Jazz top SI list of best draft steals

By all indications, the Jazz's selection of Deron Williams in this year's draft was a major accomplishment. The critics are awarding high marks.

But even if the Jazz hadn't moved from the No. 6 to No. 3 spot, there are people who think they would have done fine anyway. It's true the team's draftees in recent years haven't exactly inspired sonnets.

But some experts say the Jazz have always been draft-savvy.

Forget Jose Ortiz and Luther Wright. Think Andrei Kirilenko.

The impetus behind this column was the release of Sports Illustrated's list of all-time NBA Draft bargains. The list doesn't include the likes of Magic Johnson and Hakeem Olajuwon; everyone knew they would be great. Rather, it includes the best draft deals of all time.

According to S.I., the greatest bargain-basement deals ever wheeled included John Stockton and Karl Malone.

In selecting Stockton at No. 16 in 1985, Utah pulled off what the magazine considers the finest draft-day theft in history. Malone, picked 13th the following year, is viewed as history's second-best pick.

"It was a legendary heist," says the magazine.

"Talk about striking gold," S.I. continues. "Despite picking 16th and 13th overall, in consecutive years, the Jazz somehow parlayed the selections into two of the finest players ever to play at their positions.

"Malone was a diamond in the rough who remains the standard for every project the NBA has ever drafted: a brilliant athlete who was never satisfied until he worked himself into the best basketball player he could be, which was good enough to be the league's third (sic, second) all-time leading scorer."

Actually, the Jazz influence doesn't stop there. Former center Mark Eaton is rated the 14th-best draft bargain ever, after being selected by the Jazz at No. 72 in 1982.

"Taken nine spots behind stick-figure curio Chuck Nevitt, Eaton developed into a sturdy NBA force, highlighted by the manner in which he flustered Kareem Abdul-Jabbar during the '88 playoffs," says the magazine.

Jeff Hornacek, whom the Jazz had the good sense to trade for in 1994, ranks the seventh-best steal of all time. Phoenix took him at No. 46 in 1986.

In spite of the Jazz's more dubious picks, such as Ortiz, Wright and Quincy Lewis, the team isn't mentioned on another important S.I. list: the 20 worst draft busts of all time. That list is led by Sam Bowie — Portland's selection in 1984, rather than Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley and Stockton.

However, Todd Fuller, who played 42 games for the Jazz late in the late '90s, is considered the 18th worst draft pick ever. He was selected 11th by the Warriors in 1996.