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The NBA Draft is only hours away, and the Utah Jazz are involved in a whole bunch of rumors right now. Will they trade up? Will they trade down? Is Trey Burke being shopped? Is Derrick Favors being sent away to make room for Paul Millsap 's return? At this time of the year, unless it happens, I'm not going to put a lot of stock into any rumors that come out. I sat behind Woj at last year's draft and that guy knows what's up. After all, he's been bombing actual real trades for the last few hours, trades that actually happen. So unless it goes beyond a non-established news breaker saying "sources", I'm not going to believe it. Of course, I do believe that the Utah Jazz, with a legion of future picks (including three this year) and a number of low cost assets are ready to make a deal at any moment.
But until that moment becomes reality it's my duty to go over the #12, #42, and #54 picks like we're actually going to be flying three players from those spots to the #801 in about 24 hours. So after pouring over 41 different mock drafts / big boards here's what the experts have to say:
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With the #12th pick of the 2015 NBA Draft, the Utah Jazz select . . .
Probably Myles Turner (Texas), Frank Kaminsky (Wisconsin), or Devin Booker (Kentucky) if you are going by what the experts say.
Myles Turner (14/41) | Frank Kaminsky (7/41) | Devin Booker (5/41) | |
1 | Basketball Insiders Consensus (Brigham) | Amar's Consensus Top 100 (AllThatAmar) | Basketball Insiders Consensus (Hamilton) |
2 | Basketball Insiders Consensus (Kennedy) | Bleacher Report Mock (Chiari) | Draft Express Top 100 (Givony) |
3 | Basketball Insiders Consensus (Kyler) | CBS Sports (Vecenie) | ESPN Top 100 (Ford) |
4 | Basketball Insiders Mock (Kyler) | Lottery Mafia (Reynolds) | Inside Hoops |
5 | Bleacher Report Mock (Wasserman) | SB Nation Mock (O'Connor) | SB Nation Blogger Mock Draft (SLC Dunk) |
6 | CBS Sports (Harper) | The Sports Bank (Bank, Kay) | |
7 | Crossover Chronicles (Xypteras) | USA Today (Bodner) | |
8 | Draft Express Mock Draft (Givony) | ||
9 | Hardwood Paroxysm (Schroeder) | ||
10 | HoopsHype (Smith) | ||
11 | MyNBADraft.com | ||
12 | SB Nation Mock (AllThatAmar) | ||
13 | Sheridan Hoops (Kotoch) | ||
14 | Yahoo! Sports (Givony) |
There were five players who got two votes to join the Jazz, and another five who had single votes:
Player | |||
1 | Cameron Payne | ESPN Stats Big Board (Pelton) | International Business Times (Price) |
2 | Kelly Ourbre Jr. | NBC Sports (Helin) | FanSided (Gomer) |
3 | Sam Dekker | NBADraft.net Top 100 (Smith) | Bleacher Report Mock (Roling) |
4 | Trey Lyles | ESPN Mock Draft (Ford) | NBA.com Mock (Howard-Cooper) |
5 | Willie Cauley-Stein | NBADraft.net Mock (Smith) | Sporting News (Deveney) |
Player | |||
1 | Christian Wood | Bleacher Report Top 100 (Wasserman) | |
2 | Kevon Looney | ESPN A Grade Mock (Ford) | |
3 | R.J. Hunter | Sports Illustrated (Mannix) | |
4 | Rondae Hollis-Jefferson | Sporting News (Joseph) | |
5 | Stanley Johnson | CBS Sports (Parrish) |
I think that whatever the Jazz do with the #12, including the unconventional idea of using it for a player, will be fine with me. You can't go wrong with the people on the board at 12 as the higher risk guys would have gone in the Top 10. Utah could end up with a bigman to help out Derrick Favors and Rudy Gobert, which in my opinion is the greatest need. There could be some good wings available too; however, of all the places on our roster to worry about wing isn't where you should start. Of course, if this is a "best player available" deal, then go for it.
You don't see a lot of point guards here, and that's a product of this draft class. Lots of experts want the Jazz to upgrade their PG spot, either in free agency or the draft. I'm the odd ball who wants to at least have Dante Exum and Trey Burke reach the age of 23/24 before firing them out of a cannon into the sun.
Of the players listed here I am most bullish on Turner. I just like that kid, and even if he's not as good an outside shooter as I think he is, people like Pelton have ranked him higher than Frank as a potential NBA stretch big. Frank is better than the general consensus opinion here. And honestly I think what hurts him is his skin color. I will admit that. His game is solid, and much more advanced than a lot of the other bigmen in this draft. He's not the best athlete in the world, but Myles Turner isn't either. Frank may be gone at #9 though, to the Hornets. Or they could take Devin Booker too. You don't know. They are rumored to be high on both guys -- but recent trades (one to make room at the wing by getting rid of Lance Stephenson, and another to fill up that spot with Nicolas Batum) make you feel like they will look to go big.
I liked Turner a lot more before everyone else joined in. Group think is a problem online. I am wary.
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What about the other two picks?
Well, only 20 of the 41 sources included data for this, so there is no real consensus opinion. And that only makes sense. I would be worried if there was because that would indicate that people are making things up. By even having an opinion on the 2nd round means that you're guessing. Having a consensus opinion on who the Jazz will pick (let alone who is available) means you're probably cheating off of the guy sitting next to you.
So here are the people at #42 and #54, see anything you like?
Source | Pick #42, 2015 | Pick #54, 2015 | |
1 | Amar's Consensus Top 100 (AllThatAmar) | Olivier Hanlan | Vince Hunter |
2 | Basketball Insiders Mock (Kyler) | Olivier Hanlan | Daniel Diez |
3 | Bleacher Report Mock (Wasserman) | Michael Frazier II | Pat Connaughton |
4 | Bleacher Report Top 100 (Wasserman) | Mouhammadou Jaiteh | Jonathan Holmes |
5 | CBS Sports (Harper) | J.P. Tokoto | Joseph Young |
6 | CBS Sports (Parrish) | Joseph Young | Aaron White |
7 | CBS Sports (Vecenie) | Mouhammadou Jaiteh | Awudu Abass |
8 | Draft Express Mock Draft (Givony) | Josh Richardson | Vince Hunter |
9 | Draft Express Top 100 (Givony) | Cliff Alexander | Alan Williams |
10 | ESPN A Grade Mock (Ford) | Rakeem Christmas | Larry Nance Jr. |
11 | ESPN Top 100 (Ford) | Richaun Holmes | Terran Petteway |
12 | Hardwood Paroxysm (Schroeder) | Robert Upshaw | Marc Garcia |
13 | Lottery Mafia (Reynolds) | Andrew Harrison | Vince Hunter |
14 | MyNBADraft.com | Mouhammadou Jaiteh | Alan Williams |
15 | NBA.com Mock (Howard-Cooper) | Cedi Osman | Joseph Young |
16 | NBADraft.net Mock (Smith) | Joseph Young | Andrew Harrison |
17 | NBADraft.net Top 100 (Smith) | Luis Montero | Branden Dawson |
18 | The Sports Bank (Bank, Kay) | J.P. Tokoto | Tyler Harvey |
19 | USA Today (Bodner) | Dakari Johnson | Anthony Brown |
20 | Yahoo! Sports (Givony) | Pat Connaughton | Vince Hunter |
For the #42 we see bigman Mouhammadou Jaiteh three times; J.P Tokoto, Joseph Young, and Olivier Hanlan twice; and everyone else once. I'm not against taking the best bigman available at #42. That guy a) may actually have an upside, b) may actually be 7 feet tall, and c) will be CHEAPER than the non-guaranteed contract we have on the books for Jack Cooley. I like Cooley. He's a funny guy who sometimes replies to you on twitter. But he's a throwback, thick bigman who is undersized for his skill set. He's actually a power forward who was pushed into playing center for us last season. And at 6'9 he's not really a center. And with his back to the basket moves and lack of defensive mobility or a jumper, he's not a 2010s era NBA power forward either. I think Utah could get someone who better fits what they need in this draft, even if we all love Cooley. And #42 could be where they do it. (If they didn't already in the 1st round)
For the #54 we see a whole lot of Vince Hunter (four times), Alan Williams (twice), Joseph Young (another two times), and a whole bunch of "we're honestly just guessing at this point" for the other 12 selections. A #54 pick actually has less value than an actual future 2nd rounder (without an idea of the draft position yet). If Utah is going to keep it they may take a flier on a draft and stash guy (because it's worked so well, so far). If that's the case there are plenty of options there. If they are looking for a player you have to go BPA. And until we get to pick #50 we're not going to know who that is. Trading the pick during the draft as part of a package is probably the best move.
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So, trades . . .
Yes. Jazz GM Dennis Lindsey makes a lot of moves. We saw a revolving door of 10 day contracts during the season, and over the last two years he's dipped into the NBA DL quite a bit. Free Agency is always a small affair for this small market team; but the biggest splashes have been made on draft night. In 2013, Lindsey moved two 1sts to get, then, highly regarded Trey Burke. He then moved a 2nd and money to get back into the 1st and snag Rudy Gobert. He wasn't done yet, as he was able to get 2nd round pick Raul Neto from the Hawks. In 2014 he didn't have to do as much, but did trade Jarnell Stokes for a bunch of stuff from Hollinger's pockets.
It's likely that the #12, #42, and #54 picks aren't future Jazzmen at all, but just assets. With the swirling rumors about Derrick Favors and Trey Burke we'll have to count them as that, and not as Jazzmen just yet. (Eggs before they hatch theory)
I know all about how hard it is to a) make the trade in time, and b) get your target. Lindsey is a wizard though. So we'll just have to wait and see.