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The Utah Jazz are coming off a 2022-23 campaign where they shocked the masses with a far better-than-anticipated success rate. Despite having offloaded their two franchise cornerstones Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert and parted ways with long-tenured head coach Quin Snyder during the summer bleeding into the year, this youth-movement squad finished with a record of 37-45 and fell just three wins shy of a play-in slot.
Now, with a franchise cornerstone seemingly already established in Lauri Markkanen, the Jazz will look to continue bolstering the supporting cast around their All-Star big. As is the case every year, the most cost-efficient way of going about trying to accomplish such a task is by means of the NBA Draft.
With their playoffless season, Utah finds itself in possession of the ninth overall selection in the upcoming festivities, thus allowing the franchise to get a crack at any number of this year's top-flight lottery-worthy talents.
However, though they're in a sound position to nab a promising young name to develop alongside the club's fellow prospects, making the right choice when it comes to player selection is going to be absolutely crucial.
Without a doubt, there are a bevy of sneaky-good options GM Justin Zanik could end up pursuing during the 2023 NBA Draft, but when it comes to the subject of who the club may want to avoid, there are three prospects, in particular, who should steer clear of.
NBA Draft prospect No. 1) Nick Smith Jr., PG — Arkansas
As noted earlier, the Utah Jazz already seem to have their frontcourt covered in the talent department with the likes of Lauri Markkanen leading the charge, so, naturally, the front office may wish to round out the roster by pursuing more help for their backcourt.
To many, Nick Smith Jr. is viewed as a highly intriguing option for guard-needy clubs to have on their radar in the mid-to-late lottery. And while the Jazz certainly fall into these aforementioned categories, perhaps they may want to look elsewhere when it comes to committing to such a task.
Coming off an injury-plagued one-and-done season at Arkansas, the 19-year-old showed flashes of brilliance throughout his tenure, but also showcased a myriad of red flags. Perhaps the most vibrant of them all proved to be his inefficient scoring touch and his limited play-making abilities.
Playing in just 17 games, Smith went on to post 12.5 points, 1.7 assists, 1.6 rebounds, and coughed up 1.6 turnovers while shooting highly underwhelming splits of 37.6% from the floor, 33.8% from deep, and 74.0% from the charity stripe.
In this modern era of basketball, offensive efficiency and a deep bag of abilities are all the rage and the Arkansas guard struggled mightily in these particular areas.
Considering the Jazz were one of the better offensive units in the association last season, ranking ninth in offensive rating and seventh in points, there's an argument to be made that they're equipped to help mask some of Smith's inabilities on the more glamorous side of the ball.
However, when it comes to such a high-end pick, Utah should be more focused on adding players that could help complement and further their play style rather than worry about whether they can hide the areas of a player's game that simply don't mesh.
Nick Smith Jr. is without question an interesting prospect heading into this draft, but his services may be best utilized outside of Salt Lake City.
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NBA Draft prospect No. 2) Ausar Thompson, G — Overtime Elite
Another hyped-up incoming youngster who has shown concerning levels of efficiency on the offensive end is Ausar Thompson of the Overtime Elite.
Though displaying an obscene amount of athleticism within his game, the other half of the Thompson twin duo is a player who heavily relied on his interior and mid-range play as opposed to his outside shot.
For a wing at the next level, this could be a serious problem.
It's not just necessarily with his shot efficiency but his shooting mechanics at the root, which is only furthered by his egregiously putrid free throw percentage of 66.2%.
During his lone season with Overtime Elite, Thompson went on to post solid count stats of 16.3 points, 6.1 assists, 7.1 rebounds, 2.4 steals, and 1.1 blocks through 16 games played. However, he did so while converting on 29.8% of his long-range attempts on 3.8 shots and giving up 3.3 turnovers a night.
His inefficiencies in the scoring department look to be major concerns for a majority of clubs looking to acquire his services, and, despite his name recognition, should make the Jazz highly skeptical of taking him at number nine when considering they just finished off the season ranking in at a middling 19 overall in shooting percentage and 20 in long-range percentage.
NBA Draft prospect No. 1) Cam Whitmore, F — Villanova
Unlike the other two players mentioned on this list, Cam Whitmore has actually proven himself to be a quality and competent shot-maker. Through 26 game during his one season at Villanova, the tweener-forward boasted shooting percentages of 57.8% from two-point range, 34.3% from beyond the arc, and 47.8% from the field as a whole.
Along with these numbers, he would also sport averages of 12.5 points, 5.3 rebounds, and 1.4 steals.
Frankly, the concerns with Whitmore's game do not truly fall in the scoring department. Instead, in complete contrast to the two aforementioned talents, his playmaking has proven to be a serious eye-sore for spectators and scouts to witness.
Not only does he seemingly have tunnel vision when it comes to his passing abilities, boasting an astonishingly bad 6.4 assist percentage, but also in his shot creation game as the vast majority of his scoring came off of assists.
Unless he can develop an off-dribble move or an improved passing game, Cam Whitmore will without a doubt be a highly limited forward at the next level.
Limitations are not a quality that the rising Jazz should be hoping to add with their highly valuable selection.
