The J-Notes
Fansided

Will the Utah Jazz produce another diamond in the rough in 2019-20?

By Jared Woodcox

ATHENS, GREECE - APRIL 05: Nigel Williams-Goss, #3 of Olympiacos Piraeus competes with Muhammed Baygul, #5 of Darussafaka Tekfen Istanbul during the 2018/2019 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season Round 30 game between Olympiacos Piraeus and Darussafaka Tekfen Istanbul at Peace and Friendship Stadium on April 5, 2019 in Athens, Greece. (Photo by Panagiotis Moschandreou/EB via Getty Images)
ATHENS, GREECE - APRIL 05: Nigel Williams-Goss, #3 of Olympiacos Piraeus competes with Muhammed Baygul, #5 of Darussafaka Tekfen Istanbul during the 2018/2019 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season Round 30 game between Olympiacos Piraeus and Darussafaka Tekfen Istanbul at Peace and Friendship Stadium on April 5, 2019 in Athens, Greece. (Photo by Panagiotis Moschandreou/EB via Getty Images) /
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SALT LAKE CITY, UT – JULY 1: Miye Oni #8 of Utah Jazz handles the ball against the Memphis Grizzlies on July 1, 2019 at vivint.SmartHome Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Melissa Majchrzak/NBAE via Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, UT – JULY 1: Miye Oni #8 of Utah Jazz handles the ball against the Memphis Grizzlies on July 1, 2019 at vivint.SmartHome Arena in Salt Lake City, Utah. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Melissa Majchrzak/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Miye Oni

If you’d told me that out of the three Utah Jazz second-round picks this summer, the one that was selected last, Miye Oni out of Yale, would be the lone one to make the team with a guaranteed contract, I probably wouldn’t have believed you. After all, Jarrell Brantley seemed a more logical fit to shore up Utah’s forward depth and Justin Wright-Foreman appeared to have greater potential as a scorer coming out of college.

True, those two won’t be far removed from Oni as they signed two-way contracts to allow them to remain under the Jazz’s watchful eye with the Salt Lake City Stars, but neither impressed as much as Oni. And after watching Miye compete in Summer League, there’s simply no disputing that the Jazz made the right choice.

In Salt Lake Summer League play, he averaged 9.5 points, five rebounds, two steals and 1.6 assists with his best game coming against the San Antonio Spurs where he dropped 17 points and showcased a lot of what he can do. He’s a well-built guard at six-foot-six, 210 pounds that along with shooting the ball well has the chance to be a plus defender.

In his final year at Yale, he posted 17.1 points per game on solid shooting splits of 44.1 percent from the field and 37.1 percent from deep. He appears much more NBA-ready than fellow draftee Wright-Foreman, and while he’ll likely spend the majority of his time playing with the Salt Lake City Stars this next season, much like current Jazzman Tony Bradley has done for much of his Jazz career, he still has the tools to be successful.

The fact that he was the one to make the cut for a guaranteed contract over his teammates drafted ahead of him speaks volumes to his odds of developing into a diamond in the rough extraordinaire. The Jazz like what they’ve seen so far and that’s a good sign as to what he may be able to become.

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