Jazz Predicted to Draft Dynamic PG by Two Major NBA Mocksters

The Utah Jazz will be getting closure on where their lottery selection will end up 10 days from now. Landing at the No. 9 spot is essentially a coin flip, with a 50.7% chance of happening.

As draft day draws nearer, it appears that the most recent mock drafts from two major media outlets are projecting Arkansas point guard Anthony Black headed to Salt Lake City with the No. 9 pick overall.

Let’s take a look at what these NBA pundits are saying about the potential first-round pick of the Jazz.

CBS Sports

“Black is a lead guard with great size who is a gifted passer and nice pick-and-roll playmaker. If he ever develops a reliable jumper, All-Star Game appearances could be in his future.” —Gary Parrish

For The Win | USA Today

“Anthony Black is a swiss-army-knife prospect and prospects with his blend of size, playmaking, and defensive ability tend to hear their name called early in the draft. Black was also able to draw more total shooting fouls (80) than all high-major guards except just Judah Mintz, per CBB Analytics. The biggest hole in his game is his shooting, the encouraging news is that his jump shot isn’t necessarily broken. Although the SEC All-Freshman point-forward shot only 30.1 percent on 3-pointers, he got his shot to fall when he was open. Black was 18-for-48 (37.5 percent) on his uncontested shots from beyond the arc, per AI-Powered statistics provided by Stats Perform, and 16-for-34 (47.1 percent) on shots from the NBA distance” — Bryan Kalbrosky

Black is a high-ceiling prospect that would give Utah the positional size that Jazz CEO Danny Ainge is looking to transition into moving forward. How much the Jazz front office likes Black is unknown, but Ainge offered some clues on what they’ll be looking to improve in his end-of-season press conference.

“We weren’t a very good shooting team at the end of the year," Ainge said. “We had a lot of injuries that contributed to that. But like Will said in his press conference—we need to get better defensively. I think those are the two focal points.”

On the defensive side of the ball, it doesn’t get much better than Black in terms of upside. Having the size to guard four positions while playing the point guard spot is something the Jazz have never had.

As far as his shooting, Utah would be betting that Black isn’t a finished product. But if perimeter shooting does become Ainge’s priority, there could be a nice option when Utah is picking at No. 16.

UConn shooting guard Jordan Hawkins is projected to be available in the middle of the first round and is regarded as the best pure shooter in the 2023 draft class. Hawkins shot 38.8% from long distance while averaging 16.8 ppg this past year in helping to vault UConn to a National Championship. His skill set has drawn comparisons to current Jazzman Jordan Clarkson.

Although Black is the player considered with more upside, Hawkins would have a better chance of contributing in year one. The Jazz will get a better grip on who they’ll be targeting after the NBA Lottery takes place on May 16.

Follow Inside The Jazz on Facebook and Twitter.

Subscribe on YouTube for breaking Jazz news videos and live-stream podcasts!