The second to the last pick in the first round goes to the Utah Jazz.
They are represented by:

   David Palmer .

David uses the 28th pick to select:

   Tom Kleinschmidt, SG, 6-5.  DePaul.

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Utah Jazz

The Utah Jazz probably have two more tries to win a title in the John 
Stockton-Karl Malone era.  They have reached the Western Conference 
finals, but have yet to make the NBA finals.  Next year looks like it 
could be their best shot yet.  This year they might have had enough to 
beat Houston in the final game of their series had Felton Spencer not 
been injured.  The Jazz' offense used to be very uncreative and 
predictable when Karl Malone was the lone inside threat, and Jeff Malone 
the lone threat outside.  Coach Jerry Sloan took a lot of criticism for 
this one-dimensional offense.  But this year they were able to take the 
pressure off of Karl Malone to a greater degree than ever in the past.

Positions:

POINT GUARD - John Stockton is the all-time NBA leader in assists.  Here
the only concerns are finding quality minutes from someone else in order
to rest Stockton, and finding the point guard of the future.  During the
year, they went to John Crotty a lot, but in the playoffs, rookie Jamie
Watson spelled Stockton.  He had more size to defend the Rockets' guards,
and he probably figures into the Jazz' future plans more than Crotty.  

SHOOTING GUARD - Jeff Hornacek has provided the outside threat the Jazz 
so desperately needed (Jeff Malone had 18-foot range, no deeper).  He's a 
consistent scorer driving to the basket, a good passer, and a persistent 
defender.  He can play the point as well as many NBA point guards.  Here, 
again, the concern is to find a quality player, who is a serious scoring 
threat, to back him up.  Right now the Jazz have Watson and Blue Edwards, 
neither of which seem to be consistent scoring threats, and neither is 
spectacular from 3-point range.  

SMALL FORWARD - David Benoit plays this position for the Jazz.  He is an 
incredible athlete who improves every year.  He rebounds and defends 
well, and shoots adequately from outside.  He is often the one left open 
when Karl Malone gets double-teamed, and when Hornacek is guarded 
closely.  During the regular season, he made many teams pay for doing 
this, but when it counted against the Rockets, he couldn't come through.  
I think this reflects a lack of self-confidence that has always been 
holding Benoit back to some extent.  Benoit also needs to work on 
ball-handling and creating opportunities for himself by driving.  Backing 
him up here are Adam Keefe, Blue Edwards and Bryon Russell.  Keefe was 
a particularly important acquisition for the Jazz last year.  He turned 
out to be a good rebounder, and was very good at cutting to the basket 
and making himself available when Malone was double-teamed.  The Jazz 
would probably be able to win a title if they could get all-star caliber 
(or near that) play from this position.

POWER FORWARD - Backing up the Mailman are Tom Chambers, Antoine Carr, 
and occasionally Adam Keefe.  Chambers gives them offense and some fouls 
to give.  Carr was a surprise this year.  Not only did he play the solid 
defense that the Jazz expected of him, but he was able to play decent 
offense as well.  Carr was extremely important when the Jazz played teams 
with good centers.  He was the most effective (or least ineffective?) 
defender against Olajuwon in the playoffs.  Carr and Chambers also had to 
play a lot of center after the injury to Felton Spencer.

CENTER - There's only a few teams in the NBA that don't need a better
center, and the Jazz aren't one of them.  But the year before last, Felton
Spencer began to come into his own, and played quite well offensively, and
adequately defensively.  He's slow and doesn't have great hands for
catching Stockton's sharp passes, but he's got a huge body, uses it well
in the low post, and works hard.  With Spencer in, teams take a risk when
they send their two biggest defenders after Karl Malone.  Next year, if he
can stay healthy, he should be a relatively effective second-tier center
in the NBA, leaving the Jazz much better off at that position than some
teams.  After Spencer went down, the Jazz used journeyman James Donaldson,
as well as Carr and Chambers. 

Selection:  Tom Kleinschmidt, Depaul.  Of the players available, the one
that could probably help the Jazz most in the next two years is Tom
Kleinschmidt.  The Jazz' two biggest needs are for more offense from the 2
and 3 positions (especially off the bench), and for more outside shooting
generally.  Kleinschmidt showed at the Desert Classic that there is
probably no better outside shooter in the draft, and he seems to have the
desire to work to improve his game.  The Jazz might instead draft the
player with the greatest "up-side," looking toward the post-Stockton and
-Malone era, but I decided to draft based on who might help most
immediately.  I was hoping Brent Barry would fall this far, but I don't 
expect him to in the real draft, either.

Others Considered - (based on those available)

Tyus Edney, UCLA.  Tyus could prosper learning from Stockton, who is also
small, and who also didn't have much of an outside shot when he came into
the league. 

Donnie Boyce, Colorado - This great athlete could become a steal if he 
overcomes his severe injury and reaches his potential.  Perhaps too many 
question marks for a team as close to the top as the Jazz.

Lawrence Moten, Syracuse - A very talented player who seems to have a 
great knack for scoring.  I passed on Moten only because of 
Kleinschmidt's superior outside shooting, which is a big weakness of the 
Jazz' bench.

Jimmy King, Michigan - I've always been impressed with King's ability to 
drive to the basket and create his own shot.  And King seems to have the 
potential to rise to considerably greater heights, especially if he 
learns to shoot consistently from outside.  

Eric Williams, Providence - Comes highly recommended, but I haven't seen
him play, and the Jazz already have two athletic small forwards on their
bench. 

Sadly, this draft appears to be very shallow at center.
 
The Jazz are, or should be, desperate to put together a supporting cast 
for Malone and Stockton that can take them all the way.  They may be one 
solid free agent (a scoring small forward) away.  Maybe certain risks 
are in order...Anthony Mason?  Kendall Gill?  etc.

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