Ben Anderson: Rookie Grayson Allen, Rudy Gobert typify Jazz diverse identity

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SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Jazz had a busy weekend.

First, the Jazz drafted Duke’s Grayson Allen with the 21st pick in the NBA draft on Thursday night; and second, Rudy Gobert won Defensive Player of the Year at Monday’s "NBA Awards Show."

Though the two players arrived in Utah taking two completely different paths, they bookend what has become one of the league’s most diverse rosters.

Gobert won the Jazz's first notable regular season award since Karl Malone earned the league’s MVP award in 1999. Despite playing just 56 of the possible 82 games, Gobert ran away with the award, earning 89 of the possible 100 first-place votes, and besting second-place finisher Joel Embiid in total voting points (466-163).

Best birthday gift i could ever dream of... Shoutout to everyone that makes this possible and make me a better man and player everyday! #Tobecontinued pic.twitter.com/67nhr8A1FY
— Rudy Gobert (@rudygobert27) June 26, 2018

#rudy_fb

Hailing from France, Gobert was drafted as one of the biggest projects in the 2013 NBA draft. A lanky, relatively unproven European big man with record-breaking measurables, the Jazz selected Gobert with the 27th pick. Gobert sat behind other Jazz big men Derrick Favors, Enes Kanter and Jeremy Evans for most of his rookie season, spending time with the Jazz D-League affiliate, the Utah Flash.

Five years later, the Jazz developmental mindset had transformed the frail rookie into a two-time All-Defensive First Team center, an All-NBA center, and now the Defensive Player of the Year. From the day he was drafted to where he stands now, Gobert has made one of the league’s most dramatic transformations from a raw mystery project to dominant defensive star.

Outside of being drafted in the latter third of the draft’s first round, Allen couldn’t be more different than Gobert. The Duke guard is one of the most publicly scrutinized draft prospects in recent draft memory, having played four full seasons for the Blue Devils, including winning a national championship as a freshman.

Allen followed up his freshman season with a stellar sophomore year, which saw him average 21 points, four rebounds and three assists, and making him a likely lottery pick had he declared for the draft.

Allen’s highly scrutinized career was underscored by several controversial tripping fouls committed over his sophomore and junior seasons, which earned him a reputation as a dirty player. Unlike Gobert, Allen joins the Jazz as one of the draft’s oldest, most developed players. Allen will turn 23 before he makes his NBA regular-season debut with the Jazz, and is older than both of the Jazz rookies from the 2017-18 season, Donovan Mitchell and Tony Bradley.

Allen also lacks the type of upside the Jazz have typically looked for in the draft under Dennis Lindsey’s tutelage. While Allen is still several years away from hitting his prime as an athlete, his strength and weaknesses were well fleshed out.

Allen has the makings of a potentially elite shooter, having shot 41 percent from three as a sophomore in college. He’s got explosive athleticism in transition, hustles after loose balls and has a knack for hitting big shots. However, he’s also shown his limitations as a ball-in-hand combo guard, an inability to finish at the rim in the half court and a surprising lack of development as a junior and senior at Duke.

And yet, just as Gobert’s high upside draft selection made sense for a Jazz team that needed as much talent as it could add, Allen makes sense as a player who brings experience and a more developed skill set.

Utah Jazz general manager Dennis Lindsey, foreground, and coach Quin Snyder watch during the second half of the team's NBA summer league basketball game against the Philadelphia 76ers Wednesday, July 5, 2017, in Salt Lake City. (Photo: Rick Bowmer, AP Photo, File)

Lindsey has also trusted that the locker room he has built in Utah can handle a multitude of personalities. Gobert is a soft-spoken, albeit highly intelligent big man from northern France. Allen is a wide-eyed, yet emotional guard from northern Florida, once dubbed “the next hated white Duke player.”

This type of diversity gives Lindsey an ability to fill his roster with a wider variance in personalities than most NBA teams. From Alec Burks' cocky shyness to Mitchell’s naive charisma. From Ricky Rubio’s wunderkind wisdom, to Joe Ingles' "elderly", sarcastic skepticism.

Lindsey’s roster-building vision was on full display this weekend. Between Allen’s ready-to-contribute draft selection and Gobert’s award-winning development, the Jazz have transformed into one of the league’s most unique and diverse rosters.