Utah Jazz: Pre-draft workouts feature BC’s Bowman and Utes’ Tillman

The Utah Jazz got back to business with two pre-draft workout sessions this week, one of which included Utah Runnin’ Utes F Donnie Tillman.

Following something of a respite, the Utah Jazz resumed pre-draft workouts this week with two groups of prospects; one on Thursday and one on Friday. As is often the case with early workouts, these groups were largely composed of underclassmen and fringe draft prospects.

If I had to pick a headliner from the first group, it would probably have to be Boston College point-man Ky Bowman, who was one of college basketball’s true iron men last season.

Bowman, 21, led the nation in minutes per game during, taking the court for 39.4 minutes a night. In doing so, the former Alabama football recruit utilized a grit n’ grind mentality to overcome his lack of size and elite-level athleticism and put up strong all-around numbers.

For the year, he averaged 19 points, nearly eight dimes and four rebounds per contest, while hitting on 37 percent of his 3-point attempts.

At the combine, he was middling at best among guards in a lot of the athletic testing, although his 6-foot-7 wingspan probably makes you feel a little bit better about the fact that he’s just 6-foot-1 and 180 pounds.

He also shined in the final scrimmage, scoring 11 points in 21 minutes, hitting 3-of-4 3-pointers and adding four assists and two steals.

Still, he may be facing long odds to hear his name called on draft night, and probably will be looking at time in the G-League and the two-way route as his best pathway to the Association, if he doesn’t take his game abroad.

The Friday group was headlined by a player folks in the 801 know well — Utah Runnin’ Utes forward Donnie Tillman, the Pac-12’s reigning Sixth Man of the Year who just wrapped up his second season on the Hill.

Tillman is the textbook case of an underclassman going through the pre-draft process as a means to gain experience and get feedback from NBA decision-makers on how to improve his game before ultimately returning to school.

So, how did he fare? Per Utah’s VP of player personnel Walt Perrin, there were clear strengths and weaknesses/areas for improvement.

Here’s his breakdown, via The Salt Lake Tribune’s Eric Walden —

Tillman averaged 10.5 points and 5.3 rebounds per game last season. He also improved his 3-point shooting to just over 36 percent on four attempts per contest.

The 2019 NBA Draft is on Thursday, June 20. The Jazz currently own pick Nos. 23 and 53.