The Utah Jazz are bad.
At 0-6, the Jazz are the only winless team left in the NBA this season, and they’ve lost their first six games by an average of nearly 19 points. We could go on with more stats to describe how bad the start has been, but that should suffice.
Perhaps the best news for the Jazz — and their fans — is that the college basketball season is slated to begin Monday. That means it is time to start evaluating prospects whom the Jazz could select in the 2025 NBA Draft.
The consensus top pick at this point — and it will be a challenge for anyone to supplant him — is Duke freshman Cooper Flagg, who has talent that doesn’t come along very often.
Listed at 6-foot-9 and 205 pounds, Flagg is great on both ends of the floor. He has a relentless motor on defense and can dribble, pass and shoot on offense.
But what if the Jazz don’t end up with the No. 1 pick despite all the losing they’re primed to do this season? Who are some other prospects to watch?
Here’s a look at four to keep a close eye on who are unanimously listed in the top 10 of seven major mock drafts analyzed, plus a list of all others who appeared in the top 10 of at least two of the mock drafts. Players are listed in alphabetical order.
Airious “Ace” Bailey
Wing, 6-foot-10, 200 lbs., Rutgers, freshman: A player with as much upside as anyone in the class because of his functional athleticism and skill, Bailey is a great shotmaker, although one critique of him as been that he takes too many tough shots. A very common comparison for Bailey is Tracy McGrady.
VJ Edgecombe
Guard, 6-foot-5, 180 lbs., Baylor, freshman: Extremely athletic guard who can jump, get to the rim and take contact, as well as make shots. Already considered a top prospect, Edgecombe played for the Bahamas over the summer in Olympic qualifying and wowed while sharing the court with players already in the NBA.
Dylan Harper
Guard, 6-foot-6, 215 lbs., Rutgers, freshman: Yes, you read that correctly. Both Bailey and Harper will be freshmen at Rutgers this season as the Scarlet Knights came out of nowhere to land the two elite prospects (Harper is from New Jersey). The son of longtime NBA role player Ron Harper, Dylan Harper has great size for a point guard (his dad played a lot of point guard in the league) and is known as a smart playmaker. Some question if his lack of athleticism will hurt him.
Nolan Traore
Guard, 6-foot-4, 180 lbs., France: Fans in the United States might not be able to follow Traore quite as closely in the coming months since he opted to stay in his native France instead of playing college ball or for a larger international club (his club team is Saint Quentin, the city where longtime Jazzman Rudy Gobert grew up), but he’s widely projected to be a top five pick next June thanks to being an elite point guard prospect.
Other prospects to watch (players listed in alphabetical order):
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Egor Demin, BYU.
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Hugo Gonzalez, Real Madrid (Spain).
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Kasparas Jakucionis, Illinois.
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Tre Johnson, Texas.
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Kon Knueppel, Duke.
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Khaman Maluach, Duke.
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Liam McNeeley, UConn.
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Drake Powell, North Carolina.
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Ben Saraf, Ratiopharm Ulm (Germany).
