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, 2004 – Madison Square Garden, New York City
Previous season:
The 2003-04 season was the first after the Stockton-Malone era. Many people expected the Jazz to be absolutely dreadful, but they surprisingly went 42-40 and only missed the playoffs by one game. This was largely due to the emergence of Andrei Kirilenko, Carlos Arroyo and Raja Bell, as well as a timely midseason trade that turned DeShawn Stevenson into Gordan Giricek. If Matt Harpring hadn't been limited to 31 games, Utah may have been a playoff team. There were certainly a few intriguing players to build around, but the Jazz desperately needed a consistent presence in the low post.
The draft:
Utah's strong record put them at the very bottom of the lottery, and with the 14th pick, they drafted power forward Kris Humphries, a freshman from Minnesota.
In February 2004, general manager Kevin O'Connor made one of the best trades of his career, sending Keon Clark and Ben Handlogten to Phoenix for Tom Gugliotta's bloated contract, some cash and three draft picks. One of those picks ended up being Gordon Hayward in 2010. But the first pick given to the Jazz was the 16th in this draft, which Utah used on Nevada swingman Kirk Snyder.
Thanks to the 2003 John Amaechi trade, Utah also owned the 21st pick, which they used on Russian center Pavel Podkolzin. But because O'Connor didn't want to add three rookies to the roster, he immediately traded Podkolzin to Dallas for a 2005 first-round pick (which was used to help the Jazz trade up for Deron Williams).
Utah didn't own their second-round pick because they had traded it to Sacramento in 2003 for Clark. Which I suppose worked out great for O'Connor, since he definitely wouldn't have wanted four rookies.
Analysis:
Humphries, perhaps best known for marrying (and promptly divorcing) Kim Kardashian, only lasted two seasons in Utah before being traded for Rafael Araujo (who only played 28 games before dropping out of the NBA). So that really wasn't the best pick the Jazz made. Humphries did go on to have a fairly productive career — he even averaged a double-double for two straight years in New Jersey. But he just wasn't a great fit in Utah, especially after the signing of Carlos Boozer and Mehmet Okur.
I really struggled deciding who to take with this pick. There are so many good options this year! Ultimately, I think I'm going to go with Al Jefferson, the high schooler taken just one spot after Humphries. Jefferson ended up having the career everyone hoped Humphries would have — even making the All-NBA Third Team once. Of course, every good Jazz fans remembers well the three year rather disappointing years he spent in Utah as Boozer's replacement. But that was during a period of intense turmoil for the Jazz — Jerry Sloan's abrupt retirement put the frankly incompetent Tyrone Corbin in as head coach and Jefferson was unable to play up to his full potential. My theory is that a rookie Jefferson, developing behind Boozer and under Sloan's tutelage, could turn into a very valuable player for the Jazz. I hope.
Snyder's athleticism made him an exciting prospect — Jazz fans even gave him the nickname Snyder-Man. But after just one year, Utah dumped him off in an insane five-team trade. By 2008, he was out of the league. Back in 2004, I remember being shocked that the Jazz didn't draft Jameer Nelson. He had an impressive pre-draft workout and interview with Utah, and certainly seemed like a perfect fit for the Jazz. Nelson's career was hampered by injuries, but he did make one All-Star game and was the starting point guard of an Orlando Magic team that reached the Finals. I suppose the Jazz were pretty happy with their three young point guards — Arroyo, Raul Lopez and Mo Williams — but I know that Arroyo's arguments with Sloan would soon get him traded, Lopez would quickly suffer a career-ending injury, and O'Connor would fail to resign Williams (which he later called his biggest mistake). So even though it feels weird in the moment, I'm going to recommend drafting a point guard.
The 7-foot-5 Podkolzin was a pretty big bust for Dallas. He played just six games in two seasons before being waived. Naturally, I'm not upset the Jazz missed out on him. But I am quite upset that O'Connor gave away a perfectly good first-round pick just because he didn't want to add too many rookies to the roster. So first I'd have to explain to him that that's a ridiculous philosophy, especially when you're rebuilding a team and that just lost last year’s first-round pick (Sasha Pavlovic) to the Charlotte Bobcats’ expansion draft. Plus, there are quite a few good options still available at No. 21. Options like Tony Allen, a three-time All Defensive First Team member. I know that Raja Bell will leave the Jazz after just two seasons, and Allen would not only fill the void he left, but even be an upgrade.
My advice:
1. Use the 14th pick on Al Jefferson.
2. Use the 16th pick on Jameer Nelson.
3. Keep the 21st pick and use it on Tony Allen.
I'm quite excited by the prospect of adding Tony Allen and Jameer Nelson to the Jazz. Al Jefferson still has me a bit worried, though. It really comes down to the belief that putting a player in a different situation at the start of their career can dramatically alter the course of their career. Jefferson had the potential to be one of the best power forwards in the league. Maybe being drafted by Utah could have helped. Sadly, I'll never get to see the results of my experiment. As soon as draft night ends, I'm teleported back to the year 2003.
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