Jazz Draft: The Recent History of the 16th Overall Pick

Most of the annual NBA Draft allure is due to the flashy picks within the lottery from one to fourteen, but some of the league's better talent to ever step on the floor have been taken outside the lottery. A perfect example being the pick right after the lottery seeing two Finals MVPs in Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kawhi Leonard within just the past 15 years!

With the right scouting and development, these mid-first-round picks can eventually become just as good, if not better to their lottery counterparts. In today's case, we'll look at how well the 16th-overall has fared in recent drafts. This could even gauge the type of player prestige we expect the Utah Jazz to possibly find during their selection this year.

Thanks to last offseason's massive trade involving Rudy Gobert, the Jazz now own the unprotected rights to the Minnesota Timberwolves' selection for 2023. This will be in addition to their other two existing firsts, their own as well as the Philadelphia 76ers', tying them for the most first rounders in the draft with three.

With this, let's take a look into the last three 16th overall picks from 2020 to 2022 across the league to set some light expectations for the incoming Jazz rookie.

2022 NBA Draft: AJ Griffin, Atlanta Hawks

After being a part of the 2022 Duke Final Four roster, AJ Griffin was one of the more impactful bench pieces on the entire Atlanta Hawks' roster this season. He established himself to be a staple part of the rotation, playing 72 games averaging over 19 minutes per.

During the 2022-23 regular season, Griffin put up averages of 8.9 points, 2.1 rebounds, and shot 39% from beyond the arc. Despite these early flashes of success, not only was he left off of the recently released All-Rookie teams, but was also snubbed out of the rotation for all five of the Hawks' playoff games this season.

Griffin will look to make an improved impact for Atlanta next season entering his sophomore season. Considering the track record Duke first round picks have had in the NBA, it's not hard to envision him as a steady rotational piece for years to come.

2021 NBA Draft: Alperen Şengün, Houston Rockets

Şengün is just one of the many up-and-coming players of this young Houston Rockets core, and he may just be one of the most appealing. Considering some early and hefty comparisons to Nikola Jokic this early in his career, taking a closer look into what he provides as a player may be wise.

He's a smaller center standing at 6'9, but offers an extensive offensive arsenal. Providing the rare combination of scoring, shooting (still a slight work-in-progress, but improving), and playmaking in a big, Şengün is one of the most interesting young centers in the NBA. He's coming off the 2022-23 season averaging 14.8 points, 9 rebounds, 3.9 assists, just under a block and a steal per game; all while shooting 55% from the field.

The Rockets have struggled to translate this success to their overall win total for the past two seasons, the 2023-24 season could be a year of change considering a new coaching hire and a turbulant Western Conference. If I were to make an early prediction now, Şengün could be a prime breakout candidate or Most Improved Player winner come next season.

2020 NBA Draft: Isaiah Stewart, Detroit Pistons

A productive center when he plays, but may be more recognized for his past altercation with LeBron James than his on-court play. Regardless, Isaiah Stewart has established himself as an important part of the Detroit Pistons. He started in over half of the team's games last season before getting ruled out for the season in February.

Stewart took a jump in scoring production averaging the most points he has in his career. However, his defense ended up falling off a bit with his defensive rating jumping from 112 to 118 and averaging less than a block per game this season. That's something he's been able to do in his first two seasons with less playing time and starts, but couldn't do it this year.

It'll be interesting to see how Stewart's fit will look with the Pistons next season considering both his return from injury and the extensive depth this team has at center. Things could get even more difficult for him if the Pistons end up getting Victor Wembanyama to swallow up even more of his playing time.

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