As March Madness rolls on, who should the Utah Jazz be looking at in the draft?
By Dan Lower
#3 - Donovan Clingan - Connecticut - 7'2" 280 lbs. Center
As Connecticut blazes through the tournament as the presumptive favorite to win it all, center Donovan Clingan's star is rising. He is averaging 3 blocks per game over the Huskies' 7 postseason games after getting 2.5 a game in the regular season, and he is averaging 15.8 points and 10 boards in the NCAA tournament (up from 12.9 and 7.5 in the regular season).
He has come a long ways from a year ago, and as a result is rising up the mock draft boards across the NBA. Some have him as high as #5 overall, but in theory the Jazz have a shot at him since most of the teams ahead of them aren't looking to draft a guy like him or already have a good rotation of bigs.
With the known issues in the Jazz big-man rotation this year, it might make sense to pick a guy like Clingan to push Walker Kessler. The biggest issue is if the Jazz want a center with their first pick, or if they want a guard or a forward. That might determine whether Clingan is in their sights or not. Either way he's going to get drafted high and make a lot of money in the NBA.