The Utah Jazz finished the 2024-25 season with a 17-65 record, the worst in the NBA. They were rewarded for their efforts by sliding in the NBA Draft lottery. Utah slipped four spots, walking away with the fifth overall pick while the Dallas Mavericks vaulted to the top selection. However, the Jazz are one of seven teams with two first round picks to use on June 25. Will Hardy’s team already has an All-Star talent in Lauri Markkanen, but most of the roster is still yet to be determined.
Throughout the season, the Jazz handed the reigns over to their young players. Keyonte George enjoyed a career-high year as a scorer while Walker Kessler averaged a double-double across the 58 games he played in. Despite that, Utah was the worse defensive team in the league, giving up 121.2 points per game.
While there are some trade rumors circling around the Jazz, their star has said that he wants to stay in Utah. Markkanen signed a 5-year, $238 million extension last summer, committing to the team. With him under contract for the next four seasons, it is up to the front office and general manager Justin Zanik to build a Western Conference contender around him. For a team in one of the smallest markets in the league, the draft is a big part of that process.
Markkanen, George, and Kessler are the core of the team’s long term plans. With that in mind, here are three players that the Jazz should avoid with the 5th and 21st picks.
Oklahoma G Jeremiah Fears
In his first and only season in Oklahoma, Fears almost single-handedly carried the Sooners into the NCAA Tournament. The point guard led his team in scoring, assists, and steals while playing more than 30 minutes a game. That heavy a workload and responsibility forced the 18-year-old to grow up fast. He finished the season strong, but the UConn Huskies sent him home in teh first round of March Madness.
Fears can straight up score the basketball, that much is apparent. He topped 20 points in 12 of his 31 games as a freshman, including 31 against #15 Missouri. Those efforts, combined with his draft combine performance, have teams like the Brooklyn Nets interested in him. However, he is not on the same level as the premier prospects in this year’s class. If the top four picks in the draft go as expected, the Jazz will have their pick of Khaman Maluach, Tre Johnson, and Kon Knueppel, along with Fears.
Looking at the team’s depth chart, Utah already has their backcourt of the future in George and Isaiah Collier. They also have veterans to hold down the rest of the guard minutes in Collin Sexton and Jordan Clarkson. With Markkanen staying for the long haul, the Jazz could hang on to all four this summer, leaving little opportunity for Fears to get real playing time.
Illinois G Kasparas Jakucionis
When examining this year’s draft class, Kasparas Jakucionis and Egor Demin are two of the hardest prospects to evaluate. Both players bring great size to the guard position and are offensive-minded players. Jakucionis led a balanced attack for Illinois that saw them get to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Jakucionis embraced his role as a playmaker throughout the year, notching a double-double in a first round win over Xavier. The 6-foot-6 point guard also scored 20 or more points in almost a third of his games. Offensively, he can bring a lot to whatever team selects him in the lottery. However, scouts point to his defense as a major weakness.
Illinois fans were upset when Jakucionis made the tough decision to declare for the NBA Draft. Some experts were surprised as well, believing he should have stayed in college for another year to work on his defensive skills. Jakucionis’ size and lack of strength make him a walking target in a Western Conference full of talented guards and wings. On a team with enough poor defenders already on the roster, the Jazz could decide that he is not worth the offensive upside.
Michigan F/C Danny Wolf
Danny Wolf transferred from Yale to Michigan last summer. After experts questioned if his numbers would translate from the Ivy League to the Big 10, Wolf silenced them emphatically. He led the Wolverines to a Big 10 championship and a Sweet 16 appearance in the NCAA Tournaments. His numbers remained the same across the board, but he played one of the more unique roles in the country as his team’s pseudo-point guard.
Wolf had a unique path to the NBA Draft, but it worked out for the seven-footer. He is expected to be picked later in the first round. His skillset is unlike any player in his range, making him a perfect swing-for-the-fences pick for a team looking for upside. As a point-forward, Wolf will not have to change who he is when he starts playing in the NBA.
Similarly to Jakucionis, though, Wolf’s problem lies on the defensive end of the floor. He and Vladislav Goldin shared the front court at Michigan, but Wolf was routinely blown by on the perimeter. In an ideal world, the Jazz want a player who can play alongside every combination of Markkanen, Kessler, and Kyle Filipowski. If Wolf is not the center in those lineups, they could suffer severely. He simply is too much of a liability on defense for Utah to ignore when deciding where to go with the 21st pick.
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