With the 2017 NBA Draft coming up, who should the Utah Jazz target with their first selection at pick No. 24?
The Utah Jazz surpassed many expectations this season, finishing with 50 wins and securing the fifth seed in the 2017 NBA Playoffs. Once in the postseason, they continued their success, defeating the Los Angeles Clippers in seven games before being swept by the eventual Western Conference champion Golden State Warriors.
All this was an important step in the trajectory of the franchise, but it did push the Jazz further down in the draft than they have been used to in recent years. Utah’s first pick is the 24th overall selection, the furthest back it’s been since 2007, in which they picked 25th.
If the Jazz re-sign Gordon Hayward and George Hill this summer in free agency, they’ll be more or less set at the point guard, small forward and center positions, but they could use an upgrade or depth at shooting guard and power forward.
That being said, picks late in the draft can’t be counted on to make an impact immediately or fill a hole, as many of them fail to even reach role player status.
For example, Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot, Tyus Jones, and Shabazz Napier were the last three players taken at pick 24. The jury is still out on Luwawu-Cabarrot, but Napier and Jones haven’t yet done much to prove they belong on an NBA roster.
The first round of this year’s draft is full of talented big men, with as many as 10 centers projected to go within the top 25 picks, according to DraftExpress. The Jazz are fairly well-stocked at that position, but they may have to reconsider their objective based on the talent presented to them.
With that in mind, here are five options the Jazz should consider at pick No. 24 in the 2017 NBA Draft, ranked in order of how much value they’d bring to the team going forward.