SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Jazz have found lightning in a bottle, twice.

And they are big bottles.

There's an old adage in the NBA, originally stemming from Hall of Fame Boston Celtics head coach Red Auerbach, that says, "You can't teach height." Essentially, when looking at players in the NBA draft, in a league where size is at a premium, if you are deciding between two players, err on the side of size.

If you're going to make a mistake, make a big mistake.

While these might be somewhat antiquated ideas, considering Auerbach last coached in the NBA in 1967, there are still plenty of examples of teams using the size over skill philosophy when it comes to the NBA draft.

It doesn't always work out.

Michael Olowokandi, Hasheem Thabeet, Darko Milicic and Kwame Brown are on the tips of the tongues of most NBA fans as notable big-man draft busts, and rightfully so. Each of those players was drafted ahead of smaller players who went on to have extraordinary careers, and likely were overlooked because they lacked the size of the higher draft picks.

But the opposite can also be true, and the Jazz are currently benefiting from it.

In 2013, 26 draft picks passed before the Denver Nuggets selected Rudy Gobert, and traded the pick for Erick Green and cash.

Gobert set draft combine records for having the longest wingspan and standing reach in combine history, both exceeding nine and a half feet, and apparently few general managers noticed.

Provided he stays healthy, expect Gobert to sign a max contract extension with the Jazz either this summer or the next. It's money the Jazz will be all too happy to spend.

It's unusual to find stars in the draft beyond the top five or so picks, much less stars with any real height. The Jazz found one with the 27th pick.

Withey

When Gobert went down, it appeared the Jazz would struggle to find production from the center position, as the Jazz had only rookie Tibor Pleiss and former second-round pick Jeff Withey on the roster as backups.

Withey wasted no time earning the starting job.

Before Monday night's game against the Houston Rockets, Withey was averaging 9.3 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.5 blocks as starter. That shouldn't be a major surprise to those who watched Withey become the BIG-12's all-time leading shot blocker during his four-year career at Kansas.

He doesn't impact the game the way Gobert does on the defensive side of the ball, but he impacts the game as a big man, and that is truly significant.

The Jazz got him for a song.

Withey signed a two-year, non-guaranteed deal, with only $200,000 guaranteed to him, unless the Jazz choose to retain him beyond Jan. 10, at which point his salary jumps to just south of $1 million.

The Jazz will almost certainly retain him, as even at $1 million, he's turned into one of the great bargains in the league.

How did they fall to the Jazz?

Maybe teams focused on what they couldn't do. Withey isn't a back to the basket player, and Gobert lacks offensive polish all together, but they are big, they move well, they rebound, and they block shots.

What more do you want?

Apparently in Gobert's case, 26 teams wanted something else, in Withey's, nobody was willing to hand out what equates to pennies for his services. And the Jazz are winning with both.

The NBA is a guard-heavy league, with Steph Curry posed to win his second consecutive MVP trophy, and 3-point shooting at an all time premium.

The Jazz have erred on the side of size, and it's working.

Auerbach won nine NBA championships as a coach, seven more as an executive in NBA front offices.

But what did he know?

Ben Anderson is the co-host of Gunther in the Afternoon with Kyle Gunther on 1320 KFAN from 3-7, Monday through Friday. Read Ben's Utah Jazz blog at 1320kfan.com, and follow him on Twitter @BenKFAN.

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