2003: Jazz select Aleksandar Pavlovic (19) and Maurice “Mo” Williams (47)
Unlike the somewhat weak 2002 NBA Draft, 2003 was legendary, with some considering it the best ever. That’s because the 2003 NBA Draft produced the likes of LeBron James, Darko Milicic, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade in the first five selections alone.
For some reason, the “One of these things is not like the other” song just started going through my head.
That’s right Jazz fans, even though I’m sure there’s a lot of you who can’t even recall the name Aleksander Pavlovic, just be glad that you aren’t forever tied with having selected Darko with the No. 2 pick ahead of Carmelo, Bosh and Wade (sorry to bring this up Detroit Pistons fans).
While the aforementioned Kwame Brown is often considered the worst No. 1 pick (although we’ll see some stiff competition a few years down the road), Milicic is considered by some to be the biggest bust ever.
Nevertheless, the Jazz definitely left some more solid talent on the board than what they got. Aleksandar (Sasha) Pavlovic actually had a better career than Utah’s previous two first round picks, playing for ten seasons with a handful of teams, but the Jazz would have been much better served grabbing Boris Diaw who was selected 21st or Leandro Barbosa who was selected 28th.
While Pavlovic was largely a low-impact player, Diaw and Barbosa have had solid careers and both play for, oh you know, only two of the best teams that the league has ever seen in the 2015-16 San Antonio Spurs and Golden State Warriors, respectively.
Either would have been a solid choice for the Jazz. However, Diaw stands out due to the versatility that he has for his size, including his standout three-point percentage which stands at 34.2 percent for his career and was over 40 percent as recently as 2013-14.
In regards to selecting Mo Williams in the second round of the draft, this wasn’t a bad pick by any means as Williams has had a long and productive career including a second stint as a starter for the Jazz. Williams has averaged 16.2 points per game over his career, including 15 points per game during the 2012-13 season with the Jazz.
Nevertheless, the player that the Jazz likely should have gone with instead was selected 51st in the 2003 draft and would eventually join the Jazz during the 2007-08 season: Kyle Korver.
While honestly Korver’s stats don’t appear as good as Williams’ on the surface, Korver’s deadly three-point shot has made him a more valuable asset for every team he’s played on, most recently for the Atlanta Hawks, with whom he was an All-Star in 2015. Korver boasts a career three-point percentage of 42.9 percent and put up an incredible 53.6 percent in 2009-10 with the Utah Jazz.
So while selecting Williams is far from one of those picks that haunt Jazz fans in their sleep (and trust me those are coming), they would have been a little better off to select Kyle Korver.
Who they should have taken: Boris Diaw (21), Kyle Korver (51)
Next: 2004