Drafting Mulligans: Utah Jazz Style
by clarkpojo
on Oct 1, 2008 9:48 AM MDT
via www.all-nba-all-basketball.com
The Jazz could use a guy like Martin at Shooting Guard. Could have been.
What would you say were the chances of a Jazz championship if they put Deron Williams, Kevin Martin, Josh Howard, Carlos Boozer, and Al Jefferson on the floor together? And brought Gilbert Arenas, Tayshaun Prince, and Kendrick Perkins off the bench? It may seem ridiculous, but if the Jazz could have a draft do-over or four, they could have drafted each of these players. Of course this situation is completely hypothetical since bad drafts help you draft better players the next time around, but over on ridiculous upside, they are redoing the 2001 draft and it got me wondering what draft mistakes the Jazz have made in the last 10 years. We won't know how the 2007 or 2008 drafts will turn out yet, so lets start with 2006.
2006- The Jazz actually had a pretty good draft. They took Ronnie Brewer at 14, Dee Brown at 46, and Paul Millsap at 47, the steal of the draft. The only players they may have left on the board are Rodney Carney at 16 and Leon Powe at 49, but maybe they got exactly who they needed.
2005- I am not even going to suggest that taking Williams at 3 was a mistake when Paul went at 4. The Jazz got their man. But taking CJ Miles at 34 and Robert Whaley at 51 may not have been smart when Monta Ellis went 40th and Amir Johnson slipped to 56.
2004- This may have been one of the worst drafts for the Jazz. They took Kris Humphries (14), Kirk Snyder (16), and Pavel Podkolzin (21) in front of Al Jefferson (15), Josh Smith (17), and Kevin Martin (26). Just think if the Jazz had Jefferson, Smith and Martin. It is a valid possibility.
2003- Pavlovic (19) had a lot of potential and Mo WIlliams (47) was another steal, but so were Kendrick Perkins (27), Leandro Barbosa (28), Josh Howard (29) and Kyle Korver (51).
2002- We drafted Ryan Humphrey at 19, which we quickly upgraded to Curtis Borchardt, who helped the Jazz as much as their 47th pick, Jamal Sampson. Tayshaun Prince went 23 and Carlos Boozer, who has said he wished the Jazz would have drafted him, fell to 35.
2001- Raul Lopez (24) was supposed to be the next John Stockton. Tony Parker (28) and Gilbert Arenas (31) would have been better options. Gerald Wallace (25) and Mehmet Okur (38) were on the board too.
2000- The Jazz could have done worse than Deshawn Stevenson at 23, so they took Kaniel Dickens at 50, a guy I think I saw on American Idol this last season. But they certainly could have done better with Michael Redd still around until 43.
1999- Kirilenko at 24 was a good find, but Quincy Lewis (19) could have been Manu Ginobili (57). And the Jazz worst enemy in the playoffs two years ago would have been on their own team.
1998- Nazr Mohammed was a decent pick at 29, but the Jazz didn't even keep him. They could have drafted Rashard Lewis (32) or Cuttino Mobley (41).
The Jazz could be teaming Al Jefferson with Boozer and Okur right now.
But take heart Jazz fans. Everyone makes bad drafting mistakes. The Jazz probably aren't even in the top 10 of worst drafters in the last decade. Here are the 3 teams that take the cake.
Charlotte- Took Morrison over Rudy Gay and Brandon Roy (2006). Drafted Raymond Felton over Andrew Bynum and drafted Sean May over people like Danny Granger, Linas Kleiza, David Lee and Monta Ellis (2005). Drafted unknown Kirk Hastin over Zach Randolph, Gerald Wallace, Tony Parker, and Samuel Dalembert (2001).
Atlanta- The Hawks drafted Roshown Mcleod over Rashard Lewis (1999), Demarr Johnson over Jamal Crawford and Michael Redd (2000) and traded away Pau Gasol for nothing after drafting him (2001). They took a decent player in Marvin Williams, but missed out on D-Will, Paul, Bynum, Granger, Ellis and Lee (2005). Then two years ago they took Shelden Williams over Roy, Gay, Rondo and Millsap.
Toronto- The Raptors take the cake as the worst drafters in the last decade. They got it right by drafting Chris Bosh in 2003, but keep in mind they are a solid shooting guard and small forward away from winning it all. They drafted Bargnani over Gay and Roy (2006), Joey Graham over Granger (2005), and then sealed the deal by taking Rafael Araujo over Andre Igoudala, Al Jefferson, Josh Smith and Kevin Martin. In 2001 they used a top pick to take Michael Bradley over Wallace, Parker, and Dalembert. And in 1999 they used the sixth pick to take Jonathon Bender in a draft where Richard Hamilton, Andre Miller, Corey Maggette, Shawn Marion, Ron Artest, and Andrei Kirilenko would have all been smart picks.
All comments are the opinion of the commenter and not necessarily that of SLC Dunk or SB Nation.
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Good list.
I had something similar on my old site (don’t mind the colors, I messed up the template playing around)
by Basketball John on Oct 1, 2008 11:11 AM MDT 0 recs
Sorry.
I never saw that story. Now I feel really unoriginal.
The more you try to erase me, the more that I appear.
by clarkpojo on
Oct 1, 2008 11:15 AM MDT
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The Raps
Actually drafted really, really well their first few years in the league. Check this out:
1995: Damon Stoudamire
1996: Marcus Camby
1997: Tracy McGrady
1998: Antawn Jamison (traded for Vince Carter)
1999: Jonathon Bender (traded for Antonio Davis)
2000: Morris Peterson
That’s a pretty solid six players, at least for the late-90s to early 2000s. With the exception of Chris Bosh they’ve pretty much whiffed on every draft since 2001. (Araujo? 8th pick? Really?). However, if I recall correctly they made the Bender pick in 1999 on behalf of the Indiana Pacers, who had agreed to trade Davis for Bender. So, I don’t think they could have feasibly picked Andre Miller who went 8th.
by kris247 on Oct 1, 2008 1:10 PM MDT 0 recs
Good points.
It is funny. As I looked at it, almost every team has made 1 or 2 really bad picks in the last 7 or 8 years. It goes to show what a crapshoot the draft is and also that scouts need to start getting better at their job. I plan to write a piece on it, but basically teams look at their needs and draft a lesser player because they need a power forward when the shooting guard they could get is more likely to be a stud, but they pass on him cuz they need a power forward. Down the road it is almost always smarter to draft the best player.
The more you try to erase me, the more that I appear.
by clarkpojo on
Oct 1, 2008 1:31 PM MDT
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meh
Usually the “fills the need” is an excuse to go for one player over another if you can’t decide which to take. It’s a crutch that offers the drafting team an excuse for going with a certain player if he doesn’t pan out. It’s alot harder to justify a failed shooting guard when he’s sitting behind three good players.
Also, in the NBA development is key, and nothing develops a player like playing time. So, this affects the argument in two ways: Primarily, drafting for need means the player will have time on the court, which automatically makes him better. Second, those “missed stars” might never have developed if they were buried on the bench somewhere.
Donte? Donte'! Donté?!?!
'spect da 'xtra E'
by iashwash on
Oct 3, 2008 10:56 AM MDT
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