Ranking each NBA team’s All-Decade starting 5 from the 2010s

Oklahoma City Thunder Kevin Durant Los Angeles Lakers Kobe Bryant (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
Oklahoma City Thunder Kevin Durant Los Angeles Lakers Kobe Bryant (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images) /
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Utah Jazz, Rudy Gobert, Donovan Mitchell
Utah Jazz Rudy Gobert Donovan Mitchell (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images) /

12. Utah Jazz 2010s all-decade starting lineup

  1. Deron Williams
  2. Donovan Mitchell
  3. Gordon Hayward
  4. Carlos Boozer
  5. Rudy Gobert

There was a time at the beginning of the decade where Deron Williams had a legitimate case as the best point guard in the game. He was that good, balancing floor general duties with a scorers mentality that helped him go up against some of the best of his time.

He’s joined in the backcourt Donovan Mitchell, another talented scoring guard, and his pick-and-roll partner Carlos Boozer, an elite presence around the rim who finished third in double-doubles in 2009-10.

Boozer’s range was limited to the elbow, which only creates so much space for Utah’s perimeter players. It’d be interesting to see his offensive mindset paired with Rudy Gobert, an elite interior defender with somewhat of an inverse set of limitations.

Gordon Hayward was the star of Utah’s 2016-17 season as a first-time All-Star, but he’s also an ideal fit alongside a ball-dominant backcourt of Williams and Donovan Mitchell.

Hayward can score with efficiency at all three levels or operate as a point forward. That gives the Utah Jazz an added dimension while easing some of the playmaking burdens off Williams and allowing him to operate with more of a scorers mentality.

Utah’s perimeter defense is suspect, but having a two-time Defensive Player of the Year certainly shores up some deficiencies, at least around the bucket.

Williams was that franchise-leading type of guy for the Jazz who got them to the playoffs more often than not. Who’s to say he can’t replicate a similar level of success with a supporting cast that provides more of an offensive punch than what Utah has grown accustomed to in recent years?