Projection for the Jazz Draft Picks

If I were picking for the Jazz in this year upcoming draft and I had a best case scenario it would be this as follows:

With their first pick in the draft I would have them draft Cole Aldrich with the 9th overall pick. I know he is not the sexiest pick in the world but he is someone that can come in and help from day one. Look at the Jazz roster. Okur is coming off a major injury and is going to be even slower than he was prior to getting hurt. Due to his health he might be best served coming off the bench. That would leave us with either K-Fesz or Koufus as the starter! I use to like K-Fesz until he got playing time and I learn the guy has got bricks for hands! He is big and he sucks at rebounding! As for Koufus, he looks like he is afraid of Jerry Sloan giving him a verbal beat down!

Caption: Sloan- "If you stayed in front of your @^&% man I would let you play!" Ronnie-"I know! I don't want to hear it coach!"

The reason I would take Aldrich over Greg Monroe is because the kid plays defense. Every Jazz fan knows unless you play defense and play it well you will not get playing time! I guarantee if the Jazz draft Monroe that he will ride the pine due to his lack of defensive ability. I am not saying Aldrich is going to bring a Championship to Utah but I do think he can give us 20 minutes a night and get 7 plus rebounds and a block or two. The Jazz do not have the money to resign Boozer and will not be signing a free agent big man. The salary cap is in place to help small market teams like Utah! And only will if the Jazz stay under the cap. The Jazz need help this next season in the post and Aldrich would provide that. This team cannot wait 3 years for a big man to develop.

The best case scenario for the second pick is a no brainer! I would have the Jazz drafting Jarvis Varnado from Mississippi State University. He is the NCAA all time leader in block shots. Here is his stat line from college:

SEASON	TEAM	MIN	PTS	REB	AST	TO	A/T	STL	BLK	PF	FG%	FT%	3P%	PPS
2006-2007	MSST	13.5	5.0	4.2	.3	.5	.58	.3	1.9	2.1	.647	.533	.000	1.50
2007-2008	MSST	28.5	7.9	7.8	.5	1.2	.44	.5	4.6	2.9	.641	.500	.500	1.58
2008-2009	MSST	28.1	12.9	8.8	.8	1.7	.47	.6	4.7	2.3	.549	.654	.000	1.41
2009-2010	MSST	31.7	13.8	10.3	.9	2.0	.45	.7	4.7	2.4	.582	.610	.000	1.57

Since the Jazz will not be able to resign Boozer they are going to need someone to come off the bench to play the 4 spot. Varnado is a senior and averaged 4.7 blocks a game last year. His defense is similar to AK-47 in that he is great on help defense. He would add length and defense ability to the second unit.

Wes Matthews is a perfect example of how a defensive minded player can get playing time on a Jerry Sloan coached team! The Jazz need players that can contribute next year on them and not for the Utah Flash!