Draft workouts begin in earnest for Jazz


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SALT LAKE CITY — Wednesday was the Jazz's first draft workout available to the media, the second overall. Here are my takeaways from the session.

Undergrad change

The NCAA made a change this year which, in essence, allows collegiate players to declare for the draft multiple times and work out with teams, then pull out of draft eligibility so long as they don't hire an agent.

The idea is that underclassmen will have the ability to learn more about their status in the eyes of the NBA talent evaluators, and be able to make much more informed decisions on whether they should head to the NBA or stay in school.

The Jazz have already hosted their first workout with underclassmen last weekend featuring USU's Jalen Moore. Moore will be returning to school with some really positive feedback from the Jazz, and some to-dos in his game to make it at the professional level.

Jazz officials won't comment publicly on the individual underclassmen, though, wanting to make sure that they don't upset college coaches. Those players who aren't seniors or haven't hired agents (like Moore) also won't be made available to the media.

Scheduling player workouts

Some workouts, like today's, are easy to schedule. After all, it's not hard to get guys who are on the fringe of the NBA and D-League to get excited about showing off their games in front of NBA talent evaluators.

But with the players who are slated to be drafted in the first round, it's not usually that simple. Though the Jazz will probably draft 12th, they think there are some players in their range that might be reluctant to come to Utah for a workout.

For example, Walt Perrin, Jazz vice president of player personnel, was asked about the likelihood of getting Utah's Jakob Poeltl in to work out in front of Jazz management. "To be honest, I think it will be a struggle getting some of the guys we want to get in that are going to be in our range, let alone people who were above us. Because of the nature of our team."

In particular, Perrin said that it was because of the "players we have. The depth of our starters more so than our roster," that might dissuade agents from allowing their players to work out in Salt Lake City. Players might want to avoid being drafted in Utah at the 12th slot, because they're unlikely to get a starting job. On the other hand, getting a starting position in Phoenix (the owner of the 13th pick) will probably be easier.

It's something to watch for as first-round workouts begin happening, largely after the lottery. Will the Jazz be able to get the guys they want to come to Utah?

It's not a gigantic deal: after all, the team drafted Dante Exum without Exum having come to Salt Lake City before the draft. But obviously, the team would prefer to have a player work out and interview at the direction of their staff.

Draft quality

Perrin was also asked about the overall quality of the draft.

"I think it's going to a little bit top-heavy. I think there's some very good players in the top half of the lottery. I think again, from 5 to 12, 5 to 15 there's going to be some good players there, but you got to figure out who's they're going to be. There's going to be some guys who are going to struggle and bounce around."

This year's class is not, in Perrin's mind, as deep as last year's draft. But that's not saying a whole lot: this year's draft class was very impressive. Nearly every one of the draft's lottery picks was a contributor in their rookie year, which is very rare.

More workouts tomorrow

The Jazz announced that they'll be working out six more players Thursday. Those players are:

Six more prospects will be in town for pre-draft workouts tomorrow. #JazzDraftpic.twitter.com/mCV5L0FEK4 — Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) May 4, 2016

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Andy Larsen

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