The J-Notes
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Utah Jazz: Re-Selecting the Last 15 NBA Drafts

By Jared Woodcox

Jun 26, 2014; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Rodney Hood (Duke) shakes hands with NBA commissioner Adam Silver after being selected as the number twenty-three overall pick to the Utah Jazz in the 2014 NBA Draft at the Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports
Jun 26, 2014; Brooklyn, NY, USA; Rodney Hood (Duke) shakes hands with NBA commissioner Adam Silver after being selected as the number twenty-three overall pick to the Utah Jazz in the 2014 NBA Draft at the Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports /
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Mar 16, 2015; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Charlotte Hornets center Al Jefferson (25) looks to shoot the ball over Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert (27) during the first quarter at EnergySolutions Arena. Mandatory Credit: Chris Nicoll-USA TODAY Sports
Mar 16, 2015; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; Charlotte Hornets center Al Jefferson (25) looks to shoot the ball over Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert (27) during the first quarter at EnergySolutions Arena. Mandatory Credit: Chris Nicoll-USA TODAY Sports /

2004: Jazz select Kris Humphries (14), Kirk Snyder (16), and Pavel Podkolzin (21) (Podkolzin’s rights traded to Dallas Mavericks for future pick)

The 2004 NBA Draft had talent scattered up and down both rounds. Unfortunately, the Jazz straight up missed it. With the fourteenth and sixteenth picks, the Jazz picked on either side of Al Jefferson, who would go on to be a much better player than either Kris Humphries or Kirk Snyder.

Yes, he joined the Jazz a few years later, but perhaps receiving his development under hard-nosed Coach Sloan could have helped patch up his defensive deficiencies early in his career.

Say what you will about Jefferson’s defense, 16.7 points and 8.9 rebounds per game on nearly 50 percent shooting over a 12-year and counting NBA career speaks volumes to his skill and is significantly better than the players the Jazz took immediately before and after him.

Aside from a couple of decent years with the New Jersey Nets, about all that can be said for Humphries is that he has enjoyed a rather lengthy career, albeit an underwhelming one. Snyder on the other hand played for three teams (Utah, New York, Houston) in four years before his NBA career came to an end.

Jefferson, with his undeniably effective offense, would have been a much more solid choice than either player the Jazz nabbed.

Following the Snyder pick, a couple of standout players were selected including Tony Allen and Trevor Ariza. Ariza was a part of the 2009 NBA Championship Los Angeles Lakers and has been a formidable three-and-D player on every team he’s played for. Nevertheless, Allen likely would have been the better choice of the two.

Despite having middling offensive talent, Allen is an elite defender. He has been on the NBA All-Defensive team five times during his career and was recently referred to by Kobe Bryant as the “best defender [he] ever faced.”

Remember all those times the Jazz struggled against Kobe and the Lakers? It would have been nice to have a defender like that on the squad in place of Kirk Snyder.

Finally, since the rights to Pavel Podkolzin were traded away, we won’t consider that pick as one the Jazz had available as another selection. However, had they kept it, Trevor Ariza would have been a good choice after Jefferson and Allen.

Who they should have taken: Al Jefferson (15), Tony Allen (25)

Next: 2005