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Frankly, I don't know much about the state of Utah. Honestly, the most I know is strictly from the movie SLC Punk, a movie that's not really about the state of Utah. And yet, here I am picking for the Utah Jazz at 23.
Sticking to my strengths, I think SLC Punk's Stevo put it best: "What do you do when your foundation falls apart? I don't know. They don't teach you that in school."
Pimp Them, Mock Them
Pimp Them, Mock Them
As Sixers fans, it's easy to understand what Stevo is talking about. If a decade of mediocrity has taught us anything, it's that building on an unsteady base isn't conducive to championship contention.
Furthermore, by the way the Sixers organization attempted to recover Post-Iverson, I'm pretty sure they didn't know what they were doing at times (at least Billy King didn't). Thankfully, the Sixers are at a point where there is a clear direction and a foundation being made.
While tanking was our anarchy, Sam Hinkie was our Brandy.
Our brethren of the Great Salt Lake have their own rebuild in the works. Earlier in this draft, my alter-ego Tanner channeled his inner Dennis Lindsey and took more steps in restocking what has been left of the Utah Jazz since shedding some household names like Deron Williams, Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap. As a fellow rebuilding team, they too need a foundation to build upon and adding a guy like Noah Vonleh to some interesting pieces like Trey Burke and Derrick Favors can only help with their process.
Utah has some questions going into this off season including what they want to do with Gordon Hayward and if they want to re-up an expiring contract like Marvin Williams. But for a team that's almost as wide open as the Sixers, these decisions shouldn't impact who they should draft that much.While a tempting, potential Marc Gasol-esque Jusuf Nurkic is still on the board, going big with Vonleh early meant it'd make more sense to target a wing player at this spot. With that said, the Jazz grab KJ McDaniels at #23.
McDaniels should fit well into the Jazz providing some scoring pop and defensive help facilitated by his athleticism. While his offensive game isn't that refined, relying a lot on his athleticism to get to the basket and FT line, his defensive prowess has been noted.
In a league that's trending more towards "small ball", McDaniels has the ability to guard multiple positions and has the potential to become a lock-down defender. As mentioned, there are knocks on his offensive game. His shot isn't really there yet nor is he well versed in a lot of basketball nuances (e.g. team facilitating, spacing, general BBIQ). However, he has the physical gifts to succeed and it's just a matter of both developing them and his understanding of the game.
I got into contact with AllThatAmar from the aptly named SLC Dunk. Of course, as we are of similar ethnic backgrounds, our first exchange went like this:
We need to start our own blog. (Brown balls?)
It's a working title. We'll get back to you on that. Now, his thoughts on the selection of KJ McDaniels:
The sensible thing here is for the Jazz to pick K.J. McDaniels. He's not the guy I'd want, but it would be a reach to pick some of the other wings behind him. You're right about the Jusuf would be pointless, especially with the Jazz in talks to bring over Ante Tomic right now. McDaniels is an athlete who has trouble hitting the three, but is active on the glass. That sounds like a Utah Jazz wing player to me. What I really like is that he's able to get to the line and when he's there, he usually makes the free throw. The Jazz need a lot of everything, and a guy like K.J. could be a rotation player right off the bat.
Next on the clock is Dave picking for Hornets.