New Jazz draftees arrive in Utah, meet fans


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SALT LAKE CITY — Jazz draftees Joel Bolomboy, Marcus Paige and Tyrone Wallace had their first taste of the Utah Jazz Wednesday, meeting with the media, then touring Vivint Arena before giving out tickets to the Jazz's first summer league game on July 4.

We learned a little bit more about each player in their media availability. Here are some of the things I took away from meeting each for the first time:

Joel Bolomboy

Bolomboy was the headliner here, being drafted first, and of course, playing at local Weber State for his collegiate career. Bolomboy has the best chance of making the roster of any of the draftees, but the Jazz have 15 players currently under contract for next season, and may end up going with a free agent over Bolomboy.

He's talented, though. Rebounding will be his go-to skill early, with defense and offense to follow. Whether those things are NBA-capable will determine whether or not he plays in the league this season or spends the year in the D-League and overseas. These eight or so games will be critical.

I was happy to hear, though, about Bolomboy's recognition that he has work to do at the defensive level to play in the NBA. He's a two-time Defensive Player of the Year in the Big Sky Conference, but scouts worry about that transitioning to the highest level of basketball. As Bolomboy noted, everyone is as athletic as he is here.

Bolomboy said he wants to gain five pounds of muscle to deal with NBA size, which is probably a good step, but didn't get into much more detail on how he plans on becoming a better NBA defender. I'm very curious to see how he competes against summer league competition.

Marcus Paige

Maybe this is recency bias, but Marcus Paige is probably the best interview affiliated with the Jazz, even as a rookie. He's incredibly engaging, positive, insightful and much more. He'd immediately be an above-average basketball TV or radio personality, and is much better than me at those things. He's going to have a long career in basketball if he wants it, even if it's not on the floor.

It was Paige's workout where he really impressed the Jazz: going head to head with Demetrius Jackson, a much more celebrated prospect. Paige showed an ability to defend the much bigger Jackson, which gave Jazz talent evaluators hope that he'd be able to defend NBA point guards.

"I think I showed I have the tools to defend at the NBA level," Paige said about the workout. "I'm not going to sit here and say I'm a great defender already, but I'm going to work at it. I think I showed I have the ability to become a really good defender with a lot of work."

He also has been talking to former Jazzman (and current free agent) Marvin Williams about what playing in Utah is like:

"Marvin Williams played here for several years, he loved it out here, so I've been talking to him about what his experience was like. … The fact that he felt at home here, he's one of the best people I've ever met. That speaks a lot about this area and this organization."

Williams might have a better chance of making the Utah Jazz than Paige, who will have to compete against the glut of PGs ahead of him. But Paige will fit in somewhere.

One last note: as the Jazz took the players on a tour around Vivint Arena, all three were brought to the statues of John Stockton and Karl Malone that sit just outside the arena's entrance. A North Carolina and Paige fan just happened to be walking by, and Paige made his day with this photo:

Very special moment for this one fan trying to catch a glimpse of @marcuspaige5 - he didn't expect this! pic.twitter.com/6MamOjTTpw — Hayley Byrnes (@HayleyByrnes) June 29, 2016

The kid was super surprised and happy. Fantastic timing, Braden.

Tyrone Wallace

Being the 60th pick in the draft is both a blessing and a curse. Sure, getting drafted means that you have the prestige of being an NBA draftee for the rest of your career, a great resume point that can help open doors for D-League teams and internationally.

On the other hand, it means that your NBA rights are owned by one team: instead of going to the best situation where making a roster is more likely, you might find yourself in a logjam. That's exactly what happened to Wallace, who finds himself in a spot where he's behind seven Jazz point guards: George Hill, Dante Exum, Shelvin Mack, Raul Neto, Trey Burke, Olivier Hanlan and Paige. There's essentially no chance Wallace makes the opening day roster for the Jazz.

Still, Wallace was excited to be drafted. "To hear your name called is a once in a lifetime feeling," he said. "I was jumping up and down."

Wallace says summer league will give him an opportunity to show that he's improved his jump shot since his college career. He shot under 30 percent from 3 in college, for example. He's playing over the next week for a good situation either in the D-League or overseas.

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Andy Larsen

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