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The night when he boldly acquired a top-10 pick in the NBA draft, Utah Jazz general manager Dennis Lindsey also chose Rudy Gobert.
No other snapshot of Jazz history illustrates the uncertainty of picking players quite like Lindsey's first night in charge of the franchise's draft operation in June 2013. He was celebrated for moving up to No. 9 and taking point guard Trey Burke. Lindsey then landed another first-round pick and grabbed Gobert at No. 27 in a move that was treated as an afterthought in comparison to Burke's arrival.
Burke would be traded for practically nothing in return three years later. Gobert is a finalist for the NBA Defensive Player of the Year and Most Improved Player awards (to be presented Monday) and looks like an anchor of the franchise for years to come.
That's the lesson going into Thursday night's draft: Predicting what teams will do is tricky, and so is knowing what they've done — even after they do it.
Lindsey deflects credit for discovering Gobert, saying that if he was so smart, he should have moved up to No. 1 and taken the French center. He also knows he missed on Burke, so some degree of humility is merited.
Lindsey's draft opportunities this year resemble his position in 2013. The Jazz then owned the Nos. 14 and 21 picks, which they traded to Minnesota for No. 9. In this case, they have the Nos. 24 and 30 (last) picks in the first round and two second-round choices. Having multiple picks brings into play all kinds of possibilities in a league in which several teams already have made trades this week.
The Jazz's draft strategy is complicated because there's no way of knowing if they will be able to re-sign two valuable players who are free agents: forward Gordon Hayward and point guard George Hill. Whether via trade, the draft or some combination, the Jazz have to impress Hayward about their future or pre-emptively compensate for losing him. Yet if Hayward and Hill stay in Utah, the Jazz will have payroll issues that make guaranteed contracts for two first-round picks a bit unwieldy.
That's why they're believed to be considering international players such as Latvian center Anzejs Pasecniks and German forward Isaiah Hartenstein, who could remain in Europe for a year or two.
If they package a player with their two first-round picks, the Jazz could move up to about No. 12 and take the likes of Louisville guard Donovan Mitchell or Gonzaga center Zach Collins.
Locally, forward Kyle Kuzma hopes to extend the University of Utah's run of first-round picks to three years, following Toronto's selections of Delon Wright and Jakob Poeltl. Lone Peak High School graduate Frank Jackson, who played one season at Duke, missed pre-draft workouts due to foot surgery. He still is considered a borderline first-rounder. BYU's Eric Mika, also a Lone Peak grad, Utah State's Jalen Moore, a Sky View grad, and Weber State's Jeremy Senglin are unlikely to be drafted but should have free-agent opportunities.
So it will be a fun night for basketball fans in Utah. Social media will be the main method of monitoring their reactions Thursday because this summer's renovation of Vivint Smart Home Arena precludes any Jazz draft party.
Fans watching the draft telecast in the arena four years ago were described as "giddy" about the pick of Burke, who became just another of the 11 starting point guards the Jazz have employed since trading Deron Williams in 2011.
Personally, I've eaten my words praising Burke that night. I'm relieved that I also endorsed the choice of Gobert, saying that acquiring him from Denver for the No. 46 pick and $3 million "sure seems like another bargain, considering it's not my money."
ESPN.com this week ranked Gobert one of the top players ever taken in his draft slot, although he hasn't matched the exploits of the all-time best 27th pick, Dennis Rodman.
The Jazz didn't stage a draft party last June because a convention occupied the arena. That became a prescient decision when the team traded its first-round pick the day before in a three-team deal. The Jazz acquired Hill, a veteran who solved one of their biggest personnel issues — temporarily, anyway.
Twitter: @tribkurt —
NBA Draft
When • 5 p.m. Thursday
Where • Barclays Center in Brooklyn
Utah Jazz picks • No. 24, No. 30, No. 42, No. 55