At first glance, the picks seem perfect, and most sports writers have tended to agree.

Ronnie Brewer is a large shooting guard, a good defender, and a great scorer, though not necessarily the lights out shooter that the Utah Jazz were hoping to pick up in J.J. Redick.  Most sports writers had Brewer higher on the draft board than Redick, so time will only tell whether Orlando made a mistake in picking up the Duke star rather than going after Brewer.

Dee Brown is the old teammate of Deron Williams, the Jazz’s starting point guard, when they made a run in the NCAA Tournament that ended in a loss to North Carolina in the final game.  If nothing else, it gives Deron Williams a reason to stay with the Jazz for quite some time.  At the most, the lightning quick but undersized shooting guard will be able to spell Williams at the point and make some waves as a backup at the shooting guard position.

Paul Millsap, though undersized for the power forward position, led the NCAA in rebounding for 3 consecutive years.  In most statistical categories, being good in college does not necessarily translate to being good in the pros, but rebounding is one of those categories where good rebounders tend to remain good rebounders.  With Jerry Sloan as the coach, he is certain to continue to get good playing time if he continues to rebound.

Second round picks don’t normally have a great shot of making the NBA team that drafts them for any real length of time, if they make it at all, but look for Brown and Millsap to join Brewer for many successful years for the Jazz and in the NBA.

No related posts.