As we enter the mid-2020s, we can now look back on the 2010s as a decade and confidently say where the Utah Jazz went wrong and where they went right. Since 2010, the Utah Jazz have made some really good and really bad draft choices, so with hindsight being 20/20 it only makes sense to rewind a bit and consider what the franchise could and should have done with their draft picks.
The Utah Jazz were slightly below average in the last decade based on this outline, which I tend to agree with. If they drafted better, could they have ended up higher in these standings? Could they have won a ring? Who knows, but with some alternate history the franchise could have ended up in a much different place.
2010: Utah picked nine and 55
With the ninth pick in the 2010 NBA Draft, the Utah Jazz selected Butler forward Gordan Hayward. This was not a bad pick at all, as he ended up being an All-Star and had some very good seasons for the Jazz, but the Pacers took Paul George one pick later. Utah could have ended up with a very good player instead of just a good player, but with the other names still on the board, it’s not like this was a total miss.
With the 55th pick, Utah took Jeremy Evans, who played five seasons with the Jazz and averaged 3.7 points. Out of the few players still on the board, Evans had by far the best career, so this pick, while inconsequential, was a good one.
2011: Utah picked three and 12.
This was a horrible draft for the Jazz. With the third overall pick, they selected Enes Freedom, who never panned out as an elite NBA center. Tristan Thompson and Jonas Valančiūnas went four and five, and while neither of them are amazing, they both would have been better bigs than Freedom, which was quite a reach.
At 12, the Jazz took Alec Burks. Burks had some solid seasons and lit it up before he played a real NBA game, but with Tobias Harris, Nikola Vecevic, and Kawhi Leonard all going soon after Burks, any one of them would have been a better selection. Two early picks, and two big whiffs for Utah. Imagine a lineup with Kawhi and Valančiūnas. How many banners would they win after getting Donovan Mitchell?
2012: Utah picked 47
With only one late second-round pick, it’s no wonder that Utah did not find an All-NBA level player. Kevin Murphy was selected from Tennessee Tech and played just 17 games in his career. No one special was selected after him, so we can’t blame Utah for not finding a star in 2012 with limited resources.
2013: Utah picked 14, 21, and 46
With their second-round pick, the Jazz took Erick Green. Green did what you would expect from a mid-second-round guy, and that’s not saying much. At least he never played for Utah, as the Jazz traded him and cash the Denver for Rudy Gobert, which ended up being an excellent move.
With the first-round picks, Utah took Shabazz Muhammad and Gorgei Dieng, both of whom are decent role-players. Neither one of them ever played for the Jazz, because Utah traded them to the Timberwolves for Trey Burke, the University of Michigan standout.
Burke wasn’t a bad NBA player, but he also was never exceptional. Instead, they could have traded Dieng and Muhammad for CJ McCollum, Steven Adams, or Kelly Olynyk. Or they could have kept their picks and drafted Giannis Antetokounmpo, Mason Plumlee, or Tim Hardaway Jr. Utah could have had two or three franchise players instead of just one, but I’d take Gobert over nothing any day of the week.
2014: Utah picked five, 23, and 35
This is another poor draft by Utah. The Jazz took Dante Exum, Rodney Hood, and Jarnell Stokes. None of these guys panned out the way we hoped, and when you look at who was still there, it gets even worse.
Instead of Exum, Utah could have taken Marcus Smart, Julius Randle, or Zach LaVine. All of those would have been great picks. At 23, instead of Hood, they could have gotten Clint Capela. Funnily enough, the worst pick may have been Jarnell Stokes. In the second round, it becomes a crapshoot to see who ends up being productive players, but Spencer Dinwiddie, Jerami Grant, Nikola Jokic, Dwight Powell, and Jordan Clarkson were all picked after Stokes. I can’t blame Utah for missing, but they could have lucked into at least one great player in this draft class, right?
2015: Utah picked 12, 42, and 54
Oliver Hanlan and Dani Diez never played an NBA game, but being picked 42 and 54 with not much talent left in the class means the Jazz did all they could. It’s not like the second round in 2015 was a failure, there just was not much talent there.
At 12, Utah took Trey Lyles. Lyles came from a loaded Kentucky team, so I can’t be mad that he was enticing. He ended up being a bench piece for his career, and this draft class was actually not that good, except Utah passed on Lyle’s college teammate Devin Booker, who went to the Suns at 13. That’s a big miss, and Lyle ended up leaving after only a few seasons.
2016: Utah picked 12, 42, 54, and 60
With four draft picks, one has to hit, right? Well, kind of. The Jazz took Tauren Prince at 12, and Caris LeVert, Pascal Siakam, and Dejounte Murray were all selected much later in the round. Prince never actually played a game for the Jazz, as he was traded to the Hawks in a multi-team deal that landed George Hill. Hill only played 49 games in Utah but he put up 16 points, so the return wasn’t that bad.
In the second round, Utah took Isaiah Whitehead, Joel Bolomboy, and Tyrone Wallace. Only Bolomboy played for Utah at all, and I highly doubt anyone remembers him, so this second round went as expected.
2017: Utah picked 24, 30, 42, and 55
Tyler Lydon was picked 24th and immediately traded to Denver. Josh Hart went 30th and Thomas Bryant went 42, but they were traded to the Lakers for Tony Bradley, who was not that good. Their 55th pick, Nigel Williams-Goss, played one forgettable season, which tends to be how 55th picks go. I would have loved to have kept Hard and Bryant instead of getting Tony Bradley, but this is the draft that brought Donovan Mitchell to town via Denver, so it all worked out in the end for the Jazz.
2018: Utah picked 21 and 52
I do not like Grayson Allen, but he was a steal at 21. No one immediately behind him has been as good as he has been, and Devnotae Graham and Gary Trent Jr both went in the early second round, so I can’t reasonably see the Jazz passing on Allen to get either of them. This was a good pick, given who was still there.
Their second-round pick, Vince Edwards, was traded to Houston for cash, and that was probably the best move considering he averaged 1.5 points in the two NBA games he ever played. Shake Milton and Kostas Antetokounmpo were still on the board. Milton is an okay player, but Kostas is in the league based on name alone, despite the fact that he has a ring.
2019: Utah picked 23 and 53
The Jazz used the 23rd overall pick to select Darius Bazley, who was then traded to Memphis with other assets for Mike Conley. Utah could have taken Nassir Little, Keldon Johnson, or Jordan Poole, but that late in the first round it was probably better to play it safe.
With the 53rd pick, Utah took Justin Wright-Foreman, who has only played one season in the NBA, and it was nothing special. Fortunately, no one noteworthy was selected after him.
When a franchise has a lot of mid-first-round draft picks and uses the only high picks on Enes Freedom and Dante Exum, it’s no wonder they haven’t been able to get over the hump. Utah has found plenty of role players in the draft and traded their way to get two stars (both from Denver) so it’s not like they wasted the decade. That being said, thighs could have gone a lot better and when playing the “what if” game, Utah could have been one of the better teams in the league.