RealGM

After a couple of years of strong draft picks, I was thinking what is the worst Utah Jazz pick ever after I heard Kirk Snyder was sent to a mental hospital.

1. Luther Wright (mental case)
2. Kirk Snyder (mental case)
3. Danny Shayes (no talent and high pick)
4. Deshawn Stevenson (criminal)
5. Morris Almond (selfish)
6. Ryan Humphries (stupid)
7. Raul Lopez (injury prone)

At lease this mistakes were made with late first round picks for the most part.

For #6, do you mean Kris Humphries? We drafted a guy named Ryan Humphrey in 2002, and traded him for Curtis Borchardt (*sigh*).

I'm not sure Snyder, Humphries or Stevenson really belong here. They were at least rotation players while they were here, and Humphries and Stevenson still are (on other teams). I'd put the guys we (and/or the NBA) got absolutely nothing out of, as worse than them.

José Ortiz (15th overall 1987)? Maybe if he'd arrived at the NBA 10 years later he would have stayed.

The one that still stings for me is Raul Lopez; the Jazz clearly needed a PG, they brought in Tony Parker to work out for them (twice if I recall) then decided to go with Raul Lopez instead. The speculation was that they wanted to save some $$$ by leaving Lopez overseas for a year. But for a late first round pick, Raul Lopez wasn't bad. He just got hurt.

Luther Wright is up there... but it's hard to criticize a team too much for gambling on a big man at #18. You could say the same thing about Borchardt.

Lucy Harris.

Yes, Kris Humphries. Jose Ortiz now thats a good one as I thought he was a good pick when the Jazz picked him, he turned out to be garbage.

Deshawn Stevenson... criminal. That is a little harsh. He is far from number 4.

Curtis Borchard? I would put in before Stevenson.

Danny Schayes was pretty good by the way. I think he even started for a bit. (and not the way sloan starts 3rd stringers at times to fix the rotation)

With each spot Borchard slipped during that draft, I performed a little intentional meditation that the next team would pick him... then the Jazz traded up to get him with Jameer Nelson still on the board. Un*******ing believable. C'mon, didn't everyone- except perhaps Jazz management- foretell how that would turn out?

Anybody remember Quincy Lewis?

yeah - Snyder and Humphries with Josh Smith, Kevin Martin and Al Jefferson still on the board weren't our greatest moments ever. These may be our worst ever only because of who was still on the board. It wasn't like there was an obviously much better choice after Luther Wright was taken, for example..

Lopez wasn't injured until AFTER he was drafted but before he came to Utah. I wouldn't put most of the guys you picked on there. If they lasted more than a season or two in the league how could they be the worst picks ever?

Lucy Harris was a hillarious pick by the way. I love a team with a sense of humor.

kamazilla wrote:With each spot Borchard slipped during that draft, I performed a little intentional meditation that the next team would pick him... then the Jazz traded up to get him with Jameer Nelson still on the board. Un*******ing believable. C'mon, didn't everyone- except perhaps Jazz management- foretell how that would turn out?

Wrong draft, buddy...Nelson didn't get drafted until 2004, the same year as Dwight.

Deshawn Stevenson was a late 1st rounder in a HORRIBLE draft. He was the best available pick other than Michael Redd whom no one had going high. Now Raul got hurt, but both Tony Parker and Gerald Wallace went soon after him. I remember the Borchardt draft. I was soooo pissed.

ps: And Gilbert Arenas went soon after too
pps: and Mehmet Okur

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001_NBA_Draft

Jeez, what a strange draft. There are undrafted players better than the top pick.

Before the Ryan Humphries/Borchardt fiasco, nearly everyone had Carlos Boozer going to Utah, including Carlos. Everyone except the Utah front office .... who were the only ones who got paid for making the decision.

I think most teams will have worse examples.

Say taking Webster over Deron for instance.


For me the worst emotionally was the Lopez pick. I was sick to my stomach when they announced that one.

Raul Lopez was a good player and would have had a good NBA career if it weren't for injuries. He had starting PG potential but just couldn't stay healthy.