Utah Jazz Draft Review

Last night was a little rough with the Jazz going with a very conservative pick and getting a player that the majority a fans are already considering a bust. Rather than joining the mass of depressed Jazz fans I am going to try and argue some positives from this pick.

In case you weren't alive last night or this morning, the Jazz draft picks were:

9) Gordon Hayward, F, Butler

55) Jeremy Evans, F, Western Kentucky

Before I go into why this is not a bad draft for the Jazz, I am going to need everyone to re-adjust their expectation for the Jazz this next season. Let come to grips with the reality of some changes that are going to take place to this roster. The league salary cap is at $56.1 million for next season and as it stands the Jazz sit at $54.8 million. That number of $54.8 million is where the Jazz sit with the minus of Boozer, Krover, Matthews, Fesenko, and Gaines from their payroll! That leaves them with a whole $1.3 million to improve their roster! Not to mention they still need to sign their draft picks.

The Jazz are not going to bring Boozer back and they are not going to bring back Korver. They are going to be lucky if they can afford to bring back Matthews (everyone's new favorite) and Fesenko (hardly consider that lucky). With the lose of Boozer and not having a good bench the Jazz are going to struggle just to make the playoff next season. Forget the idea of winning the division! The Nuggets, Thunder, and Blazers are leaps and bounds more talented than the roster that the Jazz have. Not to mention if the Timberwolves learn to grow up, the Jazz are going to struggle staying ahead of them.

Another issue to consider is the fact that Okur might never play again! If his is able to recover he will be not even come close to being as good as he was prior to the injury. In addition to that if you thought his defense sucked before, now picture Okur being even slower (if possible) and not being able to jump at all. That is the player the Jazz get back from an injury this next season (for $10 million a year).

The Jazz have realized that their core is not going to win a championship and are attempting to change directions. They tried to go over the salary cap for a chance at a title last season and it did not work.

Ok with this perspective in mind now lets look at the draft.

Gordon Hayward-

I get that Hayward is not a sexy pick and his potential is not out of the world but he will help contribute to the Jazz team next season.

If you have not watched the interview of Kevin O'Connor following the pick of Hayward you need to! I thought he provided some interesting thoughts. The first one that stood out the most was talking about him being a winner and also being able to perform under pressure.

O'Connor said over and over that "winning counts for something" and no matter what you think of Butler or the State of Indiana basketball, Hayward was a winner in High School and in College.

The point of him being able to perform under pressure is a valid point. O'Connor also stated that it shows he is mentally tough and that is something that is important to Sloan. Heck I would argue that the attribute of being mentally tough is one of the most important characteristics a player (especially a rookie) has to have when playing for Sloan.

O'Connor also spoke about him being clutch in big games. Last season Butler played: UCLA, Clemson, Georgetown, Ohio St, Xavier, Syracuse, Kansas St, Michigan St, and Duke. Hayward did play in a weak division in college but played against some of colleges best teams last season. Best part is that he played well! In those games he averaged 18.7 points, 9 rebounds, and 1.1 steals.

He is better than Luke Babbitt because he can create his own shot! He can handle the basketball better than Babbitt and I would argue he can be a better shooter than Babbitt. Sure last season he only shot 29% from long range but he has the makings of a good shooter. In his freshmen year he shot just barely under 45% for long range! And that was with only 6 fewer shot attempted. Looking at his shots attempted it is easy to see that Hayward was Butlers go to guy and that opposing teams treated him that way. Also Babbitt did shoot 41% for long range but also attempted 59 fewer shots from long range.

My last point would be... There was not another player available that you can argue is leaps and bounds better than Hayward! O'Connor even pointed out that when the Jazz picked it was a different level of talent from what was in the top 5 picks. And indicated that there was a substantial drop off in talent. You don't have to be a draft guru to be able to see that. Last Hayward is a Sloan type of player. His is not going to cry himself to sleep if the coach tells him he sucks and he is going to play within the offense.

Jeremy Evans-

From what I have read on Evans he is not going to light up the score board or be able to ever carry a team on the offensive end. What he does offer is a athletic player that is known for being a great defender. Scouting reports for draft websites say that he relies on his speed and athleticism too much and needs to work on fundamentals. With some coaching and some weight training he could become a good player coming off the bench in the future.