The Utah Jazz drafted John Stockton and Karl Malone in back-to-back years, so it is hard to knock their abilities. The selections of Donovan Mitchell, Deron Williams, Andrei Kirilenko, Paul Millsap, and Gordon Hayward further proves the Jazz know how to find stars in the draft. Can they locate the next one as they kick off a rebuild? Deron was the only top-eight pick of that group, so Utah has proven they don’t need a premium selection to find talent.
The Jazz are loaded with picks after trading Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert last summer, including holding three first-rounders in 2023. Can they find their next star or will Utah have to pull off a slow rebuild? Danny Ainge is eager to create a contender in Salt Lake City, but that means nailing his draft choices.
The Utah Jazz have not always hit home runs in the draft. It is the nature of it. Even top picks bust and the draft involves plenty of skill, but a fair amount of luck too. Where has Utah made their biggest blunders?
Utah Jazz all-time draft bust starting 5
PG: Dante Exum
The Jazz had the fifth pick in 2014 after reaching the playoffs just once in the previous four years. Head coach Jerry Sloan abruptly retired in 2011, and Utah quickly headed towards a rebuild. They were hoping a top-five pick could advance the turnaround, but things did not work out.
Utah selected Exum, who was a 6’5 point guard out of Australia. The teenager had a ton of raw talent and star potential. The Jazz hoped he could be their lead ball-handler of the future. Exum played 22.2 minutes per game as a rookie and never topped 20 a night again. He is still only 27 years old but has not played in the NBA since 2021. Exum currently plays for KK Partizan in the EuroLeague.
Julius Randle, Zach LaVine, Marcus Smart, and Nikola Jokic were still on the board in 2014. Jokic was the star of this class, despite being selected 41st overall. The Jazz even missed on several talented role players to draft Exum, who just never worked out.
Selecting Dante Exum fifth overall in 2014 was arguably the Utah Jazz’s biggest draft bust, but they have had some other massive blunders over the years.
SG: Sasha Pavlovic
The historic 2003 NBA Draft class produced nine All-Stars and three members of the NBA 75. LeBron James leads the way, but Dwayne Wade, Carmelo Anthony, Chris Bosh, and others give it plenty of depth. That makes no mention of the role players selected.
It seems like every team, but the Jazz hit in this draft. Utah selected Pavlovic 19th overall. John Stockton retired in 2003 and Karl Malone left the Jazz for Los Angeles. The franchise was in flux, and they were searching for young talent.
Pavlovic lasted just one season in Utah where he averaged 14.5 minutes per game before being selected by the Bobcats in the expansion draft. The 6’8 wing went on to play a decade in the NBA, but he never saw more than 23.3 minutes per game or produced over 9.0 points each night.
Pavlovic has the second-worst value over replacement player (VORP) and the worst win shares of anyone that played more than ten years in this class. To make matters worse, Kyle Korver, Mo Williams, Josh Howard, and Boris Diaw were still on the board when Pavlovic was selected. The Utah Jazz missed big in one of the deepest draft classes in NBA history.
SF: Quincy Lewis
The Jazz made the playoffs for two straight decades starting in 1984. It included reaching the NBA Finals in 1997 and 1998 with John Stockton and Karl Malone leading their charge. In 1999, the Trail Blazers knocked out Utah in the second round of the playoffs after the lockout-shortened season. The Jazz had the 19th pick, and they were hoping to add an impactful wing.
Lewis played three years in Utah where he averaged 3.8 points and 1.4 rebounds in 12.3 minutes per game. The 6’7 wing just never found his place in the NBA and only played 14 more games before finishing his playing career overseas. He finished with the third-lowest VORP and the eighth-lowest win shares per 48 minutes in this class.
The Jazz had three first-round picks in 1999, and they redeemed themselves five picks later when they selected Andrei Kirilenko, who had the third-highest VORP. Still, they missed on Manu Ginobili, who went 57th overall to the Spurs. The Hall of Famer was a two-time All-Star and four-time NBA champion and arguably the best player in this class.
Imagine how different things would have turned out if the Utah Jazz took a flyer on Ginobili in this draft. Hindsight is 20-20, but the player they needed was sitting on the board three different times when they selected.
PF: Kris Humphries
The Jazz followed the Pavlovic miss in 2003 with two busts the following year. Utah finished 42-40 and narrowly missed the playoffs. With the 14th pick, they selected Humphries, who spent 13 years in the NBA but played more than 20 minutes per game just three times. The 6’9 forward is more famous for his brief marriage to Kim Kardashian than he is for his NBA playing career.
The Jazz followed that up by selecting Kirk Snyder 16th overall. He made it just one year in Utah before being traded to the Hornets. Snyder played just four seasons in the league where he averaged 6.3 points and 2.3 rebounds in 16.8 minutes per game.
The Jazz passed on Al Jefferson, Josh Smith, J.R. Smith, Jameer Nelson, Tony Allen, Kevin Martin, and Trevor Ariza to select Humphries and Snyder. It was certainly a pair of misses that set the franchise back slightly, but they only missed the playoffs for two more years before jumping right back in.
The Utah Jazz are never going to attract marquee free agents, so they must build through the draft and via trade. Missing two picks in the middle of the first round here hurt and is something the franchise has to avoid as they attempt to rebuild.
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.
Top 5 NBA draft picks in Utah Jazz history
The NBA Draft is approaching quickly. With the Utah Jazz set to select inside of the lottery this year, here's a look at the top 5 picks in Jazz history.