This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2015, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
With training camp about four weeks away, September is beginning to yield expectation concerning those three guys. And people - or publications - are beginning to talk about it.
This week, Sports Illustrated came out with its top 100 NBA players for the upcoming 2015-2016 season, and the Jazz have three guys among the top 40 - those three guys. Gobert comes in at number 39, Favors is at 37 and Hayward - one of the top small forwards in the league - is 31.
What does it mean? If nothing else, it means people are talking about what could be up front with the Jazz. Gobert last season, morphed into one of the best rim protectors in the NBA. Favors moved to power forward and became a two-way threat and Hayward enjoyed the best season of his career. With the three locked up contractually, and with Hayward being the elder statesman at the ripe old age of 25, it also means that none of the three have truly hit their athletic primes as of yet.
If they can stay healthy, simply put, the Utah Jazz have one of the best young frontcourt's in the NBA.
Now comes the pressure. The next step. The expectation. SI bestowed the three lofty rankings for a team that's yet to make the postseason, so that's the logical leap for the Jazz this season. Again, that will take health, it will take maturation and it will take help from the guards, mainly the point guards.
But all of that is another story for another day. For now, Jazz fans can take pride and solace in the fact that they have three guys up front who all appear to be developing into prime players at their respective positions.
Tony Jones