Utah Jazz: Why they shouldn’t trade their first round pick
By Mason McFee
The Utah Jazz hold the 21st overall selection in the 2018 NBA Draft, so we make the case for keeping it instead of trading it.
The Utah Jazz have made 11 first round selections dating back to 2010. Of those original selections, only three of those players were on the regular season roster this past season; and only two remained on the roster by season’s end, and neither player is a lock to be on the roster next season. So where does that leave Utah?
Despite their apparent “lack of success” in the first round draft picks department, the Jazz have steadily increased as a team since 2010, which culminated with a 48-34 record this past season, good for fifth in the ever-crowded Western Conference.
What made the feat more impressive is that they did it without the best selection they’ve made during this eight year span, Gordon Hayward. While it’s hard to argue against that Hayward may have propelled the Jazz to the Western Conference (or maybe even the NBA) Finals had he remained with the team, Donovan Mitchell’s emergence may not have happened. This brings us to the Jazz’s troubling history of draft-night trades.
Back in 2013, the Minnesota Timberwolves selected then-Michigan sensation Trey Burke ninth overall. At the time, the pick wasn’t necessarily viewed as a slam dunk, as the Timberwolves already had Ricky Rubio on the roster, but when it was revealed the Jazz would be trading the No. 14 selection (Shabazz Muhammad) and No. 21 selection (Gorgui Dieng) to Minnesota, the pick(s) made a lot more sense… until they didn’t.
In his rookie season, Burke averaged 12.8 points, 5.7 assists and 3.0 rebounds per game. The next season, Burke averaged nearly identical numbers, posting 12.8 points, 4.3 assists and 2.7 rebounds per game. The problem? Through two seasons, Burke was posting an average field goal percentage of 37.4 percent. That’s bad.
For comparison’s sake, Dieng (a center) will be left out, but Muhammad (a guard) averaged only 3.9 points per game his rookie season, but he also was only receiving 7.8 minutes a game. In his sophomore season, Muhammad’s minutes jumped to 22.8 a night and in turn, upped his scoring average to 13.5 points per game. Muhammad also shot 48.9 percent from the field, to pair with a 39.2 3-point percentage.
Coaching schemes, roster construction and impending free agents should all be considered when looking back on a franchise’s draft choices, but when you know that Trey Burke would eventually be shipped out for a 2021 second-rounder in 2016, then the deal looks pretty bad; especially since Burke experienced a mini-career resurgence with the Knicks this past season.
That’s just one example. There are others.
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Look no further than last year’s draft, and you’ll find that the Jazz traded the 30th overall selection, Josh Hart, and the 42nd overall selection, Thomas Bryant, to the Lakers. In exchange, they got the 27th overall selection, Tony Bradley.
While the jury remains out on Bradley and Bryant, Hart averaged 7.9 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.3 assists per game, with a 39.6 shooting percentage from 3-point land to boot. Considering Hart only played in 63 games due to injury (and only started 23 times), and that he added 3.4 win shares, Hart would have been more useful on a postseason roster than Bradley, who spent all but nine games in the G League.
Going back in time to the 2016 NBA Draft, the Utah Jazz traded the 12th overall selection, Taurean Prince, to the Atlanta Hawks in a three-team deal with the Indiana Pacers that netted the Jazz veteran point guard George Hill.
While Hill was stellar in his lone season in Utah, posting 16.9 points per game (a career high), shooting 40.3 percent from deep and dropping 4.2 dimes a night, that’s all the trade would get Utah — one season of George Hill. Hill would depart for the Sacramento Kings, only to be traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers during this past season. The other part of the trade, Taurean Prince, has fared quite well.
In his rookie season, Prince only managed to average 5.7 points, 2.7 rebounds and 0.9 assists per game on a measly 40.0 field goal percentage, making the trade look like a steal for the Jazz (and Pacers, to a degree).
Instead, Prince quickly reversed that narrative this past season, upping his averages to 14.1 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game. He also averaged a steal per game, and now is viewed as building block in Atlanta amidst their rebuild. Losing Hayward was one thing, but having Prince right now with Rubio, Mitchell, Ingles, and Gobert would make losing Derrick Favors this offseason much easier to stomach.
Now, when it’s all said and done, this article is entirely based on hypotheticals, and with the Jazz’s sudden rise as a contender, it’s hard to say they necessarily made the wrong moves.
Next: 2018 NBA Mock Draft - Doncic still No. 1 in post-lottery edition
Finding diamonds in the rough like Royce O’Neale and Joe Ingles have paid massive dividends, and so was the draft-night trade for Donovan Mitchell. The Jazz front office has shown it is more than capable of finding immense talent within and outside of the draft. It just shouldn’t derail them from keeping this year’s pick at No. 21.