RealGM

We've done a great job picking in the second round of the draft for the last ten years, so lets not make any changes there-- but in the first round we have had more misses than hits. So, I am proposing a new strategy for drafting in the first round. We need to plant a spy in the strategy room of the teams who hold the draft picks directly following ours. Then, when we are on the clock... we will listen in and pick whichever player that team is planning to pick.

If we had followed that draft strategy the last ten years, here is the team we would have right now, (without any trades): Chris Paul, Mo Williams, Aaron Brooks, Darren Collison, Wesley Matthews, CJ Miles, Paul George, Gerald Wallace, Josh Smith, Jeremy Evans, Paul Millsap, Serge Ibaka, Al Jefferson, Krylo Fesenko and Jarron Collins.

Those would be our best 15 first and second round picks from the last 10 years, (plus the choice we made to sign an undrafted Wes Matthews). Looks like a championship team to me!

The exchange of Deron Williams for Chris Paul is debatable, and I would definitely stick with Gordon Hayward over Paul George... but the only really bad exchange in those 10 years would be Ronny Brewer for Cedric Simmons in the 2006 draft.

One potential problem is that the Jazz seem to place too much emphasis on minor height advantages. They should go for the superior athlete.

2009 - Eric Maynor 6-3 vs. Darren Collison 6-1
2008 - Kosta Koufos 7-0 vs. Serge Ibaka 6-10
2005 - Deron Williams 6-3 vs. Chris Paul 6-1

Some other notable mistakes were choosing mediocre shooting guards of elite point guards.

2007 - Morris Almond 6-6 vs. Aaron Brooks 6-0
2006 - Ronnie Brewer 6-7 vs. Rajon Rondo 6-2

Or how about the Jazz create a time machine and go into the future 10 years and see who is the best player available and draft that person.

I bet most teams that draft around where the Jazz do have the same isues. No team has just nailed every pick, not the Spurs, not the Lakers, not the Suns, not the Jazz.

Most teams make very logical picks. How they pan out is a different story.

That's an amusing pattern, for sure.

I don't generally waste any time or energy crying about woulda/coulda/shoulda's in the draft, because every single team has plenty of those stories, (and I personally make no claim to any skill at draft predictions). The only point of my post was what an incredible coincidence it is that so many great first round picks happened to be made with the picks immediately following ours. (Combined with the another fact-- that we have been unusually good at making great picks in the second round).

I'm guessing if those teams were the pick ahead of the Jazz they would have taken the same guy that we did...just saying...

Lava Rock Kid wrote:Or how about the Jazz create a time machine and go into the future 10 years and see who is the best player available and draft that person.

I think you are on to something there!

When we drafted Koufos I was furious, and I blasted the pick immediately. During his rookie season I softened on him because he showed some glimpses, but then he completely fell apart.

I did the same thing after Hayward however, and I have said repeatedly now that I am in the process of marketing a new generic version of Viagra called Hayward.