defender than Hayward and Aldridge is a more dangerous shooter than Favors. Often times a selection is affected by the amount of success a team is having or simply by the player’s legacy.

However, with the progress Favors has shown up to this point and his ever-growing comfort level on the court, if he can improve his consistency enough to average, say, two more points and two more rebounds per game than last season (which would put him at 18.4 ppg and 10.1 rpg) he very well could see himself crawling into the All-Star mix.

It’s a similar story for Hayward. If he can break into the 20-22 ppg range and shore up his shooting efficiency, his other stats and positive impact on the game will already have him well within All-Star striking distance.

Their All-Star bids likely will depend on the team having success as well. If the Jazz can climb up the standings to the middle of the Western Conference playoff pack, it will be pretty hard to leave at least one of these players off the list.

Then again, even this is no guarantee, as the fifth-seeded Portland Trail Blazers didn’t produce an All-Star last season (although Damian Lillard‘s snub was pretty atrocious).

Finally, because of Rudy Gobert’s unique skill set, if he has a breakout season next year, it’s possible he could find himself on the All-Star roster as well. More than anything, Gobert’s best shot to earn a bid would be work on the defensive end. In 2014, the (then) defensive juggernaut Roy Hibbert was named an All-Star reserve despite averaging just 10.8 points and 6.6 rebounds per game.

Of course, his performance in the previous year’s playoffs and the fact that his team, the Indiana Pacers, was the top seed in the East at the time certainly helped his case. Rudy’s blocks per game last season (2.2) matched Hibbert’s from 2014, meaning that if the Jazz start to have success and Gobert’s defense can take another surge forward, it wouldn’t be unprecedented for him to become a coaches All-Star selection.

Nevertheless, each of these Utah Jazz players will have their work cut out for them if they hope to attain All-Star status. While each is a solid player in his own right, the level of competition, particularly in the Western Conference, is nothing less than daunting.

Even if frontcourt reserves such as DeMarcus Cousins, Anthony Davis, Draymond Green or Aldridge happen to lose the favor of West coaches next season, there’s still the likes of Blake Griffin, DeAndre Jordan and Dwight Howard (assuming he stays in the West) to compete with.

This isn’t to say that it can’t be done, only that it will be a tall order. Honestly, if the Jazz aren’t at least in the top six in the West by the time the All-Star voting wraps up, it’s hard to see them getting any respect by the coaches, even if it is deserved on an individual level.

However, devout Jazz fans have seen the flashes of brilliance from each of these players and, All-Stars or not, if each continues to progress the way they have over the past couple seasons, they may very well find themselves competing inch for inch with some of the more hyped and star-studded teams in the league.

Hayward, Favors, and Gobert are all progressing towards All-Star status, but it will take eye-opening improvements, a better record as a team and a regression from some opposing players if any one of them hopes to finally break into that elite mix.

Next: Utah Jazz: Shooting Highlighted in Pre-Draft Workouts

All stats courtesy of NBA.com/stats