NBA Mock Draft: Bleacher Report Links Versatile Guard to Jazz at 9
The Utah Jazz find themselves selecting within the top ten picks of the NBA Draft for the first time since 2014. An opportunity that gives this promising team some of the most flexibility to roster new, young talent that they’ve had in a while. Therefore, the way the Jazz end up attacking their selections this year is as important as ever.
We’ve already begun to see varying predictions of how Utah will end up using their first-round picks with Tuesday's lottery results being announced. One of the most recent being from Jonathan Wasserman of Bleacher Report with his most recent 2-round mock. In this mock, we not only see how he forsees the Jazz going about their 9th pick, but also how players will move down the board for their picks at 16 and 28 as well.
At 9, we saw Wasserman having the Jazz selecting Arkansas guard, Anthony Black. He’s a long, taller-than-average guard that can play a variety of roles on the floor with his playmaking and defensive upside. Here’s what Bleacher Report had to say about the selection:
"The Jazz can add more playmaking at both ends with Black, who'd double as a ball-handling initiator and two-way wing. Coaches may eventually prefer him as the starting point guard, given his strengths as a passer and a 6'6", point-of-attack defender."
The trend of drafting taller guards to try to develop them as a primary ball-handler has taken off in the modern NBA. In recent drafts, players like LaMelo Ball and Cade Cunningham were taken with top three selections to change a franchise. While Black’s lack of shooting efficiency doesn’t exactly make him as highly-touted as a prospect as those two, his potential is intriguing if he develops a consistent shot.
The Jazz have some important guards such as Jordan Clarkson and Talen Horton-Tucker potentially opting out of their player options. Adding a new guard that can potentially play the 1-3 to the squad would prove to be a nice addition to bolster their starting five for next season..
Down the board, we saw the Jazz also select Duke guard, Dariq Whitehead, as well as Pepperdine forward, Maxwell Lewis. Both picks however, considered a bit more questionable choices for me.
Whitehead just had a setback in a lingering foot injury, requiring a second surgery. Nothing’s to say that an early career injury means he'll never develop into a good player, but selecting this type of unknown at 16 could be unneccesarily risky. Not only are there more immediately impactful players available at this point, but also players that we'll simply just know more about in the pre-draft process. Whitehead could very well be a contender considered at 27, but selecting him just outside of the lottery would just be a reach.
As for Maxwell Lewis, this wouldn’t be a bad selection in a vacuum, but this situation would result in the Jazz essentially taking three similarly built wing players in the first. With more extensive team needs, this significant investment in these types of players is not practical. Also, considering Lewis’s low competition level in college combined with lack of college success, there are some clear question marks when it comes to him as a prospect.
Jazz fans will continue to see more mock drafts across various NBA media souces over the next month in preparation for one of the more exciting draft classes in recent history.
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