Jazz work out, talk about pro potential of BYU's Eric Mika, Utah's Kyle Kuzma


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SALT LAKE CITY — It's workout season for the Utah Jazz, and over the last couple of weeks, that's meant bringing in the biggest local talent for workouts, including BYU's Eric Mika and Utah's Kyle Kuzma and David Collette.

Kuzma and Collette worked out for the Jazz Tuesday, while Mika worked out for the team on May 7, while they were still in the playoffs facing the Golden State Warriors. But because Mika only recently decided to sign with an agent, Mika wasn't made available to reporters at the time. The same is true for Collette, who hasn't signed with an agent and likely won't before Wednesday's deadline to pull out of the draft.

Still, here's what we've learned from the Jazz's workout season so far:

Mika impressed

Because this week featured the first draft workout since Mika signed with an agent, it was our first opportunity to speak to Walt Perrin, Jazz vice president of player personnel, about Mika's workout over two weeks ago.

"Eric had a very good workout for us. Really competed, really ran the court well," Perrin said. "He competed both offensively and defensively. He showcased some things to us offensively, especially with his jump shot, that he wasn't able to showcase at BYU."

Mika surprised some observers by signing with an agent with his draft status so undecided. DraftExpress currently has Mika slated to go 48th, while ESPN has him ranked as the 67th best prospect in its Top 100. With only 60 draft picks, does Perrin think Mika will be drafted?

"The second half of the second round is so unpredictable on who teams like, who teams will draft," Perrin said. "Can he be drafted? Yes. Can he go undrafted? Yes, there's that possibility also."

Kuzma's turn

Thanks to Kuzma's decision to sign with an agent, he was made available to the media Tuesday. He was a little bit winded after what he said was his hardest workout of the five he's completed so far. "I went to school here, but when you're gone for about two months, it's just harder to breathe."

But Kuzma had something on his agenda: to show Jazz executives that his game has improved since his final game at Utah.

"I've been shooting the ball well. I went to the Combine and played really well there. I surprised some people. I kind of changed my jump shot up a little bit, made it more fluid and more comfortable," Kuzma said. "I feel like I'm more comfortable shooting from the NBA three than the college three right now."

Kuzma shot only 32 percent from three in college, but went 4 of 5 from the NBA three-point line in his only 5-on-5 game he played in the Combine.

Perrin agreed with that assessment of his shot, and added, "I thought Kyle had a very good workout. Kyle was by far the best player in this workout."

How does Kuzma fit into the NBA? "The NBA's turned into fours and threes that can pass, shoot, rebound, defend. It's kind of my role, I feel like. I'm really versatile, and I can affect the game without really scoring," Kuzma said. "I feel like there's not too many fours in the draft that have my similar skill set and can do multiple things like that."

Kuzma's draft position looks marginally better than Mika's at this point. DraftExpress has him being taken 44th in their latest mock, and ESPN ranks him 53rd.

And what would he think about being drafted by the Utah Jazz?

"It's a great privilege for me to come back here. I love Salt Lake, and potentially getting to play here down the road would be pretty cool."

Collette participated

Another Utah big man, David Collette, participated in the workout. We weren't able to interview him because he has not yet signed an agent, and looks likely he will pull out of the draft before Wednesday's deadline. While Perrin declined to answer questions about Collette, Kuzma gave a rundown of his performance.

"He came in a little late, had an exam or what not. But it was great to get out on the floor with him. He looks like he improved a lot," he said. "He was shooting the ball pretty well today, and I was kind of surprised about that. He was stretching out to three a little bit. He should be really good next year."

And then Kuzma finished with some big hopes for Collette's next season.

"I expect him to be an All-Conference player next year, for sure," Kuzma said.

Frank Jackson was coming, now injured

Update: Frank Jackson underwent foot surgery Wednesday, according to Yahoo! Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski. Obviously, that will prevent him from working out with Utah.

NBA Draft prospect Frank Jackson undergoes foot surgery, July return expected. Story on @TheVertical. https://t.co/mVAhXXAl2o — Adrian Wojnarowski (@WojVerticalNBA) May 24, 2017

Jackson had been scheduled to work out with the Jazz on Saturday.

The Lone Peak High School graduate spent one year at Duke coming off the bench, but hired an NBA agent on May 12 to indicate that he's staying in the draft. Like Kuzma and Mika, he's a second-round prospect, though recent buzz has him moving closer to the first round.

That's thanks to impressive workouts at the Combine, where he impressed with both his athletic testing (first in the shuttle drills, third overall in the standing vertical leap, and fifth in the three-quarter court sprint) and in the game he played in (13 points, 6-10 shooting).

Fewer workouts

The Jazz want to hold fewer workouts than in years past, when they've brought in over 100 players to evaluate.

"I'm planning on cutting back some. How much, I don't know for sure," Perrin said. "We feel like we need more days where we get together and talk about players."

Despite the cutback, the Jazz still tied for having the earliest workout in the league, on April 29.

The Jazz have the 24th, 30th, 42nd, and 55th picks in this draft. "I think it's got some very good players," Perrin said. "Because of the freshmen and one and done, it will be a fairly deep draft in terms of talent."

"I think we can find a pretty good player, we just have to make sure it's the right player," Perrin said.

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Andy Larsen

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