Jazz Draft: Top 5 NBA Players Taken at Pick 9
The stakes are high for the Utah Jazz with the NBA draft lottery just around the corner. If all goes as planned, Utah will be landing at the No. 9 spot (50.7%) at the end of the night.
But is it naive to believe that Utah can strike gold without a top-four pick? Although the odds say no, it’s not out of the realm of possibility.
Let’s take a look at the top five No. 9 selections in the NBA draft of all time.
5: Shawn Marion
Marion owned a skill set that would thrive in today's NBA. Drafted out of UNLV by the Phoenix Suns, Marion was ahead of time with the ability to guard 1-4.
He was known for playing on teams that went on deep playoff runs, including being a key piece of NBA champion Dallas Mavericks in 2011. Although a defensive wizard, Marion was no slouch offensively. Over a 16-year career, Marion averaged 15.2 points while hauling in 8.2 rebounds.
4: Amar’e Stoudemire
In his prime, there weren't many players that dominated the paint like Stoudamire. Hall-of-Fame point guard Steve Nash’s ex-running mate was a six-time All-Star, NBA Rookie of the Year, and made the All-NBA team in 2007.
A career cut short by knee injuries deprived Stoudemire of the Hall of Fame, but make no mistake about it, he was one of the best in his era. With a little more luck on the injury front, Stoudemire could have been two or three on this list.
3: DeMar DeRozan
In 2009, the Toronto Raptors drafted DeRozan with the ninth pick out of USC. A six-time All-Star and three-time All-NBA member, he averaged 20.4 ppg on an efficient 50.4% shooting over the span of 14 years and counting.
DeRozan recently became just the 50th player to accumulate 20,000 points when he scored 33 points against the San Antonio Spurs on October 28, 2022.
The future Hall-of-Famer has been able to do it without a three-point shot in his repertoire but has one of the best mid-range games of all time.
2: Tracey McCrady
Here’s another player where injuries derailed what was already a Hall-of-Fame career. In his prime, McGrady was in the same conversation as Kobe Bryant. A two-time scoring champion, seven-time All-Star, and two-time All-NBA selection that averaged 19.6 ppg over his career.
McGrady also spearheaded one of the most famous NBA sequences of all time, by outscoring the Spurs 13-2 in the final 38 seconds of a game to squeak out a win.
1: Dirk Nowitzki
The Mavericks struck gold with the No. 9 pick overall in the 1999 draft by selecting arguably a top-10 player of all-time. Nowitzki transformed the center position with his three-point range and ball-handling skills for a 7-foot big man.
Nowitzki’s accolades include an NBA Finals MVP, 14-time All-Star, MVP, and first-ballot Hall-of-Famer. The highlight of his career may have been upsetting LeBron James and the Miami Heat in the 2011 NBA Finals in six games. Nowitzki finished his career as a 38% three-point shooter, which was unheard of for a big man playing in the early 2000s.
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