Draft is all about potential

If Jazz owner Larry H. Miller had his way, the NBA's rookie age minimum would be 22.

Not gonna happen. Even Miller realizes that.

"At least 20," he said. "I think 20 is realistic."

That's probably not going to happen, either. At least not if the NBA Players Association has its way.

But there could be some sort of compromise — say, no 18-year-olds are eligible to be drafted, or all draftees are required to be at least a year removed from high school graduation.

Until then, Miller sees two things happening.

One: "I think we're really headed for problems," he said. "I don't think these kids can get ready, emotionally, for what the NBA is going to throw at them."

Two: "You have to go . . . with what's available," Miller said. "We can't be the lone boys in the wilderness."

That's right: As long as they are available, and as long as everyone else is doing it, too, the Jazz will continue to consider drafting kids who never so much as set foot on a college campus.

No matter what they think of the practice.

On the opposite end of the spectrum is this reality: There is a dearth of college seniors from whom to select.

Both assertions hold true Thursday, when Utah just may use one of its three first-round selections on a virtual child.

A whopping eight Americans who never attended college should go in the first round: Atlanta power forward Dwight Howard, either No. 1 overall to Orlando or No. 2 to Charlotte; a couple of point guards, likely lottery pick Shaun Livingston of Peoria, Ill., and Brooklyn high school legend Sebastian Telfair, who already has a multimillion-dollar shoe contract; two shooting guards, Dorell Wright, a Californian who prepped in Connecticut, and New Jersey native J.R. Smith; small forward Josh Smith, a Georgia native who played his senior season for Virginia hoops power Oak Hill Academy; and two more big men, Mississippi's Al Jefferson and Californian Robert Smith.

Spurned along the way are the schools to whom these kids originally committed, including Duke (Livingston), Louisville (Telfair), DePaul (Wright), Indiana (Josh Smith), Arkansas (Jefferson) and USC (Robert Smith).

Figuring Howard and Livingston both are long gone by the time they pick first at No. 14, the Jazz have been keeping close tabs on the rest.