Redrafting the Jazz: 2010

I have been cursed by a witch to repeatedly travel back through time to relive every NBA draft. Fortunately, her spell sends me directly to the Utah Jazz war room on draft night and all the executives magically know I’m from the future and will do whatever I say. Unfortunately, the curse prevents me from seeing how my advice altered the future, as I am sent back to the previous year as soon as draft night ends.

June 24, 2010 – Madison Square Garden, New York City

Previous season:

In Jerry Sloan’s final full season as head coach, the Jazz achieved a 53-29 and reached the second round of the playoffs. However, they were swept by the Lakers in that series, due in part to the career-altering injury sustained by Mehmet Okur. On paper, this was a really decent roster with Deron Williams, Carlos Boozer, Andrei Kirilenko and the emerging Paul Millsap demanding more and more playing time off the bench. But I suppose we all should have seen this as the beginning of the end. After the Jazz struck gold with the undrafted rookie Wesley Matthews, they traded away starter Ronnie Brewer to make room. This did not sit well with Williams, who was good friends with Brewer. And we all know how well the disgruntled Deron saga went in 2011. Ironically, the Jazz didn’t even bother keeping Matthews the following offseason, having caused all that disruption for nothing.

The draft:

Thanks to a 2004 trade involving Tom Gugliotta and Keon Clark, the Jazz owned the Knicks’ first-round pick, which turned out to be No. 9 overall. Utah drafted Gordon Hayward, fresh off Butler’s exciting Cinderella run in the NCAA Tournament.

The Jazz did not own their own pick (No. 23), due to a 2007 trade that sent Gordan Giricek to Philadelphia for Kyle Korver. That pick was used on Trevor Booker, who ironically ended up playing two seasons for the Jazz in 2014 and 2015.

With the 55th pick, Utah drafted an athletic forward from Western Kentucky named Jeremy Evans.

Analysis:

Gordon Hayward was actually a pretty good pick for the Jazz. He developed into becoming the best player on the team and even reached the All-Star game in 2017. The only problem is the guy who was taken immediately after him just happened to be the best player in the draft. Fresno State’s Paul George has been to eight All-Star games, has won six All-NBA honors and four All-Defensive awards. Plus, he plays the same position as Hayward, so this is a complete no-brainer.

The Jazz tried really hard to develop Jeremy Evans into something worthwhile. But after five seasons, the only memorable thing he accomplished was winning the dunk contest. So I recommend taking a different Jeremy with this pick — Harvard point guard Jeremy Lin. True, Linsanity was rather short-lived, but Lin did have a handful of fairly decent seasons, which is much more than can be said about Evans. In any case, I’m sure Lin would have been an upgrade over Sundiata Gaines.

My advice:

1. Use the No. 9 pick on Paul George.

2. Use the No. 55 pick on Jeremy Lin.

I’m not going to kid myself into think the George acquisition would have prevented any of the turmoil of 2011. But I do think he would have risen to the challenge of being the go-to guy much faster and abler than Hayward. Unless Tyrone Corbin would have found a way to taint his career … Ugh. Well, I can never know exactly how my changes play out — all I can do is offer the best advice in the moment!