SALT LAKE CITY — Heading into Thursday night's NBA Draft, the expectation was that it would end up being a rather quiet night for the Utah Jazz after they agreed to trade the 23rd pick to the Memphis Grizzlies as part of the deal for Mike Conley.
Most of the night was indeed quiet before the Jazz made two trades to end up with three picks in the 50s. In addition, there were some transactions made by other teams that will end up impacting them.
Here's a rundown of the most significant items that could end up affecting Utah.
- Before the draft officially began, ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the Indiana Pacers will acquire TJ Warren from the Phoenix Suns. At that time, Wojnarowski added to the reports that others have made that the Pacers will target Ricky Rubio in free agency.
- With the second pick in the draft, the Grizzlies did what they widely were expected to and took point guard Ja Morant. One local question at this point for Memphis is how it will handle the restricted free agency of former University of Utah point guard Delon Wright. Will the Grizzlies keep Wright to help Morant adjust to the NBA? It was widely assumed Morant would play at the Salt Lake City Summer League in early July, but it was reported he will not.
- The first pick to really fire up social media was when the Phoenix Suns took North Carolina's Cam Johnson at No. 11 after it was thought he'd be a late first or even early second-round selection.
- With the 19th pick, the San Antonio Spurs chose Luka Samanic, continuing their practice of taking international players.
- OK, are you ready for this? The Grizzlies and Oklahoma City Thunder agreed to swap the 21st and 23rd picks, the latter of which still belonged to the Jazz since the Conley trade has not gone through yet. So as it happened, the Thunder chose Brandon Clarke at 21 for Memphis and Utah picked Darius Bazley at 23 for Oklahoma City.
In a weird twist, Bazley could have ended up with the Salt Lake City Stars last year after he decided out of high school to enter the G League draft, where the Stars held the top pick. Instead, though, Bazley decided to take an internship with New Balance.
The Jazz tweeted an announcement of the pick, and some of the replies were quite choice.
As the second round unfolded, many Jazz fans wanted the team to trade up from the 53rd pick, as a number of prospects who were widely expected to be taken in the late first round were available.
Utah did not move into the 40s, but went crazy in the 50s. The Jazz acquired the 50th pick from the Indiana Pacers and selected Jarrell Brantley, a 6-foot-7, 250-pounder from the College of Charleston.
Brantley was one of 12 players to work out for the Jazz in its final predraft workout on June 15. He averaged 19.4 points and 7.9 rebounds per game as a senior last season.
Utah kept the 53rd pick and took Hofstra's Justin Wright-Foreman, a 6-foot-2, 190-pound guard who averaged 27.1 points per game as a senior.
Then the Jazz acquired the 58th pick from the Golden State Warriors and took Yale wing Miye Oni, who is listed at 6-foot-6 and 210 pounds. He was the Ivy League Player of the Year in both 2018 and 2019, and averaged 17.1 points per game his senior year.
While draftees taken in the 50s don't stick in the NBA all that often, all three selections play at a position of need for the Jazz after they traded Kyle Korver and Jae Crowder. That being the case, it stands to reason they'll get a legitimate shot to compete for roster spots.