Draft Grades

[Inigo Montoya]

This thread is meant for us to give our thoughts on the Jazz's draft night, give grades for every pick, for the Jazz draft as a whole, and post grades and pick analysis from sources around the league.

Let's hope it'll be a good one.

[Inigo Montoya]

Assuming the Jazz don’t pick in the second round, I give this draft a B. I’ll expand on it after I get some sleep but overall I’m surprised with how conservative the Jazz have been.

[AingesBurner]

I think the draft is a 89.99% B+. I wish we could have gotten Cason Wallace.

[zero24gravity]

Posted this in the draft thread, but looks like this is a better place for it ...


My initial thoughts are it's a B+ draft for the Jazz. (Still a chance they make a trade, but I'm calling it over for them at this point.)

Thrilled with Hendricks, which was the most important pick. He will likely be a starter on day 1. Good value at 28 with Sensabaugh, even though I would have liked to see them gamble on Jackson in that spot. Not my favorite pick at 16, but still ok. Would have preferred Hood-Schifino or Whitmore, but assuming JC leaves, George has an immediate role as a bench scorer. They didn't get a PG, which is a glaring hole, but they did add shooting, which I think was their #2 need.

Watching Whitmore and Smith drop was surprising. Wonder if the Jazz would have taken Smith if he dropped 1 more spot.

Still questions out there, like will they actually carry 3 first round rookies on the roster, or will someone get moved? Do they address their PG issues or run with Dunn, Sexton, THT?

[Jammer]

9. Taylor Hendricks - Nothing to complain about here. A+

16. Keyonte George - Solid Pick. Only player who might be a better scorer on board is Marcus Sasser, who is only 6' 1 1/4".
I'll give it a B+ becuase all the other guys I wanted at 16 were off the board, so it came down (for me) to a choice between Keyonte George and Marcus Sasser (who went at #25, but was traded by Memphis to Boston to Detroit).

28. Brice Sensabaugh. Great College Player. Has Shot and High IQ player. How he translates to the NBA remains to be seen. Not sure what his metrics are since he didn't get measured in Chicago that I know of. But, compared to what was available, I'll give it an A, even with the questions about his quickness for the NBA. He's a heady player.

Overall, this was an A draft. The Jazz needed to land two rotation quality players. They may have found 2 that can play in the NBA regular season and playoffs. That would make this a home run of a draft if they found 2 rotation level players. And by rotation, I don't mean a #11 to #15 player who gets in a game. Reserves are not rotation players. I'm referring to Starters and Backups. The Jazz needed to land 2 Rotation players with the Quality of this Draft and Quality of their picks. I think they did that.

[Jazz Dog]

Posted on draft day but I give us a solid A-. I really like Hendricks A+, like George A, Sensabaugh B-.

[WinterSoldier]

This draft felt pretty blah! for me, I'll give it a C+.

I feel Hendricks is a good 3%D forward like McDaniels, not a bad player but nothing exciting.

George is a good natural shooter but is a smallish SG with poor defense.

Sensabaugh is a heavy wing that will be a defensive liability and will be relegated to the bench.

[SoCalJazzFan]

I’ll give the draft a B-

I really like the Hendricks pick, although I would have preferred Walker and even been willing to trade up for him. A-

I’m skeptical of the George pick as he looks like a pure SG or scoring guard who, similar to Clarkson, appears to need the ball in his hands and could be a ball stopper or even a ball hog, that the Jazz are hoping to turn into a PG. C+

Sensebaugh was a good scorer in college, but not much else. How will that translate to the NBA? I would have preferred trading up for Dariq, or taking a swing on GG or Leonard. C.

[babyjax13]

9: Hendricks (A-)
I'm not sure there was a better pick here. His hypothetical skillset fits perfectly between Lauri and Kessler. We have never had positional size like this. He has been reasonably good as a shooter, secondary rim protector, and switching on the perimeter in college. We will see which aspects hold up in the NBA. I assume his three-point shot will take a year or two to translate but that it eventually looks good. Am I super crazy about him as a prospect? Not really, but I did have him top 10 so I don't dislike it at all, just don't see him as a star.

16: George (A)
Sounds like Whitmore had medical and personal red flags. There are things like this that we aren't privy to, so I do not mind not taking him. I really love George, think he will really be able to score and that he has some lateral explosion that suggests he can become a better defender. Apparently our FO thinks he is a point guard, so I think the nearest comp (stylistically) is probably Jamal Murray.

28: Sensabaugh (C+)
If his scoring translates he will be a good player, but he does nothing else. I would have picked Leonard Miller, I had him in the top 15 of my big board and I think there is a lot of potential there. But I don't hate this selection, and the FO knows more than I do.

Overall: B
I like Hendricks and George, not crazy about Sensabaugh but I think it was an upside pick and I can see why you roll the dice. Would have liked a "true point guard," but those guys pop up in the draft more commonly than these other archetypes. I think we have one of the better FOs so it's probably a better draft than I think it is.

[babyjax13]

9. Taylor Hendricks - Nothing to complain about here. A+

16. Keyonte George - Solid Pick. Only player who might be a better scorer on board is Marcus Sasser, who is only 6' 1 1/4".
I'll give it a B+ becuase all the other guys I wanted at 16 were off the board, so it came down (for me) to a choice between Keyonte George and Marcus Sasser (who went at #25, but was traded by Memphis to Boston to Detroit).

28. Brice Sensabaugh. Great College Player. Has Shot and High IQ player. How he translates to the NBA remains to be seen. Not sure what his metrics are since he didn't get measured in Chicago that I know of. But, compared to what was available, I'll give it an A, even with the questions about his quickness for the NBA. He's a heady player.

Overall, this was an A draft. The Jazz needed to land two rotation quality players. They may have found 2 that can play in the NBA regular season and playoffs. That would make this a home run of a draft if they found 2 rotation level players. And by rotation, I don't mean a #11 to #15 player who gets in a game. Reserves are not rotation players. I'm referring to Starters and Backups. The Jazz needed to land 2 Rotation players with the Quality of this Draft and Quality of their picks. I think they did that.

Sensabaugh has had some injury issues, believe he wasn't able to work out with many teams.

[AGE1207]

I’d give it a B+. It’s solid and safe, no fancy stuff or anything magical. With Ainge on board, U would hope for something extra but that didn’t happen. Maybe there was no need for it?

Let’s see what the free agency brings…

[Jammer]

I was surprised that Utah didn't trade up from #16 or #28 (guess Collin Sexton is seen as a scorer off the bench in other team's eyes, versus a True Starter), and Horton-Tucker's $11M player option is certainly not enticing, although adding a future Utah Draft pick (versus the Minnesota or Cleveland picks) should have been worth something, like moving up a few spots from #16 at least.

I think the picks to watch is Sensabaugh over Maxwell Lewis (Wing out of Pepperdine that went to the Lakers at #40).

[Inigo Montoya]

Watch on YouTube

[zero24gravity]

Watch on YouTube

I don't know about Utah being the biggest loser, but I can see the perspective that there are no home runs with 3 picks, especially if you're not sold on Hendricks, as the commentator said he isn't. I disagree about Hendricks, but also think that my initial B+ might be a B after a nights sleep and the draft day enthusiasm worn off a touch.

[Inigo Montoya]

I don't know about Utah being the biggest loser, but I can see the perspective that there are no home runs with 3 picks, especially if you're not sold on Hendricks, as the commentator said he isn't. I disagree about Hendricks, but also think that my initial B+ might be a B after a nights sleep and the draft day enthusiasm worn off a touch.

Yeah, I don't think the Jazz had a bad draft. In most places, they get good scores and picked as one of the winners, so I thought I'll bring the counter-argument.

[SoCalJazzFan]

I was a little more sour on the draft after Hendricks last night than I am this morning.

While I have concerns about Sensabaugh, in reality, for a 28th pick he is a steal as he would probably be top 15 in many other drafts. Hopefully, he can show other aspects of his game or develop into a more well rounded player.

I was really hoping for a potential PGOTF from this draft. I doubt that George is it, although I hope to be proven wrong. I guess even if this doesn't come to pass, he has a good chance to be a Clarkson-esque flamethrower scorer from the bench which isn't a bad result with the 16th pick.

[AingesBurner]

If Utah is convinced that they can turn George into a PG and they eventually do, great pick. I don’t think it really matters though because we will likely be trading two of Ochai, George, and Sensabaugh for Luka next summer.

[Crunch 99]

Deseret News reported this morning that both Hendricks and George were in the Jazz' top ten list going in to the draft, so I am stoked that the Jazz got two of their top ten players at nine and sixteen. A-.

Seems like a lot of of national media liked the Jazz taking Hendricks at nine.

National experts react to and grade Utah Jazz’s draft selections
https://www.deseret.com/2023/6/23/23771208/national-experts-grade-utah-jazzs-2023-nba-draft-taylor-hendricks-keyonte-george-brice-sensabaugh

[SoCalJazzFan]

Would you have felt the same about the draft had the Jazz given up assets (probably multiple 2nds) to get Coulibaly from the Pacers at #7?

Read on Twitter

[HadAnEffectHere]

I mean, no, Coulibaly is not good.