The rebuild is well ahead of schedule in Salt Lake City. After trading away franchise cornerstones Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert before the start of the season, a surprisingly resilient Utah Jazz team led by rookie coach Will Hardy finished the year 37-45.
Finnish big man Lauri Markkanen led the team with 25.6 points per game in a breakout season as he won the NBA's Most Improved Player award. Alongside him, Jordan Clarkson averaged a career-high 20.8 points per game this year.
The big question mark this summer revolves around Clarkson, as the Jazz guard will likely decline his player option and test the free agency market.
Utah currently has significant cap space, so resigning Clarkson should not be an issue assuming he does not wish to continue his career elsewhere.
Along with a healthy amount of cap space, the Jazz also have three first-round picks in the 2023 NBA Draft: selections number 9, 16, and 28. This gives Utah the flexibility to trade one or more of these picks for established talent or stockpile young talent for the future.
Assuming the Utah Jazz keeps its 28th overall pick, this is who they should select.
Andre Jackson is perfect fit for Jazz in NBA Draft
1) He gives them improved defense at the wing position
The Utah Jazz ranked 23rd in the NBA in defensive efficiency during the 2022-23 season.
Rookie block machine Walker Kessler held down the front court along with Jarred Vanderbilt, but Utah's backcourt defense was quite atrocious.
Jordan Clarkson and Collin Sexton both had Defensive Ratings of 120, putting them in the bottom 10 percent of all NBA players.
Andre Jackson was a linchpin on a UConn defense that finished top 10 in Ken Pomeroy’s defensive efficiency ratings. He was second on the Huskies in defensive box plus-minus, trailing only seven-foot shot-swatter Donovan Clingan.
He offers the quickness and size (6-6) to defend multiple positions, a must given the amount of switching required by NBA defenders. Jackson's 39.5-inch vertical also allows him to sky above taller players and secure rebounds.
In the words of The Ringer's Kevin O'Connor, Jackson has “got that dog in him.”
2) He provides a secondary playmaker for Utah's scorers
After the front office traded Mike Conley to the Minnesota Timberwolves, Utah was left without a true point guard. Collin Sexton and Jordan Clarkson shared playmaking duties, but both are more scorers than providers.
Smart money says the Jazz take a point guard using one of their two earlier picks — Arkansas' Anthony Black and Kentucky's Cason Wallace are the primary options. Another ball-handler takes the pressure off this rookie point guard.
Jackson is a playmaking wing who is lethal in the fast break. During UConn’s National Championship run, Jackson averaged 6.8 assists per game while committing just 1.7 turnovers per game.
With accomplished scorers like Lauri Markkanen and Jordan Clarkson around him, Andre Jackson can continue to be a glue guy operating as a second distributor — as he did at UConn.
3) An improved three-point shot elevates his game to the next level
The Utah Jazz need three-point shooting, as the team finished 20th in the NBA in three-point percentage last year.
And it's no secret that Jackson's three-point shooting is a weakness. He hit 28.1% of his three-pointers last year while attempting 2.5 shots per game from deep.
Yet even without a jump shot, Jackson is a potential first-round pick who can play right away.
At the NBA Combine, Jackson hit 16 of 25 threes while scouts and NBA executives watched on. Jackson doesn't need to be an elite, high-volume shooter, but the value of his floor spacing will be immense if he can consistently hit three-pointers at a moderate clip.
Utah will likely draft or trade for a shooter using either of its first-round picks, meaning that any spacing the team gets from Jackson is an added bonus.
Big turnout of NBA executives to see UConn's Andre Jackson at the Roc Nation Pro Day at the NBA draft Combine tonight. pic.twitter.com/I3NuD8VzOy
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) May 16, 2023
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