“You don’t know if you’re gonna get a Steph Curry, you don’t know if you’re gonna get a Draymond Green” - Former NBA champion on teams following the Warriors by building through the draft
Kendrick Perkins said Steph Curry and Draymond Green's success has influenced teams to play the long game in building around draft picks. He cited the Utah Jazz’s offseason as an example.
However, Perkins said:
“You don’t know if you’re gonna get a Steph Curry. You don’t know if you gonna get a Draymond Green. You don’t know if you gonna get a Klay Thompson.”
Waiting for a Steph Curry-type draft pick could hurt teams more than help them
Due to the dominance seen from Steph Curry’s Warriors since 2015, teams have started to put more faith into building through draft picks.
As Steph, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green were all drafted by Golden State and never left, winning four championships together, the league took note.
Right now, it seems that the Utah Jazz are the first on that ballot.
Releasing Rudy Gobert and opening up trade talks for Donovan Mitchell made people believe the Jazz are beginning a rebuild. The two helped the franchise make six straight playoff appearances (five with Mitchell).
They were given an "A" grade for their offseason moves. However, Kendrick Perkins and ESPN's "NBA Today" panel believe that the grade is too high.
Perkins said:
“I just feel like the, Jazz in my opinion – losing a three-time Defensive Player of the Year – I wouldn’t of given them an 'A.' … I just don’t see how they got an 'A.'”
Ridding themselves of Gobert opens cap space for Utah and keeps their future clear for new stars. But Perkins believes that strategy could end up hurting the team.
The panel spoke about how the 'A' grade is not feasible, as the grade should reflect the moves they made to better themselves for the next season. What the Jazz did was keep themselves open for future picks and stretch out a long rebuild. Perkins said fans do not want to wait around for a long-term rebuild, they want to see immediate impacts.
Losing Gobert gives the Jazz a negative immediate impact, and as a result, Kendrick and company discredited the grade.
Curry, the No. 7 pick in 20009, became one of the game's greatest players ever. He never left Golden State, showing the rest of the league that waiting around for those players is worth the investment. Thompson was the No.11 pick in 2011 and Green was a flyer of a pick, chosen No. 35 in 2012.
Yet, players like Curry and Green do not come around often, and waiting too long for players, culture and chemistry to develop may hold the Jazz back.
Utah seems to be targeting younger players who can offer their city a long-term dedication, but when or if that happens, it is hard to tell.