2006
Deron Williams‘ rookie season seen the Jazz finish with an even .500 record at 41-41. The Jazz with an even .500 record actually finished second in the Northwest Division that season. Finishing second in a western conference division with a .500 record is a surprise, mainly because today you couldn’t find that in any western conference division. Deron, who would become a great assist man for the Jazz, averaged 4.5 assists per game his rookie season. With the season complete, the Jazz geared up for the 14th pick in the first round.
With that 14th pick, the Jazz selected Ronnie Brewer out of the University of Arkansas. Brewer was a hustle guy and played good defense for the Jazz. During his three and a half seasons that he spent in a Jazz uniform, Brewer averaged 10.5 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.8 assists, and 1.4 steals per game, all while shooting 52.2% from the floor. Brewer would end up being traded to the Memphis Grizzlies at the trade deadline during his fourth season with the Jazz. Brewer was great while in Utah, but I guess if you’re looking at who the Jazz passed up on to take him, guys like Rajon Rondo (21), and Kyle Lowry (24) were still on the board.
The Jazz also had two second rounds picks that fell at picks number 46 and 47. With the back to back picks, the Jazz first selected Deron Williams’ old college teammate, point guard from the University of Illinois, Dee Brown. Brown did a decent job playing back up minutes for the Jazz, but couldn’t make Utah a home.
Pick number 47 brought Jazz fans a guy who they would fall in love with. Paul Millsap came in to the NBA as the NCAA Division One rebounding leader for three straight seasons, the only player in college basketball history to do so. Millsap got little coverage from ESPN’s coverage of the draft, had Jay Bilas state that he liked a player from from Orlando better than him, (I call him a player from Orlando because I can’t even spell his name. Bilas says it in the video above), but Millsap quickly became one of the biggest steals in the draft. Millsap spent seven seasons with the Jazz before becoming an unrestricted free agent. The Jazz front office approached him last off season, but Millsap moved on and had a fantastic season with the Atlanta Hawks. This past season, he also earned his first All-Star selection that was much deserved.