Draft primer
With 48 hours left until the NBA Draft, the Jazz wrapped up their individual workouts Tuesday with Brigham Young center Trent Plaisted and Arkansas center Steven Hill. The Jazz brought in 25 players this year (compared to 36 last year) but feel they saw more players overall thanks to a group workout last week hosted by Golden State.
It's hard to say what exactly the Jazz will do with the No. 23 pick - - the Jazz actually pick higher in the first round this year even though they won more games than last season - - but I think their thought process will follow this track.
1. Draft Roy Hibbert if available.
The Jazz showed their cards by bringing the Georgetown center to Utah for two workouts. Hibbert's one of the few players at No. 23 who could make even a small contribution off the bench as a rookie. The Jazz also love that he played in the Princeton offense, with its emphasis on passing and team play, during his four years in college. The big question is if Hibbert will still be around when the Jazz make their choice. Along with Utah, he's worked out twice for Sacramento, which owns the No. 12 pick. Hibbert would have to fall past at least six teams for which he worked out to land with the Jazz.
2. Decide if another big man is worth filling the 15th roster spot.
The Jazz already have 13 players under contract for next season and likely will tender C.J. Miles a one-year qualifying offer to return. You can't keep more than 15 players, and Kevin O'Connor is typically opposed to doing so. But the Jazz would make a one-year exception in the right situation, especially considering they might have to give up a protected first-round pick next year to Philadelphia as part of the Kyle Korver trade.
Assuming Hibbert is gone, the Jazz will start by considering other big men. Rider's Jason Thompson is a good candidate, but the Jazz aren't convinced he'll still be around at No. 23, either. Nevada's JaVale McGee could drop to them but wouldn't come to Utah for a workout. The Jazz likely would draft France's Alexis Ajinca, Florida's Marreese Speights or Stanford's Robin Lopez but none of the three are expected to fall to No. 23.
3. Decide if it's worth drafting another young shooting guard/small forward.
Between Ronnie Brewer, Kyle Korver, Morris Almond and Miles, the Jazz had too many young wings on their roster last season. It makes little sense to add another, but the Jazz are committed to taking the best player available regardless of position. They weren't able to bring any of the following to Utah for a workout, but they did watch Brandon Rush, Courtney Lee, Chris Douglas-Roberts and Bill Walker at the Golden State workout.
It's not likely to happen, but the Jazz wouldn't hesitate in drafting Rush if he unexpectedly fell to No. 23. They like Lee and Douglas-Roberts, but have a greater need for a big man. If they were to draft a guard, the Jazz might not tender Miles a qualifying offer, which would enable him to leave as an unrestricted free agent.
4. Europe time
The Jazz worked out two big men Saturday - - Alexis Ajinca and Serge Ibaka - - who play in France and Spain, respectively. They could draft either one and opt to have him play another season (or two) in Europe while still retaining his rights. They faced the same decision last year with Kyrylo Fesenko, but decided his development was best served in Utah not Ukraine.
Ibaka, who won't turn 19 until September, seemed more open to the option than Ajinca when they were both in town. Both players are in the mix, though Ajinca is a borderline lottery pick in the most recent mock drafts I've seen. The Jazz are likely to consider an international player (or two) or an American player willing to head overseas with their two second-round picks.
5. Trade the pick
If the Jazz find none of the first four options particularly appealing, it wouldn't surprise me if they traded the pick for a 2009 first-rounder. It makes sense to add a pick in 2009, when they have several players whose contracts will have expired, and when they might lose their first-rounder to the Sixers to complete the Korver deal.
No matter what happens, keep in mind that the Jazz's two draft picks last year - - Morris Almond and Kyrylo Fesenko - - combined to play in 18 games and score 27 points their rookie season. Your best bet to see the newest members of the Jazz play next season probably will come in the NBA Development League.
--Ross Siler
It's hard to say what exactly the Jazz will do with the No. 23 pick - - the Jazz actually pick higher in the first round this year even though they won more games than last season - - but I think their thought process will follow this track.
1. Draft Roy Hibbert if available.
The Jazz showed their cards by bringing the Georgetown center to Utah for two workouts. Hibbert's one of the few players at No. 23 who could make even a small contribution off the bench as a rookie. The Jazz also love that he played in the Princeton offense, with its emphasis on passing and team play, during his four years in college. The big question is if Hibbert will still be around when the Jazz make their choice. Along with Utah, he's worked out twice for Sacramento, which owns the No. 12 pick. Hibbert would have to fall past at least six teams for which he worked out to land with the Jazz.
2. Decide if another big man is worth filling the 15th roster spot.
The Jazz already have 13 players under contract for next season and likely will tender C.J. Miles a one-year qualifying offer to return. You can't keep more than 15 players, and Kevin O'Connor is typically opposed to doing so. But the Jazz would make a one-year exception in the right situation, especially considering they might have to give up a protected first-round pick next year to Philadelphia as part of the Kyle Korver trade.
Assuming Hibbert is gone, the Jazz will start by considering other big men. Rider's Jason Thompson is a good candidate, but the Jazz aren't convinced he'll still be around at No. 23, either. Nevada's JaVale McGee could drop to them but wouldn't come to Utah for a workout. The Jazz likely would draft France's Alexis Ajinca, Florida's Marreese Speights or Stanford's Robin Lopez but none of the three are expected to fall to No. 23.
3. Decide if it's worth drafting another young shooting guard/small forward.
Between Ronnie Brewer, Kyle Korver, Morris Almond and Miles, the Jazz had too many young wings on their roster last season. It makes little sense to add another, but the Jazz are committed to taking the best player available regardless of position. They weren't able to bring any of the following to Utah for a workout, but they did watch Brandon Rush, Courtney Lee, Chris Douglas-Roberts and Bill Walker at the Golden State workout.
It's not likely to happen, but the Jazz wouldn't hesitate in drafting Rush if he unexpectedly fell to No. 23. They like Lee and Douglas-Roberts, but have a greater need for a big man. If they were to draft a guard, the Jazz might not tender Miles a qualifying offer, which would enable him to leave as an unrestricted free agent.
4. Europe time
The Jazz worked out two big men Saturday - - Alexis Ajinca and Serge Ibaka - - who play in France and Spain, respectively. They could draft either one and opt to have him play another season (or two) in Europe while still retaining his rights. They faced the same decision last year with Kyrylo Fesenko, but decided his development was best served in Utah not Ukraine.
Ibaka, who won't turn 19 until September, seemed more open to the option than Ajinca when they were both in town. Both players are in the mix, though Ajinca is a borderline lottery pick in the most recent mock drafts I've seen. The Jazz are likely to consider an international player (or two) or an American player willing to head overseas with their two second-round picks.
5. Trade the pick
If the Jazz find none of the first four options particularly appealing, it wouldn't surprise me if they traded the pick for a 2009 first-rounder. It makes sense to add a pick in 2009, when they have several players whose contracts will have expired, and when they might lose their first-rounder to the Sixers to complete the Korver deal.
No matter what happens, keep in mind that the Jazz's two draft picks last year - - Morris Almond and Kyrylo Fesenko - - combined to play in 18 games and score 27 points their rookie season. Your best bet to see the newest members of the Jazz play next season probably will come in the NBA Development League.
--Ross Siler
4:44 PM
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6 Comments:
A trade could be very possible. Couple questions though. First... why no draft party this year? Have the Jazz given a reason?
Second, draftexpress stated that the Jazz have interest in Goran Dragic, who they can draft and stash in Europe for a couple of years. Know anything about this (or about the guy)?
I would say if no appealing big men are left and Rush is gone, draft Goran Dragic (probably too high) and leave him in Europe for a year or two.
If the Jazz do get a big guy, what does that have instore for Fes? i know everybody loves the kid as a person, but what about as a player? He has sooooo far to go. I don't want him to turn out like CJ Miles where we just keep him on incase there is an opening for him. The Jazz should trade at least one of there 2nd rounders and do their best to get rid of Hart and CJ, and try to get a big. We're all excited about the extentions of Boozer and DWill, but we can't put "possibly athletic" or "potentially decent back-up center" around them. AK is going to be gone by next season, and Booz possibly will leave us. Then all the sudden we're back where we were two years ago...and with the 14th over all pick the Jazz select...ed to do nothing 2 years ago and crush the hopes and dreams of SLC.
I pretty much am spot on with your assessments (as I've been saying to Steve). I've been high on Hibbert since watching how well he handled/out-played Greg Oden in last year's NCAA tournament. This is the kind of defense we need and Oden is the kind of center (Ming, Bynum, Kaman, O'Neil, etc our guys are going to have to defend against. With his length, size and all-around defensive presence, Roy reminds me of a young (1997 playoff-vintage) Greg Ostertag. Remember when Ostertag was actually quite good and caused guys like Olajuwon and Shaq so much trouble. But, Hibbert has one major (huge) advantage over Ostertag--desire and a tremendous work ethic. The lack of that is what really killed/ruined Ostertag's potentially better career. We're not even talking about Hibbert's vastly superior offensive skills--not to mentioned free throw shooting, which everyone overlooks. Look, there are obviously no guarantees, but I hope/wish/pray our Jazz brain trust are looking at packaging something together to move up a bit (15-17 range) because it now looks like there's no way Hibbert will be available at 23. If we don't make a move I hope I'm wrong and he's still there at 23! Cheers,Tim Malinski
I've also have heard that we are looking very highly at picking Goran Dragic as a B/U point in the second round (he should be available) who we can stash overseas for awhile. The great think about Goran is he's a dramatically different player than Ronnie Price being a more Deron Williams sized 6ft4 200lb guy who's definitely a pass-first kind of guy. He's also a lefty. It would be a great change-up having these two behind Deron in the future!
Charlotte traded up to #20... rumor is that they are very high on Hibbert. If the Jazz want him, they're gonna have to trade up.
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