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NBA Draft 2016: History of the #12 draft pick and Utah Jazz possibilities this year

Few greats, but lots of depth. For a team that needs depth, the #12 is a great place to start.

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Over the last three decades the #12 pick has gone from a player with lots of college experience to a spot where teams could take a flier on an international player, a younger guy who needs more time to develop before he can be a rotation player, or a college baller who has one NBA ready skill. You see some guys who were All-Stars, some who were starters, and some who either didn't have good chances or never made the most of the ones they were given. It's a rogues gallery, and surprisingly the #13 pick has fared better over time -- no doubt bolstered by Hall of Famers like Karl Malone, Steve Nash, and Kobe Bryant. Anyway, here are the last 30 picks at #12:

Draft Tm Player Age Pos College G MPG PPG RPG APG SPG BPG FG% 3P% FT% WS WS/48
1 1986 WSB John Williams 19.2 F-C LSU 435 25.2 10.1 5.1 2.9 1.3 0.4 45.1% 22.5% 70.4% 19.9 0.087
2 1987 WSB Muggsy Bogues 22.2 G Wake Forest 889 28.6 7.7 2.6 7.6 1.5 0.0 45.8% 27.8% 82.7% 54.0 0.102
3 1988 WSB Harvey Grant 23.0 F Oklahoma 783 26.2 9.9 4.4 1.6 0.8 0.5 46.9% 26.7% 70.9% 36.4 0.085
4 1989 NJN Mookie Blaylock 22.1 G Oklahoma 889 34.9 13.5 4.1 6.7 2.3 0.3 40.9% 33.6% 73.6% 71.8 0.111
5 1990 HOU Alec Kessler 23.2 F-C Georgia 210 14.0 5.2 3.6 0.4 0.2 0.3 42.6% 41.7% 74.4% 2.0 0.033
6 1991 NYK Greg Anthony 23.2 G UNLV 757 20.9 7.3 1.9 4.0 1.2 0.1 40.3% 34.9% 73.3% 35.9 0.109
7 1992 MIA Harold Miner 21.1 G USC 200 18.7 9.0 2.2 1.2 0.4 0.1 46.0% 31.1% 78.5% 4.2 0.053
8 1993 LAL George Lynch 22.3 F North Carolina 774 22.8 6.6 5.0 1.4 1.1 0.3 44.6% 30.6% 65.2% 32.3 0.088
9 1994 MIA Khalid Reeves 21.4 G Arizona 277 21.1 7.8 2.1 3.2 0.8 0.1 41.6% 36.3% 74.4% 8.4 0.069
10 1995 DAL Cherokee Parks 22.3 C-F Duke 472 15.8 4.4 3.6 0.6 0.4 0.6 47.0% 21.1% 63.0% 11.8 0.076
11 1996 CLE Vitaly Potapenko 21.1 C Wright State 610 19.0 6.5 4.5 0.7 0.4 0.3 47.9% 16.7% 69.4% 15.5 0.064
12 1997 IND Austin Croshere 22.1 F Providence 659 17.4 6.8 4.0 1.0 0.4 0.3 40.7% 34.0% 86.1% 27.6 0.115
13 1998 ORL Michael Doleac 21.0 C Utah 587 15.0 4.9 3.3 0.6 0.3 0.4 43.9% 12.5% 79.1% 12.7 0.070
14 1999 TOR Aleksandar Radojevic 22.3 C International 15 10.1 1.7 2.4 0.5 0.1 0.2 30.8% 62.5% -0.4 -0.130
15 2000 DAL Etan Thomas 22.1 F Syracuse 409 17.3 5.7 4.7 0.4 0.3 1.0 51.3% 60.3% 14.9 0.101
16 2001 SEA Vladimir Radmanovic 20.2 F International 737 21.9 8.0 3.8 1.4 0.7 0.4 41.5% 37.8% 75.8% 26.5 0.079
17 2002 LAC Melvin Ely 24.1 C Fresno St 375 16.0 5.3 3.2 0.7 0.3 0.6 46.0% 0.0% 62.5% 4.0 0.032
18 2003 SEA Nick Collison 22.2 F Kansas 875 21.0 6.1 5.3 1.1 0.5 0.5 53.2% 21.0% 72.7% 44.0 0.115
19 2004 SEA Robert Swift 18.2 C High School 97 15.5 4.3 3.9 0.2 0.3 0.9 50.6% 61.0% 1.7 0.054
20 2005 LAC Yaroslav Korolev 18.1 F International 34 4.9 1.1 0.5 0.4 0.2 0.0 28.3% 25.0% 62.5% -0.1 -0.024
21 2006 NOK Hilton Armstrong 21.2 F-C UCONN 292 11.6 3.0 2.6 0.3 0.3 0.5 50.1% 28.6% 58.2% 3.9 0.055
22 2007 PHI Thaddeus Young 19.0 F Georgia Tech 665 30.6 13.9 5.9 1.5 1.4 0.4 49.7% 31.9% 68.8% 42.6 0.101
23 2008 SAC Jason Thompson 21.3 F-C Rider 588 25.2 8.9 6.6 1.1 0.5 0.7 49.6% 14.3% 65.7% 23.8 0.077
24 2009 CHA Gerald Henderson 21.2 G Duke 463 26.3 11.5 3.3 1.9 0.7 0.4 44.2% 31.9% 79.1% 16.2 0.064
25 2010 MEM Xavier Henry 19.1 G Kansas 185 15.7 5.7 1.9 0.6 0.5 0.1 40.6% 32.5% 63.5% 0.8 0.013
26 2011 UTA Alec Burks 19.3 G Colorado 259 23.0 10.6 2.9 1.9 0.6 0.2 43.2% 36.5% 75.1% 8.9 0.071
27 2012 HOU Jeremy Lamb 20.0 G-F UCONN 214 16.6 7.5 2.6 1.1 0.6 0.3 43.2% 33.6% 80.5% 7.8 0.106
28 2013 OKC Steven Adams 19.3 C Pittsburgh 231 21.6 6.2 6.0 0.7 0.5 1.0 56.5% 0.0% 55.1% 13.5 0.130
29 2014 ORL Dario Saric 20.1 F International
30 2015 UTA Trey Lyles 19.2 F Kentucky 80 17.3 6.1 3.7 0.7 0.3 0.2 43.8% 38.3% 69.5% 2.3 0.079
31 2016 UTA To Be Determined

Thanks to Basketball-Reference for the data, by the way!

Utah has gone with #12 before and each time taking a younger player, an underclassman, who had an NBA ready talent. Alec is great at slashing and finishing at the rim. Trey isn't as amazing at one thing, but his mix of face-up abilities makes him a a Tom Chambers like load to defend as a stretch big. Both can do it at NBA ready levels and will be leaning on their talents while attempting to better round out their games. Notable on the list is Adams of the Thunder. He's a starter on a final four NBA team. Of course, that team has two super stars on it. But if you are trying to build quality depth the #12 is a good place to fill out an established roster with.

Don't expect: a star.

Do expect: someone who is an immediate upgrade over some of our rotation guys from last year's injury plagued season.

Prediction: if the Utah Jazz go best player available it could be a big like D. Sabonis, or wings like D.Valentine or foreigners like F.Korkmaz or T.Luwawu. If the team is looking for fit, it could be Wade Baldwin, another point guard. I'm "iffy" on the concept of drafting three lotto pick point guards in a row though (Trey Burke, Dante Exum). But what can you do, right?

Gut Feeling: All the chatter is that the Jazz will trade down. If you look at their work out list they didn't work out a lot of lotto talent. That could be the smoking gun. They did work out a lot of bubble 1st rounders though.