Utah Jazz--NBA Draft 2009 Watch

Duiz · Post #1 » by **Duiz** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 5:35 am

So who should we be looking to draft this coming draft?

Are we still looking for a defensive center? Will anyone even half worth it drop down that low?

Do we need someone to back up Boozer or Millsap, whoever leaves the team this summer.

carrottop12 · Post #2 » by **carrottop12** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 5:46 am

I imagine the Jazz will be looking big and defensive, but that isn't the easiest thing to find at the bottom of the first round.

Both nbadraft.net and draftexpress.com have the Jazz drafting BJ Mullens right now who is a very good prospect, but like Koufos he is a one and done guy (coincidentally from Ohio State) with a huge upside but at least a few years away from contributing. Not sure if the Jazz want more projects on the team with all the questions coming this off season.

Dujuan Blair is a very polished and strong player who the Jazz will likely covet, basically a Paul Millsap clone. Small, long arms, great rebounder, very strong.

Gani Lawai is also a a big man with good rebounding and shot blocking skills who should be around. He came out of Georgia Tech which seems to have put out some good players in the past few years. He doesn't score the ball at all, would definitely be a good defensive addition to the Jazz though.

Also the Jazz could look to sure up the back up PG spot in a very strong PG draft with Maynor, Teague, Mills and Flynn all possibilities to fall to the Jazz.

Drafting this late is always a shot in the dark so it's hard to set in on anyone in particular, I'd love to get Mullens if he falls, but I think he'll rise dramatically in individual work outs.

HolyToledo · Post #3 » by **HolyToledo** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 5:58 am

Patty Mills has the heart, work ethic, skills to be a solid back to D-Will so replace Knight and Price. I pray KOC pulls off the trade of the century and nabs Amare.

HouseofBoozer · Post #4 » by **HouseofBoozer** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 6:10 am

I'd say anyone but Deron is available at this point, even if that just means a sign and trade.

HouseofBoozer · Post #5 » by **HouseofBoozer** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 6:11 am

I'd probably protect Ronnie B too, if we can keep him.

J_Ray · Post #6 » by **J_Ray** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 6:58 am

Am I the only one that thinks a SG/SF should be a need this offseason? I'm definitely not content with an aging Harpring and a mediocre CJ Miles. Utah just drafted Koufos last year, and he's a 19 year old, and he was a rookie this year. Sloan never plays rookies, so Koufos being forced into the rotation has to help him IMO. Koufos will be in the rotation next year and contributing, no need for a young big, we need a vet. Back-up PG? I wouldn't draft a back-up PG unless it's a talent you can't pass up like a Johnny Flynn, Eric Maynor, etc. With this pick, I would look into someone like Terrence Williams, Danny Green, or...eh maybe Stephen Curry. Utah obviously never hit it big with major talents or potential picks if you ask me, so take the proven team player that knows how to win. 2nd round would be a nice place to take a waiver on a guy like Jon Brockman or Jeff Adrien, undersized hustle guys that aren't afraid to mix it up.

carrottop12 · Post #7 » by **carrottop12** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 8:11 am

I'm all for an SF if who come in and contribute solid and powerful minutes right away.

That is why I really like Sam Young from Pitt. Very strong player, smart defender, plays with muscle, but is a freak athlete on top of it. Solid shooter, good mid range game, can hit the three, guard multiple positions, and has a polished game since he played for 4 years in college.

My draft board right now looks like this:

Eric Maynor
Sam Young
BJ Mullens
Patrick Mills

Reckless · Post #8 » by **Reckless** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 9:12 am

I would be happy with either Pittsburgh guy, Young or Blair

JDubJazz · Post #9 » by **JDubJazz** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 3:38 pm

Given the draft position the Jazz are in, its defintiely a case of best player available. It would be interesting to know how our two draft picks from last year (Tomic and Dragacevic) played this season, because if the Jazz think they are close to coming over to the NBA, then that could affect their draft immensely. Tomic is especially interesting, because he has the thing the Jazz are most sorely lacking: length.

Personally, I'm hoping Ty Lawson somehow falls to the Jazz, because I think he would be an ideal backup for Deron.

qman · Post #10 » by **qman** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 7:57 pm

Young reminds me of a harpring that can jump. As a late first he wouldn't be the worst pick. Personally I think we need to find another big with length. But that is tough to do with the pick we will have.

carrottop12 · Post #11 » by **carrottop12** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 8:03 pm

JDubJazz wrote:Given the draft position the Jazz are in, its defintiely a case of best player available. It would be interesting to know how our two draft picks from last year (Tomic and Dragacevic) played this season, because if the Jazz think they are close to coming over to the NBA, then that could affect their draft immensely. Tomic is especially interesting, because he has the thing the Jazz are most sorely lacking: length.

Personally, I'm hoping Ty Lawson somehow falls to the Jazz, because I think he would be an ideal backup for Deron.

I wrote into David Locke on his live blog during one of his shows and had him ask KOC what the deal was with those two players. He didn't talk much about Dragicevic but said Tomic is still a ways a way from even being able to come into the league seeing that he just doesn't carry the weight required to get any real playing time and there wasn't ever any certainty that he would come over.

Personally I'd love to have both of them come over to play in the RMR just to get a look at them. As it stands though Koufos is pretty clearly our best prospect.

JDubJazz · Post #12 » by **JDubJazz** » Wed Apr 15, 2009 9:02 pm

Batronuj wrote:
JDubJazz wrote:Given the draft position the Jazz are in, its defintiely a case of best player available. It would be interesting to know how our two draft picks from last year (Tomic and Dragacevic) played this season, because if the Jazz think they are close to coming over to the NBA, then that could affect their draft immensely. Tomic is especially interesting, because he has the thing the Jazz are most sorely lacking: length.

Personally, I'm hoping Ty Lawson somehow falls to the Jazz, because I think he would be an ideal backup for Deron.

I wrote into David Locke on his live blog during one of his shows and had him ask KOC what the deal was with those two players. He didn't talk much about Dragicevic but said Tomic is still a ways a way from even being able to come into the league seeing that he just doesn't carry the weight required to get any real playing time and there wasn't ever any certainty that he would come over.

Personally I'd love to have both of them come over to play in the RMR just to get a look at them. As it stands though Koufos is pretty clearly our best prospect.

Thanks for the update, Bat. I agree, Koufos is the guy on whom our hopes must hang until the Jazz make a move for a legitimate shotblocker.

erudite23 · Post #13 » by **erudite23** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 10:48 pm

It seems like this is the year to get a quality backup PG to groom behind D-Will for the next 4 years. I have had it with the crap we've trotted out since Fisher left. There are some quality guys to look at, imo.

I also like Blair a lot. He seems like the type of player that is always falling down the draft board but still ends up being a quality player. Just like Millsap, Boozer, Carl Landry, Craig Smith, David West, Brandon Bass etc etc.

Whatever we do, we need to find a player who is a) a quality player AND b) has a defensive mindset.

Regardless of position, its time to make more of a commitment to that end of the floor.

J_Ray · Post #14 » by **J_Ray** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 12:12 am

Why does everyone like Blair so much? The guy is a 6'6" PF, aren't we the team that is having issues with being small and can't handled length? If Utah looks at a big, how about a Josh Heytvelt or Jeff Pendergraph? Both are physical bigs that play D and can knock down 15-18 footer that Utah needs their bigs to do in their offense. I would feel more comfortable taking a 4-year college guy that knows how to work also, because you have to be able to work to survive under Sloan. Blair has always had the talent but the worry everyone had for him since HS was his bad work ethic.

Here's my wishlist:
1st Round Talent:
Terrence Williams
Eric Maynor
Danny Green
Jeff Pendergraph
Sam Young
Taj Gibson

2nd Round Talent:
Jermaine Taylor (UCF Guard)
Jack McClinton
AJ Price
Jon Brockman
Daniel Hackett

outerspacefella · Post #15 » by **outerspacefella** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 1:44 am

I'm still not in draft mode... but I will say on ething: Whoever we draft we better assure ourselves that the guy is a tough character player.

If there's still some common sense in NBA front offices, Mullens won't be in the board at 21; will be Hibbert reminiscent...

3 things the Jazz need:

- the most glaring one's a quality backup PG - as an aside note, Deron should understand his backup will have to play at least 12-15 minutes per game to gain and mantain his basketball competitive

- A Small Forward please; this is about as a glaring need as the first one

- A traditional defensive-minded center

Very original...

carrottop12 · Post #16 » by **carrottop12** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 8:13 pm

I agree with you J-ray in that the only reason I'd stay away from Blair is the fact that he's another small guy that plays big that we would hope could one day turn into a Paul Millsap like player.

If the Jazz go big they need to go legit big. As much as I like the underdogs who work extra hard because they are undersized, they doom your team with not being able to deal with the length of a team like the Lakers.

Maynor or Young, those are who I want to see.

JDubJazz · Post #17 » by **JDubJazz** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 9:39 pm

My new mantra for all Utah Jazz player acquisitions: Go Big or Go Home. We have got to STOP getting undersized players. Its absolutely killing us on defense.

Look at this roster:
Deron: big for a PG
Brevin Knight: undersized at any position
Ronnie Price: undersized at his natural position (SG) and smallish as a PG
Brewer: normal size for his position
CJ Miles: normal size
Korver: normal size
Matt Harpring: short for his position
Andrei Krilenko: light for his position (even though he has great length, his lack of strength is killing him)
Paul Millsap: undersized
Carlos Boozer: undersized
Memo: smallish at Center
Jarron Collins: smallish at center
Koufous: normal size for a center
Fesenko: normal to big for a center.
Morris Almond: normal size

SIX of our top nine guys have significant "size" issues. Its not wonder we struggle on the defensive end. I'm tired of scappy "hustle" players who try hard but are a little short for their positions. We need to be getting players on this team who are are the normal height/weight for their positions so that they are not constantly being beaten to a pulp by bigger/stronger players! There is a reason Deron regularly schools other PGs, including CP3: He has a definite size advantage over all of them!

The Sheik · Post #18 » by **The Sheik** » Sat Apr 18, 2009 4:23 pm

Jazz need to just take the BPA.

I personally dont like a lot of the bigs in this draft. I would stay away from BJ Mullens.

Utah needs to mix up there big philosophy. There are no more "bangin" big men, its turning more and more into a finesse game. The guy I wish we drafted last season was Jason Thompson. Im very happy with Kosta, but JT would have been great for this team.

We need to get more athletic at ever position. We are possibly the slowest latteral team in the league. We need a George Hill type infusion at backup PG. We need some athletic wings and athletes at the 4, 5 spot.

I think as far as prospects go the PG are more safe bets around where we are picking.

J_Ray · Post #19 » by **J_Ray** » Sun Apr 19, 2009 3:58 am

Actually there is a semi-banger that should be available is Jeff Pendergraph, and he is a great team player. He's a legit 6'9" big that can bang in the post while having range on his jumper that goes out to around 15-18 feet. Utah could probably trade down to swap picks and pick up some cash, or future 2nd rounders and still take him. In the 2nd round, I wouldn't mind taking AJ Price out of UConn. He was still recovering from an ACL injury this year, and those type of injuries usually take a year to get your explosiveness back. He is "Laptop Jr." since he was part of the Marcus Williams scandal, but he's got a much better head

slambamJazz · Post #20 » by **slambamJazz** » Mon Apr 20, 2009 7:17 am

One guy I like with the 21 pick is Patrick Patterson. Patterson would bring some energy and has alot of upside. I think Paterson campares to Powe from Boston. I could also see the Jazz going after Sheldon Williams in free agency. Williams might take Collins place and become a enforcer on Defence. Williams was the 5 pick in draft and still might be a good player in the right system. I think the jazz might be able to sign Williams for about 2 million per year.I hope the jazz can get Boozer signed but might not be able to sign both Boozer and Milsap.