2010: Jazz select Gordon Hayward (9) and Jeremy Evans (55)
Since 2010, the Jazz still haven’t done perfect in the draft, but they have done much better overall. With the ninth overall pick in the 2010 NBA draft, the Utah Jazz went with Butler sensation Gordon Hayward.
Hayward had just come off his halfcourt near buzzer-beater in the 2010 NCAA Championship that, had it gone in, would have been one of the most unlikely Cinderella stories of all time. So there was plenty of hype surrounding him at the time.
Nevertheless, there were a lot of mixed emotions when the Jazz selected Hayward–just as there continues to be.
Say what you will about Hayward, there is still no denying that he has been an exceptional part of the Jazz’s post-Sloan rebuilding era. The six-foot-eight forward has shouldered an immense load for a young Jazz team and has flirted with a 20-5-5 stat line over his past two seasons.
Last season, Hayward finished with averages of 19.7 points, five rebounds, 3.7 assists and 1.2 steals per game. He continues to be the Jazz’s leader and, while there’s certainly still room for improvement, by no means has Hayward been a bad pick.
The only pill that’s hard to swallow with the Hayward pick is who happened to be (once again) chosen immediately after the Jazz’s selection: Paul George. Due to the fact that these two players came from relatively small colleges (Butler and Fresno State) and that they were selected back to back in the draft, it stands to reason that these two would be oft compared to one another.
In many ways these two players have similar stat lines. Still, there’s no denying that Paul George has been the better of the two. Part of the reason George has received more praise than Hayward obviously has to do with his postseason performances, which is something Hayward really hasn’t had the opportunity to show.
However, this is partly due to the fact that George was fortunate enough to begin his career on a team that was and has been more talented.
Along with winning the NBA’s Most Improved Player Award in 2013, George is a three-time All-Star, which is even more impressive given the gruesome leg injury that he suffered following the 2014 season. There’s no telling how different his game would look had he not gone through that enormous setback.
But even following the injury, George had an impressive comeback season in 2015-16, where he put up a career high in points (23.1) while also shooting 37.1 percent from deep and logging seven rebounds and 4.1 assists per game.
George was even more deadly in this year’s playoffs, where he averaged 27.3 points per game on 45.5 percent field goal shooting and a scorching 41.9 percent from deep. While there may be similarities in numbers, what mainly separates George and Hayward is George’s superstar-like ability to take over games, come up with big plays in the clutch and will his team to victory.
Meanwhile, Jeremy Evans was a fan favorite and the winner of the 2012 NBA Dunk Contest, but his impact on the court wasn’t nearly as impressive; he’s averaging just 3.5 points and 2.6 rebounds for his career in obviously limited minutes. At number 55, Evans was by no means a bad pick, but there were undrafted players who are now making names for themselves on NBA rosters.
One in particular that would have been advantageous for the Jazz to pick up that year would have been Jeremy Lin. While certainly not as solid a player as the Houston Rockets thought they were getting when signing Lin away from New York, there’s no doubting Lin’s NBA-worthy abilities.
Linsanity in Salt Lake City likely would have drawn in more excitement league wide than Evans’ dunk contest victory and definitely would have been more beneficial on the court.
Who they should have taken: Paul George (10), Jeremy Lin (Undrafted)
Next: 2011