Joncolton
Well-Known Member
Jazz draft prospects: How they'd fit
The Jazz have the No. 23 pick in the draft. We look at three wings: one who has a ton of talent, one who's athletic and one who can shoot.
theathletic.com
By Tony Jones Oct 8, 2020
The Utah Jazz own the No. 23 pick in the NBA Draft, which is a little over a month away.
There are a number of possibilities that come with this pick, and the Jazz are casting a wide net in terms of whom may be available to them when they are on the board. This is the first in a series of draft analysis, featuring prospects that the Jazz have shown some interest in.
Jaden McDaniels | 6-10 forward | 19 years old, freshman | Washington
Sam Vecenie’s Mock Draft 7.1: to Oklahoma City at No. 25
Without question, McDaniels is one of the most polarizing players in the draft. And for good reason. On one hand, his raw skill, his size, his offensive ability presents the profile of a can’t-miss prospect. And if we were going off skillset and upside alone, McDaniels probably would be a lottery pick, if not higher. He’s that talented.
So, how is someone with this much talent and ability a possibility to be on the board when the Jazz pick at No. 23? Well, McDaniels probably has the lowest floor of someone with his skill and ability in a long time. Simply, if he were on the board and the Jazz were to draft him, there’s a good possibility McDaniels wouldn’t be ready to help the Jazz for his entire rookie season. He has a lot of work to do.
But, first, here’s the good.
McDaniels is 6-foot-10 and 195 pounds. He’s a legitimate shooting guard or small forward, at least offensively. He has defensive upside to where he can certainly guard his small forward position on the other end. He handles the ball like someone much smaller, and he can score in a number of ways: catch and shoot, off the dribble, posting up midrange and shooting over the top, attacking closeouts, driving baseline or toward the middle and finishing on top of the rim, flashing off down screens, getting loose in transition.
He’s also capable of dribbling the length of the floor, and pulling up and making a contested 3-pointer. Defensively, his length and athleticism give him a chance to be a plus. He believes that nobody can guard him, which helps him on the floor. You always want a confident player. And he’s a guy who has played at a high level of competition for a long time.
But he didn’t have a great Pac-12 portion of his freshman season for Washington at all. It got to the point where he was actually benched for a part of the conference season. McDaniels needs to add a lot of strength. For a guy of his talent to be benched by his college coach on a bad team speaks volumes. He needs to learn how to play the game, and not just survive off of talent.
In a perfect world, McDaniels probably would have gone back for another season of college basketball. In a perfect world, McDaniels probably should have picked a collegiate program that was more developmental for his game. McDaniels is so supremely talented. But, he’s probably still the same player that he was in high school. In essence, he’s missed a season of development.
League sources tell The Athletic that the Jazz have interviewed McDaniels. So, there is interest there. But McDaniels is a difficult read for a lot of teams. He’s someone who has the ability to develop into an All-NBA type of talent. The upside is that high. He’s someone who could be out of the league in five seasons. The risk is that vast.
The last time the Jazz took a true anticipation pick was Dante Exum. That didn’t go well, although there is a mountain of context there. (Exum could never stay healthy.)
But, it’s my contention that the Jazz should take McDaniels if he is on the board, simply for their very stability as an organization. McDaniels needs development. The Jazz are one of the best in the league at this, although losing assistant coach Johnnie Bryant this past August to the New York Knicks really hurts. McDaniels needs leadership. The Jazz have one of the best locker rooms in the league.
And, for the Jazz, they need another guy in the organization with a star upside. Donovan Mitchell is already a star, and he has superstar upside. But, his longterm No. 2 is not on the roster, at least offensively. Bojan Bogdanovic was fantastic this past season, but he is over 30. Rudy Gobert is in his prime, but he’s never going to develop into a go-to guy offensively. The Jazz don’t have much financial flexibility at the moment.
McDaniels may be a bust. But he also may be a guy who can give you 25 points a night. The Jazz are trying to burst through the glass ceiling of contention. This may be a way to do it. It’s a swing-for-the-fences type of pick. It’s a pick where the Jazz would be betting bigtime on themselves and their ability to develop. This roster has a lot of good pieces. It probably needs one more star. A decade ago, the Jazz had the No. 9 pick of the NBA Draft. Gordon Hayward and Paul George were both on the board. The Jazz picked Hayward. They passed on George largely because of a horrific performance he and his Fresno State teammates turned in at Utah State a few months prior. George was awful that game. He was lazy. He didn’t play hard. He didn’t look like a pro that night. He looked like he didn’t want to be there.
He developed into an All-NBA talent.
McDaniels has Paul George at Fresno State-type of talent. He might be further along offensively, although PG was much better defensively at the same stage. And the Jazz regime that passed on George is not the regime that’s in charge now. So, it will be interesting if McDaniels is there for the Jazz to choose.
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The other two guys he writes about are - Josh Green and Desmond Bane.
In the comments section (at the Athletic) he mentions that the Jazz have Robert Woodard II on their radar as well. Woodard is 6'7" with a 7'1" wingspan and played for Mississippi State - (also shot 43% from deep) so he fits the DL M.O. You can pretty much look at the combine results and the winners of wingspan and foot speed will always be heavy Jazz considerations.
