New York Watch thread. The race for the 2010 #1 pick.

[Ming Kong!]

BTW, I never knew that the lottery was only for the top 3 picks, that's pretty lame if you ask me.

[Beto]

Well as far as significance towards landing the top 3 spots, yeah its kind of irrelevant. However, as far as the draft pick, if probabilities play out as planned, a lower pick even by one spot means just that, a lower pick and that sucks!

[carrottop12]

Losing a spot really blows. Not only does it affect who the Jazz will be able to draft, it also changes how easily the Jazz could trade the pick.

It seems like it would be a lot easier to move from 8 to 5 or 8 to 4 than 9 to 5 or 9 to 4 in the draft with a trade. The farther down you go the less likely you are to get a good player. Since having a top 10 pick seems to be the premium on where to draft, the Jazz just got 11% less likely to get a player they are targeting because of a coin toss. That hurts.

[DelaneyRudd]

1 month until the lotto

[erudite23]

With Monroe declaring, that makes this a 9 player draft.

1 Wall
2 Turner
3 Favors
4 Cousins
5 Johnson
6 Aminu
7 Davis
8 Aldrich
9 Monroe

To be honest, I don't see a big difference between any of those last 4 names. Monroe isn't a great athlete, but he has some special intangibles. I think he will be the best passing big in the NBA within 3 years. Aldrich would be ideal, allowing us to fill that hole in the middle we've had forever. But I'll be happy with any of those guys.

[Ragyl12]

The jazz' are in need of a solid player at the post if boozer leaves and they also need a guard who can create his own shot and defend well.

I think the ideal pick for us would be monroe If boozer is going to leave us,monroe would make a great replacement for us.He can play in the post and since he's good at passing,He could make a good inside outside combination with okur.

And if boozer doesn't leave we could also consider drafting xavier henry,His frame is really nba ready.After watching game 1 in the denver vs utah series,we really need someone who can defend athletic and quick guys like jr smith.Nobody was able to guard him in game 1 (even though wesley matthews did a pretty good job against him in game 2)I think he has the potential to be a pretty good defender in the league,And this guy is pretty talented in creating his own shot.He may not have a chance to show it in kansas being the 3rd option behind collins and aldrich.But he has shown potential in that area.

[carrottop12]

Honestly, not to be a pessimist, but I wouldn't count on Memo being a part of the Jazz future any longer.

He may be able to return eventually and be a 10/5 guy, but that is more of a bench player than someone you try to find pieces to fit around with a top 10 pick.

Look for the best fit next to Deron and Millsap, or Boozer if you are going to try to throw 15 mil a season at him.

[erudite23]

If the Jazz are able to retain Boozer, we should look to draft Aldrich. He's the perfect complement to Booz defensively.

If we move up in the draft, we would either take Turner or Favors. This is an opportunity to make up for some issues that have plagued us for years.

[dingojazz]

God there's really nothing to say on this topic until the lottery on May 18. That week I will be praying to Jesus, Allah, Buddha, carrying a lucky rabbit's foot, not shaving, doing good deeds for karma, burning incense and meditating, visualizing ping pong balls, and repeating the phrase...with the first pick in the 2010 NBA draft, the Utah Jazz select....with the first pick in the 2010 NBA draft the Utah Jazz select...

[oaktownwarriors87]

I think the Jazz will most likely end up with Aldrich.

I really think the Jazz should keep Boozer and use Millsap as trade bait to move up in the draft for a player like Evan Turner, but I wont count on it. I just posted this on another thread...

"I think a guy like Outlaw would work well for the Jazz, and he's going to be a cheap player this off-season. He may not be the best player but he's a good fit. AK is out a lot and they need some length on the perimeter, but they also need outside shooting. That's the problem with players like Korver and Brewer on the Utah Jazz, they can only bring one side... Williams needs guys that can help him on D and spread the floor.

C Aldrich-Okur
F Boozer-Millsap
F Kirilenko-Outlaw
G Miles-Matthews
G Williams-Price

I also think CJ Watson from my Warriors would be cheap and a good fit in Utah."

[oaktownwarriors87]

we really need someone who can defend athletic and quick guys like jr smith.Nobody was able to guard him in game 1 (even though wesley matthews did a pretty good job against him in game 2)

Korver just WAY over played on help defense. Every time Billups drove to Korvers side Korver would over play the help and leave Smith WIDE open. It wasn't good offense by Smith, it was bad defense by Korver.

If it weren't for Korvers poor decision making that game Utah would be up 2-0

[babyjax13]

I agree with you about Outlaw, I haven't really seen Watson much so I can't comment on him. If Millsap is what it takes to get Turner then I think the Jazz have to think about it, but in the end I don't know if they pull the trigger.

[StocktonShorts]

The problem with that plan (trading Millsap to move up) is that the draft happens before free agency. The Jazz won't know if they can keep Boozer until after the draft is done.

[Beto]

I love Millsap man, i love his hustle and heart. But I think we need make some moves. We have too much money tight up with just a few players, so we need to spread that out. Okur is going to be hard to move now with his injury and even if he wasn't, Millsap is probably a better bargaining chip. So I think the Jazz need to try to move up and if Millsap will get the job done than do it. It's going to be difficult to move up to get Turner, but it might be easier to get someone like Favors or Cousins. Anyway, we need to make things happen.

[kebutah]

The problem with that plan (trading Millsap to move up) is that the draft happens before free agency. The Jazz won't know if they can keep Boozer until after the draft is done.

The Jazz could always extend Boozerr's contract berfore it expires like the Blazers just did with Cmaby.

[StocktonShorts]

The problem with that plan (trading Millsap to move up) is that the draft happens before free agency. The Jazz won't know if they can keep Boozer until after the draft is done.

The Jazz could always extend Boozerr's contract berfore it expires like the Blazers just did with Cmaby.

True, but is Boozer is open to that? If I were Boozer I'm not sure I'd compromise my bargaining position by doing that.

[Soul Patch]

I don't think Boozer would agree to an extension. He'd be smarter to test the market. I think packaging Millsap with the pick is a real possibility but I don't know how much I like the idea yet.

[kebutah]

I think it depends on dollars and length for a Boozer extension, and I am glad I don't need to make those choices.

[Jimmy76]

well I ended up going with Davis at 9 in the draft game on the trades board curious what you guys would think of netting him

Wall, Favors, Turner, Cousins, Monroe, Aldrich, Al Farouq Aminu and Wes Johnson were off the board

[jazzfan1971]

Jimmy: It was a decent pick based on who was gone. It was very disappointing to see the Clippers take Aldrich considering they have Kaman and Jordan at the position allready.

But, I won't be surprised to see Aldrich go #8 in real life... Stupid coin flip.

Personally, I think Davis is too much duplication of Millsap and Boozer. We allready have 2 6'8" PFs on the roster and I believe that the Jazz will resign Boozer. Should they go another direction the pick makes more sense as Davis would be an excellent backup to Millsap or perhaps even a starter in time.

I would have gone bigger myself. With Okur out for most of next year I would have taken a flier on Whiteside. He has pretty large bust potential, I'll grant that. But, like they always say, you can't coach size. His combination of size, length, and athleticism is would be too much for me to pass on for Davis.