Magic President Jeff Weltman Shares 'Full Circle' Moment with Jett Howard
ORLANDO - Orlando Magic president Jeff Weltman's relationship with Jett Howard goes back to before he was born.
Weltman was the assistant general manager of the Denver Nuggets in 2003. That same year, Jett Howard's father, Juwan, played for the Nuggets. Jett's mother, Janine, was pregnant with him while his father played in Denver.
Twenty years later, their relationship came full circle when Orlando selected Jett with the No. 11 pick in the NBA Draft on Thursday.
"I was with the Denver Nuggets many, many years ago, and Juwan was playing for us, Janine was pregnant," Weltman said. "And I never connected the dots. That's [Jett] who she was pregnant with. Talk about full circle, the relationships that really make up this business. You know, I've talked about it before, but that's what this, that's what this league is about. That's what this world is about."
In his lone season at Michigan, Jett averaged 14.2 points per game, leading the team in 3-pointers with 78. Even with a strong freshman season, Weltman feels like the 6-foot-8 guard is only scratching the surface after playing through an injury for most of the season.
"We believe that there's more to Jett than he showed," Weltman said. "He's obviously young and has only played a year in college, but more importantly, we feel like a lot of what he was going to show the second half of the season was masked with injury."
While time will only tell if Jett pans out for the Magic, Weltman knowing of him 20 years ago makes the life-changing moment every NBA player once dreamed of even more special as their relationship comes full circle.
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