Opinion: Utah Jazz should have drafted Landry Shamet over Grayson Allen

Based on the performances of both players thus far, the Utah Jazz missed out on a diamond in the rough by drafting Grayson Allen over Landry Shamet.

You should never judge an NBA player by his first year in the league. Perhaps you could say that you shouldn’t judge them by their first few, as there are several players that have either started out strong and fizzled out or that have done the opposite by failing to live up to initially illustrious expectations. Nevertheless, based on some early returns, it’s clear that the Utah Jazz could have done a much better job in their 2018 draft selection by going for a player that was still available when they instead went with Grayson Allen.

The guy that I’m referring to is the Philadelphia 76ers’ Landry Shamet.

Shamet was a prospect that I was extremely high on leading up to this past summer’s draft as a prolific shooter out of Wichita State. In his final season with the Shockers, he shot an incredible 44.2 percent from behind the perimeter on nearly six attempts per game. The year before that he went an only slightly lower 43.9 percent, which speaks to his consistency.

He’s adjusted quite well to the NBA 3-point line as he’s converting on a solid 39.9 percent of his attempts from beyond the arc. Despite being a rookie on a clear playoff-caliber team, he is playing significant minutes and absolutely capitalizing on them. Not only is he averaging 20.2 minutes per game, but in the Sixers’ most recent bout against the Washington Wizards, he went off for a career-high 29 points on incredible 8-of-14 shooting from behind the 3-point line.

Those eight made treys surpassed Allen Iverson for the most in a game by a Sixers rookie in franchise history.

Translation – Shamet was definitely NBA ready based on the amount of minutes and trust his Sixers coaching staff and teammates have given him thus far. Not only that, but he’s a bonafide shooter, capable of making a team better and more dangerous from the perimeter.

That’s something the Jazz could certainly use right now, even if their roster was healthy, but particularly with the likes of Ricky Rubio, Dante Exum and (ironically) Grayson Allen out of commission.

3-point shooting has been a struggle for the Jazz all season (they currently rank just 21st in the league in that regard). Having a young player like Shamet who could come off the bench to knock down the long ball and play reliable minutes in other areas would be a huge benefit. He’s not known as a lock-down defender, but he’s been serviceable playing for one of the best defensive teams from a year ago.

Meanwhile, not only are the Jazz dealing with injury issues to their first-round draft pick Grayson Allen, but even when healthy he’s had little impact on his new team – certainly less impact than Shamet has had for the Sixers. Grayson has had a hard time earning Coach Snyder’s trust on either end of the court and has therefore only appeared in 17 games in which he’s averaged 9.7 minutes per contest. Much of that has been in garbage time as well.

In those limited opportunities, Allen is shooting just 32.3 percent from the field and 26.8 percent from deep. Sure, some might argue he has more defensive tenacity and thus could be viewed as a better fit for the Jazz, but I don’t quite buy it. Shamet is proving his worth in a big way as one of the top rookies in the class despite falling to 26th in the draft.

Not only that, but while Shamet was reputed as a stand-up guy in college, Allen was considered quite the opposite. Sure, he’s kept himself in check during his time in a Jazz uniform, but I’d like to think that Landry would have been a better ambassador for the Jazz and more representative of the caliber of person and player that the organization tends to like to bring in.

Furthermore, while some argued that one of Allen’s strengths was that as a four-year college player, he’d be more mature and prepared for the NBA game, Shamet’s three years at Wichita State appear to have achieved that goal to a much higher degree.

In short, between Shamet’s heads-up basketball IQ, solid play and especially his prolific 3-point shooting, the Jazz would have been much better off going after him in the 2018 NBA Draft than the guy they ended up with in Grayson Allen. Shamet appears as if he’s going to be one of the steals of the draft and could end up being an exceptionally high-value contract for the 76ers for the foreseeable future.

Sure, a lot could change in the careers of both Grayson Allen and Landry Shamet before all is said and done, but based on what we’ve seen and know so far, I’d say that the Utah Jazz would have been much better off picking the Wichita State alum over the former Blue Devil. Hopefully it’s not a missed opportunity that comes to haunt them too dramatically down the road.