Jazz Have Good Options With 30th Pick Per Draft Expert
Jul 1, 2021, 5:31 PM
(Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The Utah Jazz season is over and it’s time to turn all attention to the offseason, including the NBA Draft.
With just four weeks until the draft arrives, we sat down with Yahoo Sports’ Krysten Peek who both covers the NBA and the NBA Draft to discuss the close to the Jazz playoff run, some names they should keep an eye on in the draft, and Utah State big man Neemias Queta.
You can watch the podcast in the player below, or subscribe to the link at the bottom of the page.
Draft Options For The Jazz
The Jazz own the 30th pick in the July 29 draft and will have plenty of names to choose from when looking to add depth to the experienced roster.
Peek discussed a few players that could be options for the Jazz late in the first round:
Quintin Grimes – Guard: Houston
Peek: “Coming out of high school, Q was a five-star prospect. He was a McDonald’s All-American, he was at the top of his game. After a disappointing year at Kansas, then not playing well at the combine, Grimes had to go sit out a year at Houston, then he was AAC Player of the Year this year and he came back to the combine with a lot of confidence.”
Bones Hyland – Guard: VCU
Peek: “A lot of teams were looking at him and their eyes were just getting bigger and bigger because when they see him they see a lot of Ja Morant in his game — a lot of Immanuel Quickley in terms of a smaller guy, only 6’3 and 170 pounds, but can play really well and make all the right reads.”
Sharife Cooper – Guard: Auburn
Peek: “He’s about 6’1, but he’s a great point guard and a great playmaker. Another five-star prospect coming out of high school and has a little bit of swagger to him and has a chip on his shoulder.”
Trey Murphy III – Forward: Virginia
Peek: “He’s more of a two-three wing but I think he’s got a lot of room for improvement at the next level. I think the NBA game caters to him more than the college game. The college game is more structured, and he’s more of a free-flowing wing off the dribble and he has a great first step.”
Draft Stock Rising For Neemias Queta
Utah State big man Neemias Queta was one of the big winners coming out of the combine. The former Aggie struggled in 2019 after declaring for the draft and decided to return to college to work on his game.
Neemias Queta is already working his way up NBA draft boards.https://t.co/W3XnvbTlOA
— KSL Sports (@kslsports) June 25, 2021
The gamble has paid off as big one developed into one of the best defenders in the country with a shot of getting drafted in the first round.
Peek: “A lot of teams will say to me, ‘KP, keep him out of the first round. We really like him,’ because they don’t have a first-round pick, so there is going to be interest there. I think his personality is great and I know he did well in the team interviews.”
You can listen to Peek’s full conversation on the Jazz, the draft, and Queta in the player above, or subscribe here.