2018 NBA Mock Draft: Time for the Final Four

Donovan Mitchell is not the rookie of the year, but he will be an All-Rookie first-teamer and get the opportunity to lead Utah into the playoffs. His stats are incredible: .434/.339/.821 shooting with 20.3 points and 3.6 assists per game in his first season. Mitchell was drafted in the late lottery but has looked like one of the best young players in the game as a rookie.

But as we saw when Gordon Hayward had the same opportunity with the Jazz, certain roster problems disadvantage the Jazz in a way that makes it difficult for a single star to pull their offense. Utah plays two bigs most of the time, and their egalitarian system opens up the floor for different guys each possession, meaning Ricky Rubio, Joe Ingles and the bench will need to step up in the offseason if the Jazz are going to make a run. It hasn’t happened yet.

That’s what makes a prospect like Bates-Diop so appealing for Utah. He is a combo forward who was built to score points in the NBA, with a smooth jump shot on the move or stationary in the post and off the catch. He is a smooth driver like Mitchell, and sees the game well on offense. The two would play well off one another.

And Bates-Diop’s combination of length and quickness would be perfect for Quin Snyder on defense, perhaps allowing the Jazz to finally play smaller if Snyder trusts his forwards defensively.