The Jazz took 19-year old, 6’6″, 195 pound shooting guard Alec Burks with the 12th overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft last night.  Burks played in 38 games for Colorado last year and he averaged 31.4 minutes, 20.5 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.1 steals per game.  He played in 68 games in his two years in college and he averaged 30.9 minutes, 19.0 points, 5.8 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.1 steals per game.  Shooting guard has been a Black Hole offensively for the Jazz for quite some time and they are hoping that Burks is the right guy to make them forget all about that.

The Utah Jazz took 19-year old, 6’10″, 255 pound center Enes Kanter with the 3rd overall pick in the 2011 NBA Draft.  Kanter sat out last season at Kentucky because he was ruled inelgible due to making $33,000 bucks in Turkey the year before.  Kanter last played back in 2008-09 in Turkey.  He played in 9 games that year and he averaged 10.9 minutes, 2.7 points, 4.2 rebounds and 0.1 assists per game.  Kanter is a big time talent and the Jazz couldn’t pass him up.  He will give Al Jefferson a break whenever he needs one in 2011-12, but the Jazz are hoping that he will be their starting center in the near future.

The fact that the Utah Jazz are trying to deal PG Devin Harris gives a little foreshadowing at who they are looking to pick with the #3 overall pick on Thursday Night.  It seems as if PG Brandon Knight of Kentucky is the guy the Jazz are targeting with their first pick on the night.  The Jazz also hold the #12 overall pick and it will be very hard for them to pass on SG Jimmer Fredette out of BYU, if he’s available.  I think that Knight and Fredette would be a nice haul for the Jazz on Thursday Night.  I look for them also to try to add another first round pick in the trade market (Devin Harris and Paul Millsap reportedly are available).

The Jazz have picked 22-year old forward Jeremy Evans with the 55th overall pick of the NBA Draft. Evans played in 34 games for Western Kentucky last season and he averaged 10.0 points, 6.9 rebounds, 0.7 assists and 1.8 blocked shots per game. He played in 134 games in college in which he averaged 7.9 points, 5.9 rebounds, 0.5 assists and 1.7 blocked shots per game. Evans’ defense might earn him some P.T. off the bench for the Jazz next season.

The Jazz have picked 20-year old small forward Gordon Hayward with the 9th overall pick of the NBA Draft. Hayward played in 37 games (all starts) at Butler last season and he averaged 15.5 points, 8.2 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.1 steals per game. He played in 69 games (all starts) in his two years with Butler and he averaged 14.4 points, 7.4 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.3 steals per game. Hayward will likely be coming off the bench as a rookie with the idea that he could fill Kyle Korver’s shoes as instant offense off the bench.

The Utah Jazz will likely be looking for a center and a small forward in tomorrow night’s NBA Draft. Mehmet Okur might not be ready for the 2010-11 season to start so Cole Aldrich or Greg Monroe would be an excellent fight on the Jazz at #9 if they are available. If the Jazz get one of those big men they will likely take the best player available at #55. Normally playoffs teams don’t pick this high so the Jazz can’t afford to miss on the #9 pick tomorrow night.

The Jazz got outscored 30-21 in the fourth quarter and they didn’t play much D as the Nuggets shot 50.7% from the floor and those were the two biggest reasons for the loss in Denver last night. Deron Williams led the way for the Jazz with another outstanding game last night with 34 points, 4 rebounds and 10 assists. Carlos Boozer was also outstanding for the Jazz last night with 25 points, 16 rebounds and 1 assist. Paul Millsap stuffed the stat sheet again with 16 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 3 blocked shots off the bench. Wesley Matthews pitched in with 15 points in 39 minutes. The Jazz are still up 3-2 in this series and they will look to close out the Nuggets in Game #6 in Salt Lake City.

The Utah Jazz selected 23-year old PF Goran Sutton with the 50th pick in the NBA Draft. Sutton is a big guy at 6’10″, 245 pounds and he’s a four year college player just like the Jazz like to draft. Sutton played in 135 games at Michigan State and he averaged 8.0 points, 6.6 rebounds and 1.6 assists per game. The Jazz will likely go slow with Sutton because they have a lot of quality depth in the frontcourt.

The Utah Jazz selected 22-year old point guard Eric Maynor with the 20th pick of the NBA Draft last night. Maynor is a polished playmaker having played 4 years of college ball. He played in 130 games at VCU and he averaged 15.0 points, 3.4 rebounds, 5.2 assists and 1.3 steals per game. Maynor will have to learn how to play off the bench because Deron Williams isn’t going anywhere soon for the Jazz.

The Jazz took another player from outside the United States with their 2nd pick in the 2nd round of the NBA Draft. Dragicevic is 6’9″, 222 pounds but he’s not really a power player. He has played in 28 games in the pros overseas and he averaged 13.3 points, 4.4 rebounds and 0.8 assists per game. This is another player that the Jazz will have to be patient with.