Utah Jazz fans should continue to keep an eye on mock drafts leading up to the NBA Draft. This mock by Kyle Boone of CBS Sports has the Jazz making some puzzling decisions.
Come draft day, the Utah Jazz will have some crucial decisions on their hands concerning the future of the franchise. With three first-round picks this year, the Jazz need to have a good success rate on these selections.
We’ve already seen Utah make a collection of different picks in some mocks already, and we’re still two months away from the draft. It’s safe to say we’ll see no shortage of scenarios and opinions over the course of the coming weeks.
In this recent CBS Sports mock, these potential Jazz selections don’t tend to set the Jazz up for either recent or long-term success. A collection of questionable fits and ignoring glaring team needs makes this draft not so great for Utah.
Let’s take a look at who CBS decided to select for Utah’s picks.
Walker is the best of the three picks in this mock for the Jazz. Walker is a do-it-all-four with an NBA-ready body. He was a part of this year’s Houston Cougars team which was consistently one of the best teams in the country.
He projects to be a great fit with Utah. With Kelly Olynyk entering the offseason on a non-guaranteed contract, there’s no promises we see him back with the team. This would open up the perfect role for Walker to instantly click with the Jazz in year one.
However, where the mock starts to fall apart is with Utah’s next pick at 16.
One thing the Jazz should be avoiding is selecting two players that play the same position in the same class. Especially when you consider the talent Utah currently has in the frontcourt, all this pick does is create a logjam at the position.
If the Utah Jazz’s plan is to stunt the growth of their new two young forwards, this would be the pick to make.
Hendricks isn’t a bad player, he’s far from it. He provides some great shooting at the position that the Jazz would value. He also has good size and length, measuring 6’9. However, when you pair him with another similar player taken earlier in the draft, the fit becomes a bit foggy.
It wouldn’t be surprising to see one of these players with the Jazz come June, but both are a bit much. The mock continues to have the Jazz making puzzling decisions with their next selection.
While the first two picks of this draft were considered a “best player available” type of pick, this one is just a straight-up reach. Even for CBS Sports’ standards, as Jaquez is their 13th-ranked shooting guard and 37th-ranked prospect in the class.
Jacquez had some productive seasons in his four years at UCLA, netting some nice tournament and Sweet 16 appearances, but he provides little to no upside as an NBA draft prospect, especially as a first-round selection.
He’s already 22 years old, which is around two to three years ahead of some other prospects in this range. Even the two of the players taken immediately after Utah’s pick had better value and upside than Jacquez (Terquavion Smith and Amari Bailey).
If the Jazz are that interested in Jacquez as a prospect, they should trade into the second round in order to get him. If not, the Jazz should be steering clear. With as many picks as Utah has in the first, they must be taking bigger swings than Jacquez.