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 9, 1981 – Grand Hyatt Hotel, New York City
Previous season:
Only two players on the 1980-81 Utah Jazz roster had more than four years of experience (one of them was the immortal Ron Boone, who was quite ineffective in his 12th and final season). Head coach Tom Nissalke led this young, raw team to a mediocre 28-54 record. But there were a couple of bright spots. Darrell Griffith was named Rookie of the Year and Adrian Dantley led the NBA in points (30.1 per game) and minutes (42.7 per game), earning a spot in the All-Star Game, on the All-NBA Second Team, and finished 12th in MVP voting. The Jazz had another league-leader in a less flattering category — big man Ben Poquette committed an NBA-high 342 personal fouls.
The draft:
Utah’s record earned them the fifth pick in the 1981 NBA Draft. Unfortunately, in 1978, the New Orleans Jazz traded away this pick to Seattle for Slick Watts. The point guard led the league in assists and steals in 1976, but he was completely washed up just two years later. After just 39 games, the Jazz sent Watts to Houston for their 1981 first-round pick, which ended up being No. 13.
In desperate need of a big man, the Jazz used the 13th pick on Syracuse’s Danny Schayes, son of Hall of Famer Dolph Schayes.
In the second round, Utah used the 27th pick on a small forward from Tennessee named Howard Wood.
This draft lasted an accursed 10 rounds, but none of Utah’s other picks mattered. Only one of them actually played in any NBA games — eighth-rounder Bobby Cattage, who surprisingly made the Jazz roster and appeared in 49 games for Utah and 29 for New Jersey.
Analysis:
Schayes had a quiet rookie season, but became a starter as a sophomore, averaging a fairly respectable 12 points and nine rebounds per game. Surprisingly, he was dealt to Denver at the 1983 trade deadline for former Jazz veteran Rich Kelley and $300,000 in cash. General Manager Frank Layden talked up Kelley’s experience, revealing that Utah had nearly acquired him earlier as part of a proposed three-team deal that would have sent away Dantley. Layden backed out of that deal because he felt the other teams weren’t offering enough for Utah’s All-Star, but he was reportedly thrilled to find another way to acquire Kelley. However, Kelley didn’t contribute much during his second stint with the Jazz and he left for Sacramento in 1985. The best part of all this, though, was that it opened up room for Mark Eaton to develop into a Defensive Player of the Year and an All-Star.
And then there’s the money. Many people look on this trade with the view as the Dominique Wilkins trade. It’s true that in this era the Jazz were struggling financially. They played a handful of “home” games in Las Vegas to try to boost revenue and rumors constantly swirled about them relocating to Minneapolis or Miami. An extra $300,000 certainly helped keep the franchise a bit more stable, but I think winning more games would have helped more at the end of the day. So with that in mind, I recommend finding an upgrade to Schayes. Even though he enjoyed an 18-year career in the NBA, he was almost always a backup.
In my opinion, Larry Nance would have been a much better pick at this position. The All-Star, All-Defensive Team power forward could have made a powerful front court alongside Dantley and Eaton (assuming the Jazz still drafted him).
Utah’s second-round pick, Howard Wood, only lasted 42 games before being waived. Obviously we need to upgrade here. My choice is BYU’s Danny Ainge. I wonder if one reason he fell so far in the draft was because he was playing Major League Baseball for the Toronto Blue Jays at the time. But the Boston Celtics didn’t mind buying out his MLB contract, and Ainge became a major contributor on two of their championship teams and an All-Star. Even though Utah already had a budding back court with Griffith and Rickey Green, I think Ainge would have made a stellar backup for both of them. Later in his career, Ainge was runner-up to Sixth Man of the Year.
And then there’s Ainge’s stellar work as a general manager. True, he has been guiding the Jazz front office for the past few years, but maybe he would have started doing that a lot sooner had he been drafted by Utah instead of Boston.
My advice:
1. Use the 13th pick on Larry Nance.
2. Use the 27th pick on Danny Ainge.
3. Don’t worry about any of the other picks.
The Danny Schayes pick turned into some much-needed cash and a veteran backup for Mark Eaton. I realize I’m putting those things at risk by recommending Nance over Schayes, but I guess I value on-the-court production more than these alleged intangibles. Did I just doom the Jazz to be relocated to Minneapolis? Well, I’ll never know. Because as soon as that 10th round ends, the witch’s curse whisks me away back to 1980.
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