You’re probably not as tall as Cody Williams.
The new Utah Jazz player, 10th pick in this year’s draft, is 2.03 m tall. If you, the person reading this column, happen to be as tall as Williams, I bet your wingspan can’t match his 7-foot-8.
But, according to the latest US statistics, it’s relatively likely that you weigh more than Williams: the teenager weighs just 178 pounds.
I tell you this not to have you evaluate your size, but because, period, Williams is one of the skinniest players we’ve ever seen in an NBA draft. And Williams’ weight is a microcosm of the Jazz’s draft stock and even their overall standing as a franchise. Right now, the Jazz are simply in development mode: They have some tools, sure, but they absolutely must strengthen the rest of their roster to compete with the rest of the NBA.
Let’s take a look at what happened — and what didn’t happen — on the first day of the NBA Draft.
Two promising projects
It’s true that Williams and 29th pick Isaiah Collier are both players the Jazz have been watching for a very long time. Williams, ranked as the fifth-best player in the 2023 high school class, led his team to the Arizona 6A state title. Collier was even more beloved: He was the top prospect in his high school class, winning MVP at countless major prospecting events.
However, during their first few years of college, both struggled to live up to the hype.
Colorado forward Cody Williams, left, is congratulated by guard KJ Simpson after being fouled on a dunk during the first half of the team’s NCAA college basketball game against Milwaukee, Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2023, in Boulder, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Williams just hasn’t contributed as much as expected in Colorado. His stats tell the story of a hesitant player. His low rebound rates, disappointing block and steal numbers, and declining shooting numbers (was he protecting his three-point percentage for the draft?) frustrated Colorado fans who expected immediate greatness . He was particularly passive during the Pac-12 Conference tournament.
Collier, meanwhile, looked like an error machine at USC. The turnovers were unforgivable. The outside shot was exceptionally streaky. The defense was lackadaisical on and off the ball. The new collegiate level seemed too difficult, not to mention the difficulties the NBA would bring.
What you think of Williams and Collier depends a lot on how much you trust these difficulties. Williams, a former point guard before a growth spurt, may have simply made way for his more experienced teammates. He dealt with a mid-season wrist injury, a late-season ankle injury and even a facial injury that forced him to wear a mask for part of the season. Of course, he didn’t play at his best as his mobility and confidence were impaired.
I tend to lean towards Williams, thanks to his technical brilliance that is so valuable at the NBA level: his exceptional ball touch, his dribbling ability, his interior and perimeter passing, his defensive footwork and his length. That’s why I was hoping the Jazz would draft him 10th overall.
Collier also had two injuries last year that could have hampered his production, a knee injury early in the year and a broken hand in January. He could have stopped everything and probably been drafted higher, but he came back showing courage. USC was a bit of a circus last year, with Bronny James and Boogie Ellis also fighting for time at the position, and the team’s bigs weren’t great.
Southern California guard Isaiah Collier drives the ball up the court during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Cal State Bakersfield, Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Ryan Sun)
I’m less optimistic here, largely because the margins are slimmer for the leaders and for those who make loud mistakes. Staying in an NBA rotation is easier for a 2.08m player who changes direction and contributes little than a 2.04m point guard who misses shots, passes and defensive assignments. But if Collier’s potential is there, he might have a better chance of being a high-scoring All-Star, and I think he’s a reasonable bet late in the first round in a bad draft.
Regardless, I expect both players to spend a lot of time in the G League this season — given their collegiate performances, neither is really ready to contribute in the NBA from day one, in my opinion. Additionally, no NBA team has been more aggressive with first-round picks in the G League than Utah.
Transactions not completed
The hours leading up to the NBA draft are typically a busy trading season, but we’ve only seen two trades involving current NBA players. The first saw the New York Knicks acquire Mikal Bridges for five first-round picks (four of which were unprotected), a pick swap, and Bojan Bogdanovic. The second saw the Blazers acquire Deni Avdija from the Wizards for two first-round picks, two second-round picks, and Malcolm Brogdon.
Both Bridges and Avdija are players the Jazz are interested in, even before their most recent spurts of improvement. But in the end, it’s such a high price for both players – truth be told, I think both buying teams overpaid about two draft picks each.
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) A sign advertises a sale up to the 10th pick on NBA draft night at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, June 26, 2024.
The fact that the trades happened anyway reveals a truth about the NBA trade market right now: It’s a seller’s market, not a buyer’s market. This is especially true with two-way contributors, the kind of players around whom Danny Ainge and then Brad Stevens built the Celtics’ championship run. While it would be fun for the Jazz to go “big game hunting”, even mid-level game currently consumes a prohibitive amount of shotgun shells.
Perhaps that changes as the NBA calendar year progresses and the Jazz can become a team that accepts big contracts in their cap space, much like they did last year with the John Collins trade. But it’s at least as likely that buyers will continue to bid up the price on young talent contributing to the league, which would make sense for the future of the Utah Jazz.
Unrelatedly, the Jazz also passed on all trades on the first day of this year’s draft. General manager Justin Zanik said once the draft fell the way it did — especially with surprising picks at No. 5 and the early 20s — the team knew it wasn’t necessary to get the players they liked.
Based on Zanik’s post-draft press conference, it appears they gave more thought to the possibility of trading number 29 for one of the “many calls” they received once players started to fall at the end of the first round. But management’s modeling, Zanik said, indicated the team was likely to get more value by simply taking the best remaining player on their roster at number 29, which turned out to be Collier. The approach is logical.
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Fans attend NBA draft night at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, June 26, 2024.
Another bit of Zanik’s interview stood out: when he called his team next year a “young development team.” There’s no doubt they are that as it stands, but whether they’ll keep that status for 2024-25 wasn’t necessarily a given based on what Ainge said at the end of the season.
Currently, the Jazz plan to have seven players on their NBA roster to play in summer league. Third-year center Walker Kessler will give it another shot, the Jazz say — a move that could give him confidence and a chance to try new things in low-stakes games. All three second-year players (Keyonte George, Taylor Hendricks and Brice Sensabaugh) are expected to play. And finally, the Jazz expect Williams, Collier and whoever they draft at No. 32 to participate as well. Newly promoted assistant coach Sean Sheldon will coach the team.
Overall, I think Wednesday’s first round of the 2024 NBA Draft was a very good night for team management. It’s also a night that shouldn’t change the team’s outlook for the 2024-25 season, but perhaps it will for years to come.