Barring any trades, the Utah Jazz will own only one pick in the entire 2021 NBA Draft on July 29. And assuming the current league-leading team in Salt Lake City finishes strong across its remaining regular-season slate, the franchise’s lone selection will be one of the last few in the first round.
Therefore, the chances are slim of snagging an instant gem this go-round. However, there does exist a two-year Duke basketball star who should be on Utah’s draft radar as a possible treasure down the road. That player is Matthew Hurt, a former five-star recruit from Minnesota.
Now, we’ll examine four reasons, one at a time, why Hurt could serve as an ideal choice for the Jazz…
Following a delay that had some Duke basketball fans feeling somewhat optimistic about Matthew Hurt returning as a junior to build on his All-ACC First Team sophomore campaign, he announced on April 14 his decision to both declare for the NBA Draft and hire an agent.
While many mock drafts continue to designate Hurt as a second-rounder, his stock appears to be on the rise a smidge since officially putting his name in the mix. In fact, as of Sunday, widely respected CBS Sports insider Gary Parrish sees the 2021 ACC Most Improved Player going No. 28 overall to the Los Angeles Clippers.
In other words, it’s certainly reasonable to view the 21-year-old as worthy of a late first-round pick. Plus, there’s a decent probability that Hurt will still be available when Utah is on the clock.
current league-leading team</a> in Salt Lake City finishes strong across its remaining regular-season slate, the franchise’s lone selection will be one of the last few in the first round.</p>
<p>Therefore, the chances are slim of snagging an instant gem this go-round. However, there does exist a two-year Duke basketball star who should be on Utah’s draft radar as a possible treasure down the road. That player is <a href=https://thejnotes.com/2021/04/28/utah-jazz-4-duke-basketball-matthew-hurt/"https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/players/matthew-hurt-1.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener" ref="nofollow">Matthew Hurt</a>, a former five-star recruit from Minnesota.</p>
<p>Now, we’ll examine four reasons, one at a time, why Hurt could serve as an ideal choice for the Jazz…</p>
<h2>Why the Utah Jazz might draft Matthew Hurt: Potential availability</h2>
<p>Following a delay that had some Duke basketball fans feeling somewhat optimistic about Matthew Hurt returning as a junior to build on his All-ACC First Team sophomore campaign, he announced on April 14 his decision to both declare for the NBA Draft and hire an agent.</p>
<p>While many mock drafts continue to designate Hurt as a second-rounder, his stock appears to be on the rise a smidge since officially putting his name in the mix. In fact, as of Sunday, widely respected <em>CBS Sports</em> insider Gary Parrish sees the 2021 ACC Most Improved Player going <a href=https://thejnotes.com/2021/04/28/utah-jazz-4-duke-basketball-matthew-hurt/"https://www.cbssports.com/nba/news/2021-nba-mock-draft-cade-cunningham-is-no-1-jalen-suggs-goes-no-2-but-margin-is-thin-among-top-five/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">No. 28 overall</a> to the Los Angeles Clippers.</p>
<p>In other words, it’s certainly reasonable to view the 21-year-old as worthy of a late first-round pick. Plus, there’s a decent probability that Hurt will still be available when Utah is on the clock.</p>
<p>So on that note, let’s look at Hurt’s Jazz-esque attributes…</p>
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<h2>Why the Utah Jazz might draft Matthew Hurt: Fits the mold</h2>
<p>First, here’s how Gary Parrish perfectly summed up the draft outlook for Matthew Hurt this week:</p>
<blockquote><p>“Whether evaluators like Hurt or not comes down to what they focus on — the things he can do or the things with which he struggles. But almost any 6-9 forward who made 44.4% of 5.3 attempts from beyond the arc for a program like Duke deserves serious consideration as a first-round prospect.”</p></blockquote>
<p>His struggles center on his athleticism, or more accurately, his lack thereof. Yet what Hurt clearly offers is high-IQ decision-making to go along with a hard-to-guard shooting stroke. Furthermore, as reiterated here below, he’s displayed humility and a willingness to improve on his shortcomings.</p>
<p>Right about now, beloved veteran <a href=https://thejnotes.com/2021/04/28/utah-jazz-4-duke-basketball-matthew-hurt/"https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/i/inglejo01.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener" ref="nofollow">Joe Ingles</a> ought to pop up in the minds of Utah Jazz followers (we’ll expound on Hurt’s similarities to Ingles and another active Jazzman here in “Reason No. 3”).</p>
<p>Not only did Hurt lead the ACC in scoring last season at 18.3 points per game, but he also showed a high degree of commitment and perseverance by returning to Durham in the first place. After all, he had often found himself in Duke basketball head coach Mike Krzyzewski’s doghouse — aka on the bench — down the stretch of his freshman year.</p>
<p>Hurt packed on about 20 pounds in the offseason, though, before proving as a sophomore to have the necessary strength and toughness to absorb blows in the paint against ACC bruisers. As a result, almost all of his stats underwent a significant boost.</p>
<p>Sure, the 2020-21 Blue Devils were a disappointment, finishing 13-11 overall and missing the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1995 despite five former McDonald’s All-Americans on the roster. That said, there’s no doubt Hurt was among the squad’s few bright spots; without his consistent production, there’s just no telling how depressing the season would’ve become.</p>
<p>Moving on…</p>
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<h2>Why the Utah Jazz might draft Matthew Hurt: Aging veterans at his position</h2>
<p>Inspecting the Utah Jazz’s primary nine-man rotation this season, one should notice that three key components will be either 33 or 34 years old by this time next year. Two of those three are stretch forwards in Joe Ingles and <a href=https://thejnotes.com/2021/04/28/utah-jazz-4-duke-basketball-matthew-hurt/"https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/b/bogdabo02.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener" ref="nofollow">Bojan Bogdanovic</a> (the third is guard Mike Conley).</p>
<p>Considering neither Ingles nor Bogdanovic is a freak of nature in the athleticism department as it is, folks might imagine both are on the verge of either retiring or moving at a dangerously slow pace within the next few seasons. Consequently, it seems Utah ought to be on the lookout for guys who might be capable of fulfilling a similar role to those two current double-digit scorers.</p>
<p>Enter Matthew Hurt. He possesses a confident trigger from deep. His deft jab-step fakes and subsequent silky fadeaways — from all distances — are a thing of beauty that should translate to the pro level.</p>
<p>In terms of ballhandling and passing, he’d potentially be on par with Bogdanovic, at least after a year or two adjusting to the pace in the NBA. And although Hurt may never match Ingles in this regard, it definitely wouldn’t hurt for him to learn a thing or two from watching the savviness of “Slow-Mo Joe” nowadays as a remarkably reliable fill-in point guard.</p>
<p>As for defense and rebounding, well, as is the case with both Ingles and Bogdanovic, these aspects of Hurt’s game will probably always have to be just a work in progress.</p>
<p>Finally, let’s ponder the wildcard nugget that could make Hurt an attractive option for the Utah Jazz come draft night…</p>
<div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #00265D" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://thejnotes.com/2021/04/28/utah-jazz-4-duke-basketball-matthew-hurt/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Reason No. 4 </a>
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<h2>Why the Utah Jazz might draft Matthew Hurt: The Duke basketball connection</h2>
<p>It’s safe to say no Blue Devil faces have been duds in Salt Lake City. <a href=https://thejnotes.com/2021/04/28/utah-jazz-4-duke-basketball-matthew-hurt/"https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/b/boozeca01.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener" ref="nofollow">Carlos Boozer</a>. <a href=https://thejnotes.com/2021/04/28/utah-jazz-4-duke-basketball-matthew-hurt/"https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/h/hoodro01.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener" ref="nofollow">Rodney Hood</a>. <a href=https://thejnotes.com/2021/04/28/utah-jazz-4-duke-basketball-matthew-hurt/"https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/a/allengr01.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener" ref="nofollow">Grayson Allen</a>. <a href=https://thejnotes.com/2021/04/28/utah-jazz-4-duke-basketball-matthew-hurt/"https://www.basketball-reference.com/coaches/snydequ01c.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener" ref="nofollow">Quin Snyder</a>.</p>
<p>To begin with, here’s a brief summary of the three Duke basketball alums to have ever laced ’em up for the Utah Jazz:</p>
<ul>
<li>Boozer was a two-time All-Star in Utah (2007 and 2008)</li>
<li>Hood was a double-digit scorer for a Jazz bunch that reached the Western Conference Semifinals (2016-17)</li>
<li>Allen was a fairly promising rookie in his lone season with the franchise that drafted him No. 21 overall (2018)</li>
</ul>
<p>Of course, Snyder is in his seventh year as the Utah Jazz head coach and has guided the franchise to playoff appearances in all but his first two seasons on the job. At the moment, the 54-year-old boasts a 315-228 overall record in regular-season action. Moreover, given the current group’s 44-17 record, he’s in the NBA Coach of the Year discussion.</p>
<p><strong>ALSO READ:</strong> <a href=https://thejnotes.com/2021/04/28/utah-jazz-4-duke-basketball-matthew-hurt/"https://thejnotes.com/2021/04/02/utah-jazz-quin-snyder-candidate-duke-job/">Quin Snyder may soon become a top candidate for the Duke job</a></p>
<p>Speaking of Snyder, he played for Mike Krzyzewski at Duke (1985-89). The same goes for all of the listed Blue Devils above in addition to Matthew Hurt.</p>
<p>Also, Snyder became a member of Krzyzewski’s staff (1993-99).</p>
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<p>Needless to say, the shared Coach K tutelage — not to mention the relative success of Dukies as Jazzmen — should count for something if Hurt remains on the board when it comes time for Utah to make its selection at the 2021 NBA Draft.</p><!—pageview_candidate—>">