Redrafting the Jazz: 1993

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 30, 1993 – The Palace of Auburn Hills, Auburn Hills, Michigan

Previous season:

John Stockton and Karl Malone were insanely good at this time period. Both were members of the Dream Team of the 1992 Olympics and were fittingly crowned co-All-Star Game MVPs in Salt Lake City in 1993. Unfortunately, their supporting cast wasn't too great. The Jazz had to rely too much on Jeff Malone, Tyrone Corbin, and Jay Humphries. General manager Scott Layden would eventually upgrade each of those players through trades, but that would take a while. In the meantime, Utah's biggest weakness was at center. Longtime stalwart Mark Eaton had finally reached the end of his career and his primary backup, Mike Brown, was equally ineffective. As such, the Jazz went 47-35 in 1992-93 and were knocked out of the first round of the playoffs by Seattle in five games.

The draft:

Utah used the 18th pick on a center from Seton Hall named Luther Wright.

With the 45th pick, the Jazz drafted Bryon Russell, a small forward from Long Beach State.

Analysis:

Wright was one of the most disappointing draft picks in Jazz history. He showed up to training camp 55 pounds above his listed playing weight and only appeared in 15 during the 1993-94 season. In January 1994, he was found by the police at a truck stop at 4 a.m., smashing car windows and banging on trash cans. He was sent to a mental institution, diagnosed with bipolar disorder and his NBA career came to a tragically short end. To their credit, the Jazz agreed to pay out the remainder of his $5 million in small installments over the next 25 years. Unfortunately, that money didn't actually help Wright. He wasted much of it on drugs and spent several stints living homeless, contracting diseases that required him to have toes amputated. All in all, a very, very sad story. I almost feel bad recommending the Jazz draft someone else, but it's not their job to help someone like this. And they were poorly equipped to helping him anyway. There's no way to prevent the tragedy of Luther Wright.

Replacing Wright was surprisingly difficult for me. I have two All-Star point guards available to me — Sam Cassell and Nick Van Exel. Stockton didn't need an incredible backup and it's far too soon to start thinking about a replacement for him. But Cassell really tempts me because I think he could have thrived in that Humphries role of backing up Stockton and occasionally starting alongside him in smaller lineups. It certainly is an intriguing prospect, but I just can't bring myself to pull the trigger on it. The Jazz desperately needed a center. This is the '90s, where the only teams that won either had a dominant center (like Hakeem Olajuwon) or a halfway decent center (like Bill Cartwright). I can't risk messing up Stockton and Malone's prime with wild experiments — I have to take the sure thing, no matter how boring it is. And that pick is Ervin Johnson. He played 13 years in the NBA and was a fairly decent rebounder and shot-blocker. Definitely not a flashy player by any means, but seemly dependable and reliable enough to solidify Utah's biggest weakness in their lineup.

Utah's second-round pick, however, was a lot easier for me. Russell was one of the best picks in Jazz history. He filled an immediate need during his rookie season, and just a couple of years later became an indispensable member of the team. It really is hard imagining the late-90s Jazz without Russell. Granted, I always wished he could have been just a little bit better, but beggars can't be choosers this late in the draft. There's no one better available, so for better and worse, I'm sticking with High-Flyin' Bryon.

My advice:

1. Use the 18th pick on Ervin Johnson.

2. Use the 45th pick on Bryon Russell.

I'm still debating picking Johnson over Cassell. Part of me says I should just draft the best player available and let Layden work it all out through trades. But trades can be fickle things and I want to maximize the potential of two Dream Teamers in their prime. Sadly, I'll never know if playing it safe was the right call. I'm being pulled back to 1992, where I get to do this all over again.