In last night’s NBA Draft, sixty new players were selected by each of the leagues teams. While some will never make it into the league, and some may have been drafted by teams that do not really need them, there were some teams and selections that will pay dividends for a long time.
Of all of the teams in this draft, the Utah Jazz came out to be one fo the biggest winners overall.
With the third overall selection, they drafted Turkish big man Enes Kanter. Many draft experts regarded Kanter as the best big man in the league. Even though he has been limited in playing experience, he was a player that the Jazz could not pass on.
In addition to Kanter, the Jazz selected athletic combo guard Alec Burks from Colorado.
Leading up to the draft, many believed that the Jazz should focus on the point guard position and thought that the third pick would be Brandon Knight, or that the Jazz would draft BYU’s Jimmer Fredette with the 12th pick. As it ended up, Jimmer was not available as he was taken by the Milwuakee Bucks with the 10th pick.
Jimmer was then traded away to the Sacramento Kings in a huge three team deal that sent both lottery players and NBA veterans to new teams.
Enes Kanter joins a Jazz front court that is already crowded. With players like Paul Millsap, Derrick Favor, Al Jefferson, and Mehmet Okur on the roster, playing time may be limited for Kanter.
This may prove to be a good thing, however, because it will allow Kanter time to mature and develop into the player he will be without having the pressure of carrying a team, or having an unrealistic expecttion placed on him early in his career.
The crowd that now exists in the front court is also an asset to the Jazz because it will give them options in making trades to upgrade other posisitions.
Alec Burks is a player who is very athletic and who will have a long career in the NBA. Some have compared him to former Jazz player Ronnie Brewer. While he is not as flashy or as popular as Jimmer Fredette, Burks is NBA ready and has skills that will help the team.
The knock on Burks is that his outside shooting is suspect, but the Jazz will develop him and help him to improve in that area. If Jazz assistant coach Jeff Hornacek can share his shooting wisdom with Burks, he will be just fine.
Now that the draft is over, the Jazz will now turn to the free agent market and possible trades to try to continue to improve the team.
Chris Johstoneaux is the Utah Jazz and Real Salt Lake Examiner. If you liked this article, please take a moment to leave me a comment and subscribe at the top near my picture. You can also follow me on Twitter at @JazzRSLExaminer.
