After a month and a half of speculation, the Utah Jazz learned their draft fate on Tuesday evening.
Already owning the No. 16 (Minnesota) and No. 28 (Philadelphia) picks in the draft via trades with Minnesota and Brooklyn, respectively, the Jazz also had an outside chance at the No. 1 overall pick (4.5%) and a top-four pick (20.3%). In the end, the Jazz stayed right where they were at and will have the No. 9 pick in the 2023 NBA Draft.
In what's expected to be a loaded draft class by most analysts, Utah is expected to get immediate help with the No. 9 pick.
The Jazz have never had the top pick in the draft but have had 10 lottery picks since 2000. The highest selection they've ever had came in 1980 when they chose Darrell Griffith at No. 2. Utah has selected eight times in the top-10, choosing Deron Williams (2005) and Enes Freedom (2011) with the No. 3 pick, and Dante Exum (2014) with the No. 5 pick.
The last time the Jazz had a top-12 pick was in 2016, choosing Taurean Prince, but they traded him to Atlanta. Utah also had the No. 12 pick in 2015, picking Trey Lyles.
The good news for the Jazz is that they already have a well-established nucleus after an exciting past season.
Head coach Will Hardy, the second-youngest in the league, proved far more wise than his years. He took a team expected to finish near the bottom of the standings and had them in play-in contention until the final games of the season.
Lauri Markkanen emerged as a bonafide star, being named to his first All-Star game and then chosen as a starter in a breakout season. As Utah's No. 1 option, he averaged career-highs in points (25.6), shot attempts (17.3), field goal percentage (49.9%), free throw percentage (87.5%), assists (1.9), and minutes (34.4). He also averaged 8.6 rebounds per game, 39.2% from three, and 58.6% effective field goal percentage, all the second-most in his career.
Walker Kessler, acquired in a trade with Minnesota last offseason, took over as the starting center midway through the season and never looked back. The All-Rookie First Team member averaged 11.5 points, 10.2 rebounds, and 2.7 blocks in his 40 starts, becoming the first rookie in 25 years to record at least four games of 7+ blocks, trailing Tim Duncan's five times in 1998.
Much like Kessler, Ochai Agbaji was another offseason addition last year who emerged late in his rookie season. He averaged 7.9 points and 2.1 rebounds in 20.5 minutes per game, shooting 35.5% from beyond the arc — but those numbers were drastically better late in the season when he averaged 13.9 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per game over March and April.
With that core expected to return along with other role players such as Kelly Olynyk, Collin Sexton, Rudy Gay, and Simone Fontecchio, the Jazz won't have to rely on their rookie class for immediate, game-changing production. But make no mistake, the vibes are high in Utah, and the expectation continues to grow.
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