3 Biggest Draft Busts in Jazz History

The Jazz's draft history goes under the microscope.

The Utah Jazz have traditionally built their success through the NBA draft. Over their 42-year tenure in Salt Lake, the Jazz have seen their fair share of draft successes. 

This is especially fortunate since the Jazz have only had eight lottery picks over those 42 years. Drafting well can lift a franchise to years or even decades of success. Bad drafting can spiral a franchise into irrelevance and despair (Ask Sacramento Kings fans). 

The John Stockton and Karl Malone era was built almost entirely on draft capital. For the modern Jazz, Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert were never supposed to develop into the star players they are now. 

Drafting is never perfect, and no NBA executive or scout can truly say how talent will transition to the pros, but sometimes it's better to be lucky than good. The Jazz have had their fair share of draft busts over the years. 

Remember: the team executives, at the time, promised these guys were the right pick. After seeing the team stand pat in the 2022 draft, let’s examine the Jazz’s three greatest busts since coming to Utah.

3. Trey Burke

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Burke was acquired in a draft day trade with Minnesota for the No. 9 pick of the 2013 draft. He was viewed as the top point guard prospect going into the draft but many could see the writing on the wall: an undersized, below-average scorer, and negative defender.

That was what the Jazz got out of him and he eventually played his way into a trade to the Washington Wizards three years later.

2. Dante Exum

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Exum was the No. 5 overall pick in the 2014 draft. He came into the draft with huge upside. A long 6-foot-5 guard who had infinite hype going into the draft as a 19-year-old. 

Literally google search 'Kobe Bryant, Dante Exum' and you'll find a whole slew of articles comparing the two. Jazz fans know how the story ended, though. 

Injury after injury put to bed any imagination of Exum's talent reaching the over-assumptive expectations and comparisons coming into the league. The thing is, Exum was a bust and the Jazz kept buying into him, extending him with a generous contract after his rookie deal. 

Exum had potential but he was a bust from the start.

1. Enes Freedom (Kanter)

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The Jazz front office has been obsessed with finding the traditional big man since the turn of the century. Continuing to push back on the evolving landscape of position-less basketball, the 2011 draft was no exception to that as Utah selected Freedom with the No. 3 overall pick. 

Freedom (known then as Kanter) was pushed off the roster in the wake of Rudy Gobert's emergence. During his 10-year career bouncing around the league, Freedom was known as one of the worst defenders in the league. 

When the Jazz traded him away, the team got pennies on the dollar in exchange. The execs were content with just getting him of the roster. The reason Freedom takes the top spot is because a No. 3 pick should be generational and should alter the course of a franchise.

If there was a redraft, Freedom might be picked early second round. That's not a generational talent.

The Jazz's draft history seemed pretty bleak since the departure of Stockton and Malone. Outside of Gobert and Mitchell, there have been so many misses in both the first and second round. 

Sadly, all the Jazz’s biggest busts came within the past 10 years. With new management and a new vision, hopefully, the team can find more than just a few bright spots in a yearly pool of talent that can help bring the franchise its first championship.

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Follow Andrew on Twitter @ArembaczNBA.