Utah Jazz all-time draft bust starting 5
By Tyler Watts
C: Enes Kanter
The Utah Jazz have never had the number one overall pick in the NBA Draft, but they have selected in the top three four times. The results were Darrell Griffith, Deron Williams, Dominque Wilkins, who was traded to the Hawks in 1982, and Kanter. One of those names does not quite fit the group.
The Jazz took a shot on Kanter just after Jerry Sloan retired, and they were hoping he could blossom into Utah’s next great big man. Instead, he became a bucket-getting role player that struggled mightily on the defensive end. Kanter played three and a half years with the Utah Jazz before being traded to the Thunder in 2015. He spent 11 seasons in the NBA but was a backup big man for most of it.
The 2011 draft class featured seven All-Stars and only Kyrie Irving was selected ahead of Enes Kanter. Kawhi Leonard, Jimmy Butler, Klay Thompson, Kemba Walker, Nikola Vucevic, Tobias Harris, and Jonas Valanciunas were all still on the board when the Jazz picked. It was a massive miss with the number three pick and one that haunted Utah as they made the postseason just once in the next five years.
Will the Utah Jazz find their next star in the 2023 NBA Draft or do they select someone to join this list? The draft is an inexact science, so stay tuned because anything can happen on June 22.
