NBA Draft 2016: The Utah Jazz and the draft picks to come

I think it's fair to say that the Utah Jazz really do their homework when it comes to scouting players, either international guys, players in college, or NBA vets on other teams. I have complete trust in their scouting. I may differ significantly when it comes do what they do with this information; however, I think overall the results will speak for themselves. The NBA Draft has long been a place where Dennis Lindsey and the Jazz make moves. Sometimes the moves are lauded, other times fans are vocal about their unhappiness. I will say that as a vocal fan it's really about the short term gain and impression -- if we move up it looks great (Rudy Gobert, Trey Burke in theory). If the tea moves back we feel worry (Jarnell Stokes, 2016 #12, 2016 #42). That's just natural.

The unnatural thing is getting something in the NBA Free Agency period. And while we'll get to that later, it's important to know that there's no real consensus upon what a draft pick can get you. You can trade two firsts for Burke, and then trade him away for a future 2nd. Second round picks aren't usually locks to make the rotation. But there are diamonds in the rough. But from the early returns from this year's Summer League we see that 2nd round picks just really aren't guys who can make a big impact (Beat #4 here). The lotto is also a crap shoot. In fact, building through the draft isn't a sure thing at all, just look at our last 10 years of basketball as evidence.

But draft we must, as the team currently has 16 picks in the next five drafts to look forwards to. I'm certain we're going to see some of these picks leave in trades, but maybe gain more in the future as well. So even if the team is going to be in the playoffs, we're still going to be scouting NCAA guys for the foreseeable future.

2017 NBA Draft:

• 1st Rounder (Utah Jazz) - Nothing special here, hopefully not a lottery pick this time around
  
• 1st Rounder (Golden State Warriors) - Likely to be a late 1st rounder, if not #30 on the dot. Probably traded back for a second rounder (one less guaranteed contract to hold). This is the penultimate pick from the Warriors / Jazz / Denver Nuggets three-team trade that saw Andre Iguodala, Randy Foye, Richard Jefferson, Brandon Rush, Andris Biedrins, Kevin Murphy, and picks (one of which was Rodney Hood) all change teams.
  
• 2nd Rounder (Utah Jazz) - Hooray, maybe?
  
• 2nd Rounder (Detroit Pistons) - This is going to be a middle to late 2nd rounder, and maybe come after the Jazz 2nd rounder next year? It could be a draft-and-stash player. I don't really know. This is a pick received as a result of the Pistons / Jazz / Oklahoma City Thunder three-team trade that saw Reggie Jackson, D.J. Augustin, Kyle Singler, Steve Novak, Kendrick Perkins, Tibor Pleiss, Grant Jerrett, and picks all change teams.
  
• 2nd Rounder (New York Knicks) - This pick comes via the Toronto Raptors and could be more valuable than the Jazz 2nd or the Pistons 2nd. It was the bonus for the Raptors salary-dumping Steve Novak to Utah for the non-guaranteed contract of Diante Garrett. Somehow the Jazz got a 2nd rounder for taking on Novak, and got another one for trading him. That's not the most perfect way to look at it, but you could skew it that way if you ignore Kanter or Kendrick.
  
• 2nd Rounder (Golden State Warriors) - Likely to be another #60 pick. Man, Utah didn't get a lot of useful picks from this three-team trade, but I guess Hood was a steal. These back-to-back #60 picks? Less so.

So two 1st rounders and four 4nd rounders. I wouldn't be surprised to see some if not all of these traded if the Jazz are still in "win now" mode the June before July's "Gordon Hayward max deal" blowout sale.

2018 NBA Draft:

• 1st Rounder (Utah Jazz) - This is a normal pick
  
• 1st Rounder (Oklahoma City Thunder) - This is the theoretical pick from the Kanter trade. It's really theoretical though, as it has lottery protection (1st to 14th pick) in 2018, 2019, and 2020. So even if a Kevin Durant less- Thunder miss the NBA Playoffs this season we're not getting the pick. Same with next year, and the following year after that. In fact, if the Jazz do not get this pick at all over the next three years then this glorious 1st rounder defaults into two 2nd rounders (2020, and 2021). What a bad pick. It's like the Jazz were highly motivated to move Kanter and weren't getting a lot for him. But the good theory here is that if the Thunder MAKE the playoffs in the 2017-2018 season then the Jazz get it on their first pass. We don't know what a 2017-2018 Thunder team is going to look like. If Russell Westbrook is still there maybe they are a playoff team. If they are building around Steven Adams, Enes Kanter, Domantas Sabonis, and Victor Oladipo at that point in time I am not so certain.
  
• 2nd Rounder (Utah Jazz) - This is a normal pick

Two firsts look good on paper. And there's the hope the Jazz get this pick sooner rather than later now that Durant is no longer on the team (and thus, the pick should be above #27 if it ever comes around). Of course, if the Thunder trade Westbrook between anytime from now on until the second half of the 2017-2018 season then we may not see anything good from this one.

2019 NBA Draft:

• 1st Rounder (Utah Jazz) - This is a normal pick
• 2nd Rounder (Utah Jazz) - This is a normal pick

Nothing too crazy here, two non-lottery picks we hope. If the Jazz didn't get the 1st from OKC the year before, then it could be here. Or we may still have to play the waiting game.

2020 NBA Draft:

• 1st Rounder (Utah Jazz) - This is a normal pick
• 2nd Rounder (Utah Jazz) - This is a normal pick

Nothing too crazy here, two non-lottery picks we hope. If the Jazz didn't get the 1st from OKC the year before, then it could be here. Or it cashes out into a 2nd rounder this year and the next. Whoopee!

2021 NBA Draft:

• 1st Rounder (Utah Jazz) - This is a normal pick
• 2nd Rounder (Utah Jazz) - This is a normal pick
• 2nd Rounder (Washington Wizards) - This comes from the Trey Burke trade that amnesty international demanded the Jazz make.

And five years from now this team is still making more than two picks each draft. Hopefully by this time the team isn't in the lottery again. I'm not ready for that.

Thanks to RealGM.com for being such a great resource. Without you, or Basketball-Reference.com I would be sunk.