Sunday report
After working out Rider's Jason Thompson, Florida's Marreese Speights and Indiana's D.J. White on Sunday, the Jazz said they probably wouldn't bring in another group of players until next weekend. So far, they've held only three workouts in Utah.
They did interview 10 players at the NBA's predraft camp in Orlando, Fla., and they did attend Saturday's mass workout held by Golden State. By one estimate, 10 first-round prospects took part in that workout, including Thompson and Speights.
One question is whether agents are steering their shooting guards, small forwards and point guards away from the Jazz, even though Kevin O'Connor and Co. have said they are committed to taking the best player available regardless of position.
It isn't hard to size up the current roster and see a glut of young shooting guards (Ronnie Brewer, C.J. Miles and Morris Almond) as well as an all-NBA point guard in Deron Williams and an emerging backup in Ronnie Price.
Walt Perrin, the Jazz's vice president of player personnel, said the team would bring in a group of wings for a workout. Jerry Sloan, meanwhile, told a story from his days coaching the Chicago Bulls and a mistake they made in the 1979 draft.
The Bulls missed out on the chance to draft Sidney Moncrief because they already had Reggie Theus on the roster and felt they needed a forward. They used the No. 2 pick on UCLA's David Greenwood; Moncrief went on to become an All-Star.
"We felt like we had to have a forward so we took a forward and passed on a guy who's an All-Star player," Sloan said. "That doesn't help the value of your franchise, in my opinion, when you make decisions that way."
So far, the Jazz have brought in eight big men for workouts, including Roy Hibbert, DeVon Hardin, Nathan Jawai, Thompson, Speights and White. Thompson and Speights were said to have had better workouts than they did Saturday in Oakland.
Thompson and Speights were both headed to workouts in Sacramento while White was stopping next in Denver. The Jazz project Thompson and White as power forwards in the NBA and Speights as a power forward capable of playing some center at times.
* * *
I spent a little more time talking with Thompson, a player in whom I think the Jazz have much interest, and missed hearing this quote from Speights. Clearly, the St. Petersburg, Fla., native felt a long way from home in Utah.
"When I came here yesterday, I expected way different," Speights said. "This is kind of like a city; I expected cows. It's a pretty good town. Kind of like the workout today you have good people around you. It's really good out here."
* * *
White said he remembered playing against Deron Williams as a freshman at Indiana. Williams was at Illinois and the Illini were ranked No. 1 in the country at the time. White said he's followed Williams' career ever since.
* * *
Alabama guard Ronald Steele took part in the workout, as did Utah's Johnnie Bryant. Steele was selected all-SEC first team as a sophomore, when he averaged 14.3 points and 4.3 assists, but saw his numbers dip as a junior.
--Ross Siler
They did interview 10 players at the NBA's predraft camp in Orlando, Fla., and they did attend Saturday's mass workout held by Golden State. By one estimate, 10 first-round prospects took part in that workout, including Thompson and Speights.
One question is whether agents are steering their shooting guards, small forwards and point guards away from the Jazz, even though Kevin O'Connor and Co. have said they are committed to taking the best player available regardless of position.
It isn't hard to size up the current roster and see a glut of young shooting guards (Ronnie Brewer, C.J. Miles and Morris Almond) as well as an all-NBA point guard in Deron Williams and an emerging backup in Ronnie Price.
Walt Perrin, the Jazz's vice president of player personnel, said the team would bring in a group of wings for a workout. Jerry Sloan, meanwhile, told a story from his days coaching the Chicago Bulls and a mistake they made in the 1979 draft.
The Bulls missed out on the chance to draft Sidney Moncrief because they already had Reggie Theus on the roster and felt they needed a forward. They used the No. 2 pick on UCLA's David Greenwood; Moncrief went on to become an All-Star.
"We felt like we had to have a forward so we took a forward and passed on a guy who's an All-Star player," Sloan said. "That doesn't help the value of your franchise, in my opinion, when you make decisions that way."
So far, the Jazz have brought in eight big men for workouts, including Roy Hibbert, DeVon Hardin, Nathan Jawai, Thompson, Speights and White. Thompson and Speights were said to have had better workouts than they did Saturday in Oakland.
Thompson and Speights were both headed to workouts in Sacramento while White was stopping next in Denver. The Jazz project Thompson and White as power forwards in the NBA and Speights as a power forward capable of playing some center at times.
* * *
I spent a little more time talking with Thompson, a player in whom I think the Jazz have much interest, and missed hearing this quote from Speights. Clearly, the St. Petersburg, Fla., native felt a long way from home in Utah.
"When I came here yesterday, I expected way different," Speights said. "This is kind of like a city; I expected cows. It's a pretty good town. Kind of like the workout today you have good people around you. It's really good out here."
* * *
White said he remembered playing against Deron Williams as a freshman at Indiana. Williams was at Illinois and the Illini were ranked No. 1 in the country at the time. White said he's followed Williams' career ever since.
* * *
Alabama guard Ronald Steele took part in the workout, as did Utah's Johnnie Bryant. Steele was selected all-SEC first team as a sophomore, when he averaged 14.3 points and 4.3 assists, but saw his numbers dip as a junior.
--Ross Siler
5:32 PM
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