2017 NBA Draft Profile: D.J. Wilson

The SLC Dunk team is profiling all the prospects who could be in the neighborhood of where the Utah Jazz are drafting at pick #24. The four categories that we’re making our evaluations are Strengths, Weaknesses, Jazz DNA, and Fit.

Is DJ Wilson from Michigan going to be on the Utah Jazz next year?

Strengths

Length and wingspan

A 6’8.75 PF, he’s a relatively lanky player. His standing reach is 9’1.5 and his wingspan is 7’3. He has an NBA power forward body.

Stretch 4 - shooting

It seems like every power forward nowadays has to be able to shoot the ball, and DJ Wilson is no exception. His shooting splits were 63/37/83, which are quite good for a big man. He averaged 11 points per game for Michigan, and attempted just under 3 3FGAs per game. Less impressively, he only got to the free throw line 1.6 times per game. Nonetheless, he’s got a nice touch and that should translate to the NBA level.

Shot blocker

Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images

DJ averaged 1.5 blocks per game on the season, and 3.5 blocks per game in the NCAA tournament. He’s got good length and reasonable anticipation to get up and challenge shots. Even better, he’s not particularly foul prone while doing it, averaging only 1.9 fouls per game.

Weaknesses

Poor rebounding

Despite his excellent size and length, DJ is not a good rebounder. On the season he only averaged 5.1 rebounds per game. In the tournament, he was even worse, getting only 5 defensive rebounds total in 76 minutes of playing time across two rounds of basketball. He lacks physicality and size to fight for position, and there are also questions about his tougness in going after boards against top flight competition.

Old and injured

DJ Wilson is a robust 21.3 years old, which is an ancient human being in the NBA draft this year. For comparison, Dante Exum is turning 22 on July 13th, and he’s entering his fourth year in the NBA. Trey Lyles, his competition at the stretch 4 spot, is only 3 months older than DJ and will be a 3rd year vet.

DJ was a late-bloomer in high school, and then lost almost his entire freshman season at Michigan to a knee-injury.

This all begs the question of whether his physical skills are going to develop rapidly enough to compete at the NBA level, since he’s well behind the developmental curve of other players with similar physical upside.

Jazz DNA

Small town boy

A native of Mt. Shasta, California, he grew up in a very small town, population 3,394. Does he long for the days of cold mountains again? SLC may scratch that itch.

Length and Space

Dennis Lindsey loves length and outside shooting. Wilson has both. The question is whether his defensive potential is met with intensity.

Fit

The first rule of Jazz Front Office Club is that you don’t talk about Jazz Front Office Club. DJ Wilson or his agent didn’t get the memo when they leaked a rumor that the Jazz had promised to select him the last pick of the 1st round. And that led to this quote.

That’s a bad scene. Someone talked about the Jazz Front Office Club and now the Jazz Front Office Club is forced to talk about itself.

If history is any indication, the Jazz can not select DJ Wilson now, regardless of fit or Jazz DNA. The Jazz Front Office Club is not talked about.