Utah Jazz: 5 options for pick No. 52 in 2018 NBA Draft

5. Tony Carr, PG — Penn State

Penn State point guard Tony Carr has the potential to be one of the best players to come out of this year’s draft class. He has a smooth handle, a mechanically sound jump shot and is a willing and capable passer. So why is he ranked so low on this list?

For starters, during his two years at Penn State, Carr averaged 2.4 turnovers per game. For a guy that would likely be in charge of a team’s second unit (and in this hypothetical, Utah’s), and despite slightly decreasing his turnovers per game average to 2.3 during his sophomore campaign from 2.6 his freshman year, the number is still a bit worrying.

Turnovers are one of the biggest knocks against Carr’s game, but another one is his lack of consistency. When Carr starts to get it going on offense, he becomes trigger-happy and tries to force the issue, which in turn leads to a lot of his turnovers. That can be coached out of him, but it will require some patience, and probably some seasoning in the G League.

Carr is 6’5″ and weighs 204 pounds. Those compare quite favorably to impending restricted free agent Dante Exum, who is 6’6″ and weighs 190. While height and weight are always correlated to having the ability to drive in the lane, weighing a bit more helps when you’re in the middle of a few defenders who are taller than you:

Take this play against No. 8 Ohio State. As the play shows, there were only 2.9 seconds before half and Penn State was trying to complete a full-court pass to score, which is essentially the basketball equivalent of a Hail Mary — in other words, the success rate is normally quite low. Fortunately for Penn State, they had Tony Carr.

The whole play is really a mess. The two Ohio State defenders who should have easily deflected or caught the pass end up tripping over each other, which leaves the path to the basket open for Carr. (the receiver).

The only problem is Carr is thrown off-balance by one of the Ohio State defenders falling down, and has to make sure he doesn’t fall out of bounds before trying to gather the ball. No one would have blamed Carr if the play resulted in a turnover, but instead, he gathers the ball, and hits a tough layup falling down to end the half.

It’s those types of plays that would endear him to the Jazz faithful, and they’re just a taste of what he has to offer.