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SALT LAKE CITY — Despite the optimism going into the lottery selection last week, the Utah Jazz fell one spot in the draft order to the No. 5 overall pick.
The Jazz will have several options heading into draft at the end of June — trading picks or assets — but will likely stay at the No. 5 spot.
Although the Jazz front office and fans were disappointed by the drop in draft order, there have been some great picks in NBA history at the five spot. However, there have been a few not-so-good picks at that position, too.
What will be made of the potential draft pick will not be known for a few years, but there are reasons to be optimistic about the No. 5 overall pick.
Although having a No. 1 pick is ideal for any team, it’s not so much a problem with a deep draft — which is what this year’s draft is projected to be. Looking over the last 30 years of draft picks, the NBA has produced 11 All Stars and three Hall of Famers — Charles Barkley, Scottie Pippen and Mitch Richmond — and likely three more — Dwyane Wade, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett.
2012 - Thomas Robinson, PF, Kansas (Sacramento)
2011 - Jonas Valanciunas, C (Toronto)
2010 - DeMarcus Cousins, C, Kentucky (Sacramento)
2009 - Ricky Rubio, PG (Minnesota)
2008 - Kevin Love, PF/C, UCLA (Memphis)
2007 - Jeff Green, SF/PF, Georgetown (Boston)
2006 - Shelden Williams, PF/C, Duke (Atlanta)
2005 - Raymond Felton, PG/SG, North Carolina (Charlotte)
2004 - Devin Harris, PG, Wisconsin (Washington)
2003 - Dwayne Wade, PG/SG, Marquette (Miami)
2002 - Nikoloz Tskitishvili, SF/PF (Denver)
2001 - Jason Richardson, SG/SF, Michigan State (Golden State)
2000 - Mike Miller, SG/SF, Florida (Orlando)
1999 - Jonathan Bender, SF (Toronto)
1998 - Vince Carter, SG/SF, North Carolina (Golden State)
1997 - Tony Battie, PF/C, Texas Tech (Denver)
1996 - Ray Allen, SG, Connecticut (Minnesota)
1995 - Kevin Garnett, SF/PF (Minnesota)
1994 - Juwan Howard, PF/C, Michigan (Washington)
1993 - Isaiah Rider, SG, UNLV (Minnesota)
1992 - LaPhonso Ellis, SF/PF, Notre Dame (Denver)
1991 - Steve Smith, SG, Michigan State (Miami)
1990 - Kendall Gill, SG/SF, Illinois (Chicago)
1989 - J.R. Reid, PF/C, North Carolina (Chicago)
1988 - Mitch Richmond, SG, Kansas State (Golden State)
1987 - Scottie Pippen, SF, Central Arkansas (Seattle)
1986 - Kenny Walker, SF/PF, Kentucky (New York)
1985 - Jon Koncak, C, Southern Methodist (Atlanta)
1984 - Charles Barkley, PF, Auburn (Philadelphia)
* Players in bold are All Stars. Players in italics are in the Hall of Fame (Mitch Richmond will be inducted this year).
The Jazz would be more than pleased to take any player that could resemble the careers of Barkley or Pippen, or the other three for that matter.
Looking once again at the last 30 years, which is about the same time the lottery selection process has been around, the average No. 5 overall pick is a player that is expected to play approximately eight years and averages 12.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game.
The college game is drastically different from the NBA, but only Oklahoma State’s Marcus Smart had a stat line in college matching all those numbers — 18 points, 5.9 rebounds and 4.8 assists — in those projected as a lottery pick. That’s not to say Smart will have similar numbers in the NBA or that those projected to be drafted in the lottery couldn’t have a similar stat line.
While getting a star at the fifth spot is not impossible, it’s important for a team to select wisely — as with any pick, which poses inherent risk because no one knows how well an incoming athlete will adapt to the NBA model.
However, in the last decade, 22 players were selected after the fifth spot and have appeared on an All-Star roster, including Damian Lillard (No. 6 in 2012), Paul George (No. 10 in 2010), Steph Curry (No. 7 in 2009), Roy Hibbert (No. 17 in 2008) and Rajon Rondo (No. 21 in 2006).
With so much riding on the upcoming draft for the Jazz organization, it’s important they make the right pick — a pick that could contribute to turning around a rebuilding team or a missed pick that only contributes to irrelevancy and more losing for the organization.
