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SALT LAKE CITY — Kyle Filipowski had a long night on Wednesday.
The 6-foot-11 Duke big man was one of two players who was invited to the NBA's green room for the first round but wasn't selected.
He didn't have to wait too much longer on Thursday. The Jazz selected Flilipowski with the second pick of the second round (32nd overall) to bring the versatile big man to Utah.
"It's hard to wait a long time and not hear your name called," Filipowski said. "To be honest, I'm just happy. I feel like I ended up in the right spot. That's what matters most to me."
Filipowski was one of college basketball's best big man scorers, putting up 16.4 points to go along with 8.3 rebounds as a sophomore at Duke. He shot 50% from the field and 34% from the 3-point line. He even said he modeled his game some after Jazz star Lauri Markkanen — another big man who can shoot, dribble and pass.
"He's an incredible player, so just being able to have this opportunity to play alongside him and learn from him every day," he said. "I'm super grateful for this opportunity. I'm looking forward to making the most of it."
And if you trust Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, he will do just that.
"Lot of teams gonna regret passing up on Flip," the former Duke star said on social media after the first round wrapped up Wednesday.
Filipowski is a mobile big man and showed promise as a playmaker from the center spot. His skill set is not all that dissimilar to Kelly Olynyk's — and the Jazz's offense was often leaps and bounds better when Olynyk was on the court.
"I think the book on Kyle is yet to be written, but we could see some lineups where he's a five, some lineups where he's a four," Jazz front office member Steven Schwartz said. "We think his versatility is his biggest strength."
Filipowski said Utah was "one my favorite places" he went to for draft workouts, and he called Salt Lake City a "beautiful city."
"I'm looking forward to getting in there and just being part of the Jazz fan base and their community," Filipowski said. "And as terms of playing for the organization, I got a great vibe from them and a great family culture from them on my visit. So I think that's a big thing for me, just being in a place where you have that. You have that supporting cast surrounding you and just a great place to thrive."
As for the draft slide, Filipowkski said it just adds a chip on his shoulder.
"It doesn't matter about what pick I am, because that's only one night, and that night's already over, so I'm just super excited," he said. "I feel like I got drafted to the right spot, and I'm looking forward to working with this organization."
But why did he slide?
On Thursday morning, ESPN reported the slide may have been due to some bad pre-draft interviews, and concern among front offices about some personal issues. When asked about those rumors, the Jazz front office said they had done a deep background on all prospects and were ultimately comfortable picking the former Duke star.
"We're more than happy to have Kyle join the Jazz, and we're comfortable with everything going on," a front office member said. "We're excited about who he is as a person, so we're not concerned about that at all."
