Estimated read time: 4-5 minutes
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SALT LAKE CITY — Welcome to the first annual NBA Draft Roundtable for ksl.com. This year, four members of the KSL team — Matthew Glade, Dave Noriega, Jarom Moore and Jason Shepherd — had the chance to sit around and talk about the upcoming draft.
We touched on a little bit of everything, including the top pick, the Jimmer scenario floating around, Brandon Davies and what the Jazz might do. We'll also give some highlights if you are short on time.
Jazz picks:
Glade discussed which one of the top point guards in the draft will fall to the Jazz at 14. He did so for his NFL team, Carolina, as Star Loutulelei fell to them at No. 13. He believes that one of the big three point guards — Michael Carter-Williams, Trey Burke or C.J. McCollum — will fall because of his great strength of will. His 21 pick was Kelly Olynyk from Gonzaga.
Noriega went with Shane Larkin at 14. There was much discussion in the podcast about Larkin. He is only 5 foot 11 inches, but the group believed that he will be a player regardless. Noriega then went with Reggie Bullock out of North Carolina as a shooter at small forward. For the 21st pick.
Moore went shooter-shooter with his picks. Olynyk at 14 and Bullock at 21. The idea behind this is that the Spurs, where Jazz GM Dennis Lindsey comes from, has a second unit of a bunch of guys that are shooters. The team will be able to spread the court and cause matchup problems in the second-unit.
Shephard went with an idea that he actually wasn't too happy with. He believes at 14 the Jazz grab Olynyk. At 21 they hope for a point guard and he thinks that the point guard to be there at 21 will be Isaiah Canaan. Olynyk is the best player available, especially at the big position, and Canaan is the best point guard left.
Peyton Siva and Brandon Davies were discussed with the second-round picks.
Jimmer to the Jazz?
Where does Jimmer Fredette fit in this draft? If he was available for someone to take this year where would he go? A discussion about this broke out regarding if the Jazz had any interest or what the scenarios would be.
Shep said he would be somewhere in the 20s. Noriega thought he would be essentially where he was drafted originally in the late mid-to-late lottery. Moore said somewhere in between, probably in the teens.
The question that prompted this was what trade scenarios would you like if the Jazz traded with the Kings to get their seventh pick? If the Kings gave up Jimmer and their pick, which would probably turn into the Jazz's starting point guard, would you give up the 14th, 21st and Alec Burks? Or the 21 and Burks? Or the 14th and 21st?
Is there any scenario where this is a good idea? The ideas behind that get broken down with the two sides broken down with Shep leaning towards getting Jimmer and Glade on the other side.
Brandon Davies:
Keeping with the local angle: Where does Davies fit in the draft? Is it even in the best interest for Davies to get drafted. Noriega has seen almost every game Davies has played over four or more years. He gives his perspective on where he will end up. Spoiler alert: It might not be in America.
Can he be a draft pick? Is it best for him to be a draft pick?
The top pick in the draft:
Does anyone know what the Cavs are going to do? No. We don't even know if the Cavs know what they are going to do. A discussion of who we believe in the best player available, Victor Oladipo, and how he fits in the draft along with where the other top picks fit in the draft. Another spoiler: We aren't that high on Nerlens Noel, partially for his name.
Other than that we just discussed the NBA in general. Enjoy listening and enjoy the draft coming up. We'd love to hear from you and hopefully we can do it again. If you want to get in touch with us here are our Twitter handles:
Jason Shepherd: @kslshep Matt Glade: @matthewLaggies Dave Noriega: @davenoriega Jarom Moore: @jarommoore
