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, 1998 – General Motors Place, Vancouver, British Columbia
Previous season:
The 1997-98 season was the great season in Utah Jazz history. They went 62-20, tying with Chicago for best record in the league. Making things more enticing, the Jazz had the tiebreaker, which gave them home-court advantage in their Finals rematch against the Bulls. But sadly, that wasn't enough, and Utah heartbreakingly lost to Chicago in six games for the second straight year. The Jazz front office didn't make any major roster changes after their first trip to the Finals, but they did try. In February 1998, they traded Greg Foster and Chris Morris to Orlando for veteran center Rony Seikaly. But the trade was mysteriously rescinded at the last minute. The Jazz claimed Seikaly refused to report to Salt Lake simply because he didn't want to live in Utah. But Seikaly said Utah rejected the trade because they learned of his foot injury. Regardless of who was telling the truth, Seikaly was actually injured — he only played in 18 more games after this failed trade. Sadly, the Jazz were unable to make that necessary upgrade at center.
The draft:
With the 29th pick, the Jazz drafted Kentucky big man Nazr Mohammed. Surprisingly, Utah didn't see any benefit in adding any rookies to their competitive, but aging roster. General manager Scott Layden traded Mohammed to Philadelphia on draft for a future first-rounder, which turned into Quincy Lewis.
In the second round, Utah used the 57th pick on a power forward from Xavier named Torraye Braggs.
Analysis:
I'm still stunned that the Jazz chose to dump their first-round pick when they knew that Foster and Morris were on their way out and Antoine Carr was retiring. Mohammed ended up having an incredibly long NBA career, lasting over 1,000 games, though almost exclusively as a backup. Dependable big men are always nice to have around, but I think Utah could have made an even better choice here: Rashard Lewis. Lewis was a highly touted forward straight out of high school and was even invited to the draft day green room. But every single team got cold feet on him, leaving the poor kid to sit around waiting until the second round. Turns out, Lewis was a pretty good player after all. He enjoyed a rather productive career and became an All-Star twice. Layden thought the Jazz were so good that they didn't need a rookie. I'd convince him that because they were so good, they could afford to take a gamble on a high schooler.
Braggs never played for the Jazz and didn't even make it to the NBA until 2003. He appeared in a grand total of 22 games in various stints with Houston and Washington. Fortunately, I can replace him with another two-time All-Star, Purdue center Brad Miller. He was one of the best passing centers in the league in his prime, plus a fairly decent 3-point shooter.
My advice:
1. Keep the 29th pick and use it on Rashard Lewis.
2. Use the 57th pick on Brad Miller.
With Lewis, I gave the Jazz a player who could potentially replace Bryon Russell and/or fill the Donyell Marshall role a couple of years later. Miller might have actually been the perfect compliment to Greg Ostertag, enabling Jerry Sloan to swap them out for offense and defense as needed. Of course, these players are still rookies, and it would have taken a few years before they fully developed. I don't think they would have been enough to take Utah to the Finals for the third straight year, but they would have helped in the long run.
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