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Why do the Jazz work out players they have no chance of drafting?

J

JFFR

Well-Known Member
Most of the players that have been through the Jazz's workouts won't even make it to the NBA. I don't understand the reasoning behind this. Has anyone from organization offered a good reason for this?

Last year I bought into it. I thought maybe the Jazz would find the next Wesley Matthews or something. But then when it came to signing 10-day contracts they just picked people from the D-League. If they are going to just pick up D-League All-Stars, what is the point of all these workouts?
 
JFFR said:
Most of the players that have been through the Jazz's workouts won't even make it to the NBA. I don't understand the reasoning behind this. Has anyone from organization offered a good reason for this?

Last year I bought into it. I thought maybe the Jazz would find the next Wesley Matthews or something. But then when it came to signing 10-day contracts they just picked people from the D-League. If they are going to just pick up D-League All-Stars, what is the point of all these workouts?
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That's part of it--they need to get players for their D-League team.
 
I think part of it is gamesmanship too. Picking at #3, it's pretty easy to figure out your options. At #12 or #21, it's more complicated. The Jazz have done an excellent job of looking at guys who aren't in their "draft range" and making good moves as a result of that.

Gobert, Hood and Lyles all worked out for Utah. Nobody really knew that they were going to be the picks at #27, #23 and #12 - but they've all outplayed their draft position.

I think the way Utah does their workouts, it gives them a chance to look at almost every player they're interested in, while obscuring their interest and scouring the dregs to see if there's and diamonds in the rough that will make a good pickup at some point.
 
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D-League, trade scenarios, misdirection and being thorough.
 
Ellis269 said:
I think part of it is gamesmanship too. Picking at #3, it's pretty easy to figure out your options. At #12 or #21, it's more complicated. The Jazz have done an excellent job of looking at guys who aren't in their "draft range" and making good moves as a result of that.

Gobert, Hood and Lyles all worked out for Utah. Nobody really knew that they were going to be the picks at #27, #23 and #12 - but they've all outplayed their draft position.

I think the way Utah does their workouts, it gives them a chance to look at almost every player they're interested in, while obscuring their interest and scouring the dregs to see if there's and diamonds in the rough that will make a good pickup at some point.
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Good response, but why are they working out so many guys that are in the range of 70+?

As for their DLeague team... they just need to sign Jimmer Fredette or David Stockton and they'll be able to sell enough tickets. I'd go to games if either of those two were on the team.
 
JFFR said:
Good response, but why are they working out so many guys that are in the range of 70+?

As for their DLeague team... they just need to sign Jimmer Fredette or David Stockton and they'll be able to sell enough tickets. I'd go to games if either of those two were on the team.
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I think that they look at those guys in case one has a shot at being Wes Matthews or Jeremy Lin. Neither guy was on the radar to be drafted, but certainly can play at the NBA level.
 
JFFR said:
Good response, but why are they working out so many guys that are in the range of 70+?

As for their DLeague team... they just need to sign Jimmer Fredette or David Stockton and they'll be able to sell enough tickets. I'd go to games if either of those two were on the team.
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It's not about selling tickets to D-League. Utah farms the hell out of it as a way to try and supplement the draft to offset not being a big FA destination.
 
JFFR said:
Good response, but why are they working out so many guys that are in the range of 70+?

As for their DLeague team... they just need to sign Jimmer Fredette or David Stockton and they'll be able to sell enough tickets. I'd go to games if either of those two were on the team.
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They need bodies to conduct the practices right?
 
Stoked said:
It's not about selling tickets to D-League. Utah farms the hell out of it as a way to try and supplement the draft to offset not being a big FA destination.
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That's the thing. Most of the guys they call up for 10 day contracts come from other teams in the D-League.
 
Did you know that some Euro coach guy was helping the Jazz do workouts this years. That's really nice of the Jazz to pay him to come over and work for them for a couple of weeks. Strange, that they couldn't find a basketball coach closer to home though. I guess like all these draft prospects that Lindsey just likes to spend the Miller's money with no return. Or is there a return?
 
In addition to looking for the diamond in the rough, it's all about statistical data. I bet that the team designs a rubric to rate the players off of. Then they apply that rubric to every workout invitee. Over time, they workout tons of guys and they track their development, career accomplishments, and milestones. If their rubric is helpful in correctly identifying the draft value or free agency value of players, then the rubric has value. If Jazz personnel rates a bunch of guys low on their rubric but those guys move on to big things, they have to re-assess their rating mechanisms. Sometimes you have to bring in an undraftable guy to make sure your rating system still spits out that he's an undraftable guy.
 
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