2007
The Jazz had a fantastic 2006-07 season, heading all the way to the Western Conference Finals. The Jazz finished the regular season 51-31, and had taken care of the the Houston Rockets and the Golden State Warriors in the first two rounds of the Playoffs. The Jazz ran into the San Antonio Spurs and ended up falling in the series 4-1. Carlos Boozer and Deron Williams seemed to be the modern day version of Stockton and Malone. Boozer finished the season with 53 double-doubles, while Williams had a fantastic season as well averaging 16.2 points and 9.3 assists per game.
As great as the season was for the Jazz, the draft was anything but great. The Jazz landed with the 25th pick in the first round, and in my opinion, as well as others, the Jazz really blew this pick. The Jazz took Morris Almond out of Rice University. I remember watching this draft and being extremely ticked off. The Jazz needed another scorer and the guy I was rooting for was Arron Afflalo (27). The Jazz didn’t take Afflalo, and took Almond despite what I thought at the time. The Jazz were also needing a big man, which at the time not a lot of people knew him, but Tiago Splitter (28) was also still on the board. The Salt Lake Tribune ran an article a few years back, and put Almond as one of the top five worst draft picks in Jazz history. In his rookie season, Almond only played in nine games and averaged 1.4 points per game.
The Jazz did however get a big man in this draft. The Jazz traded for Kyrylo Fesenko, who was drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers with the 38th pick. Fesenko, as many remember, was a crowd favorite when he was in Utah. Jazz fans loved him and his awkwardness. The Jazz kept Fesenko for four seasons, and I think there are still fans that miss him in a Jazz uniform. I’ve put a quick video below for the Jazz fans that loved him.