Over the years, the Utah Jazz have come out of the NBA draft with some real steals. Here’s a look back at the biggest draft wins in team history.
Next week, a new wave of ballers will begin their transition to the pro game at the 2017 NBA Draft. With a total of four picks in the draft, two of which are in the first-round at Nos. 24 and 30, the Utah Jazz and general manager Dennis Lindsey could be in for a long night come June 22.
However, with their top picks falling in the back end of the first-round, Lindsey and the Jazz may have to pull a couple of rabbits out of a hat to get something substantial. Even in one of the deeper drafts in recent memory.
That said, the Jazz have a history of scoring some major steals in the draft. Sure, they’ve had the same misses that other clubs have had, but some of their hits rank up there with the best the NBA has seen.
Here are my Top 10 Utah Jazz draft wins…
Next: No. 10
10) Mo Williams at No. 47 (2003)
The 2003-04 season was a big one for the Jazz. After close to two decades of winning with Karl Malone and John Stockton leading the way, the franchise was forced to start over without their superstars. Despite the roster turnover, the Jazz nearly made the playoffs that season.
Their second-round pick at No. 47 in 2003, Mo Williams, undoubtedly played a role in the team’s surprising success and earned himself a big contract in the process.
On December 30, 2002, then-GM Kevin O’Connor had watched the University of Utah Runnin’ Utes upset Williams and No. 1 Alabama at the Jon M. Huntsman Center. Although the Crimson Tide lost, O’Connor was impressed by Williams’ effort and remembered him on draft night.
Williams spent just two seasons in a Jazz uniform (’03-04 and ’12-13), but played in the league for more than a decade, averaging 13 points and five assists per game. He also played in the 2009 NBA All-Star Game and won a title with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016.
Not bad for a guy picked at the back end of the draft.
Next: No. 9
9) Rodney Hood Slips (2014)
Before the 2014 NBA Draft, two players were being heralded as potential franchise players — Andrew Wiggins of Kansas and Duke’s Jabari Parker. In the meantime, Parker’s Blue Devils teammate, Rodney Hood, failed to make waves among NBA decision-makers.
Apparently he was too old and not long enough or a good enough athlete to warrant a high first-round selection. So Hood slipped on draft night, all the way down to the Jazz at No. 23.
He’s been making a dozen or more teams rue the day they let that happen ever since. Particularly the Memphis Grizzlies, who took Jordan Adams (who’s now out of the league) at No. 22.
Over the course of three years with the Jazz, Hood has started 155 games, averaging 12.4 points per contest and shooting better than 36 percent from three-point range. Despite his status as a late first-round pick, he’s largely been one of the better two-guards in the Association.
If he could stay healthy and find some consistency, he could even be a star.
Next: No. 8
8) Bryon Russell at No. 45 (1993)
Coming out of Long Beach State, Bryon Russell showed potential as a defender at the next level. But when the Jazz drafted him in the second-round, they probably weren’t expecting him to become one of the game’s OG Three-and-D specialists.
Nevertheless, that’s what he developed into over the course of a career that spanned 13 seasons.
After a strong rookie campaign, Russell struggled to see the floor in years two and three. However, his run in the 1996 NBA Playoffs helped Russell solidify himself as an integral piece of a legit championship contender.
He would go on to start 366 games for Utah over the course of nine seasons, averaging 9.4 points, nearly four rebounds and 1.2 steals per contest as a Jazzman. Russell also had a reputation for playing lock-down defense on some of the game’s best scorers during that time.
Unfortunately, he’s better remembered for this than any of the good things he did for the Jazz —
Next: No. 7
7) It’s G-Time (2010)
Sure, Gordon Hayward was a lottery pick at No. 9, and you’re always looking to make a splash in the Top 10, but clearly the Jazz knew something that most people did not. And I’ve got no problem admitting that I was one of the un-knowing.
In the summer of 2010, the Jazz were set to shift gears. It wasn’t so much a rebuild as it was a reboot; the team still had Deron Williams, but Carlos Boozer was likely on his way out of town. With a hole at power forward, I was hoping the Jazz could trade up to select Derrick Favors and play him behind Paul Millsap.
When that didn’t happen, I looked for the team to take Ed Davis. Instead, they drafted Hayward, the skinny white kid who had just come off a crazy run in the NCAA Tournament with Butler. The crowd at the team’s draft party booed the pick; I wasn’t there, but I wasn’t feeling it either.
The Hayward pick is a prime example of why you should always take the best player available on your draft board. Between Millsap, Al Jefferson and, later, Favors, the Jazz were strong at the four spot for years to come. In the meantime, Hayward’s game blossomed.
Eventually, he became Utah’s go-to guy, an All-Star and one of the league’s premiere wing talents.
Hopefully, he remains a Jazzman for years to come.
Next: No. 6
6) Jazz Equip an AK-47 (1999)
Although the NBA is now a truly global league, brimming with talent from every corner of the globe, that wasn’t the case in 1999. At that time you could only point to handful of guys, players like Hakeem Olajuwon, Dikembe Mutombo, Detlef Schrempf and Arvydas Sabonis, as legit foreign-born stars.
So when the Jazz selected a Russian teenager named Andrei Kirilenko with the No. 24 pick in the ’99 draft, it didn’t exactly set the world on fire. However, when Kirilenko finally debuted for the Jazz in 2001, it quickly became apparent that AK-47 was a deadly weapon on the court.
In short order, he established himself as one of the NBA’s elite defenders and most versatile frontcourt playmakers. Over the course of a decade in a Jazz uniform, he averaged 12.4 points, 5.6 rebounds, nearly three assists, two blocks and 1.4 steals per game.
He also played in an All-Star Game, was a three-time All-Defensive team selection and was the master of the 5×5.
Kirilenko was great in his day, but was also ahead of his time. In the modern NBA, he’d be mentioned in the same breath as Draymond Green and would probably be an MVP candidate.
Next: No. 5
5) Paul Millsap: The Ultimate Second-Round Steal (2006)
The Utah Jazz have generally done pretty well for themselves in the second round of the draft. In addition to the second-round picks making this list, you could probably point to Jeremy Evans, C.J. Miles, Jarron Collins and Shandon Anderson as second-round picks whose careers exceeded their draft position over the last two decades.
However, none of them have had the same kind of success that Paul Millsap has achieved.
Although he led the NCAA in rebounds per game for three straight seasons at Louisiana Tech, Millsap’s measurables didn’t thrill anybody when he entered the draft in 2006. So he fell to the Jazz at No. 47. Since that time, all he’s done is prove the doubters wrong.
In seven seasons with the Jazz, he averaged 12 points, seven rebounds, one block and one steal per game. He’s been even better since signing with the Atlanta Hawks, picking up four All-Star nods and making the All-Defensive second team in 2016.
11 years after he was drafted, he’s in position to potentially sign a deal worth more than $30 million per season this summer.
Next: No. 4
4) Rudy Gobert at No. 27 (2013)
On draft night 2013, the Jazz essentially bought the No. 27 pick from the Denver Nuggets to take Rudy Gobert. Four years later, people debate whether he or Giannis Antetokounmpo should’ve been taken with the No. 1 overall pick.
Since being drafted, Gobert has continually developed his game around his elite size. In doing so, he has gone from being the 12th man, to a defensive specialist, to an elite defender and, now, possibly the best center in the NBA.
Last season, he averaged 14 points, 12.8 rebounds and a league-best 2.6 blocks per game. He also led the league in true shooting percentage and defensive win shares. As a result, he was a second-team All-NBA selection and could be picking up some Defensive Player of the Year hardware this summer.
Next season, he probably plays in his first All-Star Game.
In addition to his late first-round status, it’s hard to believe that Gobert once played behind the likes of Enes Kanter and Jeremy Evans. I’m not a Tyrone Corbin hater, but dude…really?
Next: No. 3
3) Mark Eaton in Round 4 (1982)
If snagging Gobert at No. 27 was crazy, the team’s drafting of Mark Eaton must have been a case of divine inspiration. After two good years of JUCO ball, Eaton transferred to UCLA and played in just 30 games from 1980-82, averaging 1.8 points and less than seven minutes per contest.
Nevertheless, former Jazz GM and coach Frank Layden liked his height and decided to take a flyer on the mechanic-turned-hoopster in the fourth round of the 1982 NBA Draft.
Eaton would go on to become one of the most intimidating defensive forces in the history of the league.
The 7-foot-4 center led the league in blocked shots on four occasions and averaged more than four per game in four different seasons. To this day, he holds the records for total blocks in a season (456 during the ’84-85 campaign), as well as blocks per game in a season (5.56 in that same year) and for his career (3.5).
Eaton twice received the DPOY trophy, was a five-time All-Defensive team selection and represented the Jazz in the 1989 All-Star Game.
Next: No. 2
2) That Short Guy From Gonzaga (1984)
Given his status as arguably the greatest pure point guard ever to hit the hardwood, it’s pretty hard to believe that even John Stockton himself was surprised when the Jazz picked him out of Gonzaga in the middle of the first round back in 1984.
At the time, though, it was a pretty unpopular decision. When NBA commissioner David Stern announced Stockton’s name on draft night, fans in Salt Lake City were less than impressed —
Nowadays, it’s unthinkable that he fell to No. 16. In what is heralded as the greatest draft class in NBA history, he should’ve been up in the Top 4 with the likes of Michael Jordan, Hakeem Olajuwon and Charles Barkley. In short order, he went from being Rickey Green’s back-up to one of the best players of his or any other generation.
To try to list all of his accomplishments here would be folly, but here’s a few of the fruits of Stockton’s two decades spent in a Jazz uniform —
- 10-time NBA All-Star and ’93 ASG MVP
- 11-time All-NBA selection
- Five-time All-Defensive team selection
- Nine-time league-leader in assists
- All-time leader in assists and steals
Next: No. 1
1) The Mailman Delivered (1985)
Without question, John Stockton was a transcendantal talent, but it was the arrival of ‘The Mailman’ Karl Malone that trasformed the Jazz from a band of plucky upstarts to one of the elite franchises in the NBA and a perennial title contender.
Like Stockton, Malone was a steal in the middle of the first round. Some of the players taken in the lottery ended up becoming stars in their own right, but none of them had a career like the Mailman, who was a two-time NBA MVP and arguably the best power forward in league history.
The three players taken immediately ahead of him were Ed Pinckney, Keith Lee and Kenny Green (a career role-player and two guys who were quickly out of the league). It goes to show how hard it is to win big in the draft and Malone ranks among the biggest.
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Again, I won’t keep you here reading his entire list of basketball accomplishments, but here are some of the most notable —
- NBA Most Valuable Player in ’97 and ’99
- 14-time NBA All-Star and ASG MVP in ’89 and ’93
- 11-time All-NBA first team selection
- Two-time All-NBA second-team selection
- All-NBA third team in ’01
- Three-time All-Defensive first team selection
- No. 2 scorer in NBA history