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SALT LAKE CITY — The NBA Draft is right around the corner (Thursday 5 p.m. MT) and Utah Jazz radio play-by-play man David Locke is cautioning fans to be realistic with their hopes for what the Jazz can get with the No. 14 and 21 picks in the first round.
"My research on this goes back to 1997. Since then, 50 percent of draft picks from No. 11 on up never even make it as a rotation player in the NBA, much less become a star," Locke said, as he joined me live on SportsBeat Sunday.
He then elaborated by quoting an NBA scout who told him, "Once you stop looking for the star in this 2013 Draft and settle for finding good, solid contributors, players who can round out your roster, maybe even grow into rotation players, then you'll appreciate this draft much more."
We discussed in great detail the prevailing dilemmas of this 2013 draft class. The Jazz have no point guards under contract yet, so obviously they're hoping to at least partially address that need by drafting a young point who could grow into a solid backup.
Once you stop looking for the star in this 2013 Draft and settle for finding good, solid contributors, players who can round out your roster, maybe even grow into rotation players, then you'll appreciate this draft much more.
–Voice of the Jazz, David Locke
Many mock drafts have the Jazz taking Miami's super quick and polished Shane Larkin with the 14th pick. Larkin is the son of former Cincinnati Reds star shortstop Barry Larkin. A good shooter with incredible lift but at just 5'11" Larkin might not be big enough.
Then comes the quandary: If you don't love the available point guards with that 14 pick, maybe the Jazz go for who they value more. One could be potential stretch-4 Kelly Olynyk from Gonzaga, who BYU fans know all too well. He averaged 18 points and 7 rebounds in just 26 minutes a game. He might be described as a poor man's Cody Zeller (Indiana) who is projected to go well before the Jazz pick at 14.
Beyond that, the possibilities seem endless with other "project" bigs Rudy Gobert, Steven Adams even Brazil's "Bebe," 7-footer Lucas Noguiera who starred at EuroCamp. ESPN's Chad Ford has him coming to the Jazz at #14.
Don't forget the Jazz's 2nd round pick, 46th overall. Before blossoming in San Antonio, Danny Green (who just set an NBA Finals record for 3's made) was the 46th pick in the 2009 draft (Cavs) and perhaps the greatest 46th pick in history was former Jazzman Jeff Hornacek.
Come Thursday night all the "guess-peculation" will be over and the first-round picks will be officially "on the clock" to show their teams they are worth the investment.
