Utah Jazz: Draft hopefuls would love to play for Utah

NEW YORK — Utah is the only team in the lottery that made the postseason last year. On the eve of draft night in New York City, that was a fact not lost on players that figure to be on the Jazz's radar.

"They are very close to an NBA title," said North Carolina big man Ed Davis. "Utah is a first-class organization. Everybody wants to play for Utah."

A 2004 trade with the Phoenix Suns landed the Jazz a future New York Knicks first-round pick, and today the future has arrived. The result is that Utah, a team that has made the playoffs the last four seasons and reached the second round in the 2010 playoffs, is in the rare position to add top young talent to an already-strong core.

The Jazz are already where the rest of the lottery teams want to be, and for some draft prospects with a win-now mentality, the thought of playing for Utah is intriguing.

"It's in the back of your mind a little bit," said Butler swingman Gordon Hayward. "I think everybody wants to go to a winning team."

Hayward was not alone in his sentiments about the organization.

"They shouldn't even be in the lottery, but they got the trade a couple years ago, and it's great for them," said Nevada swingman Luke Babbitt. "It'd be great to go there."

The Jazz have had as many names connected to them as any team. Along with Davis, Hayward and Babbitt, the Jazz have shown interest in Greg Monroe, Cole Aldrich, Ekpe Udoh, Al-Farouq Aminu, Patrick Patterson and Xavier Henry. All nine of those players will be at the draft tonight here in New York City.

The nine players have also all made the trip out to Utah for workouts and had positive feedback for the organization.

"I was impressed with the camaraderie and the chemistry," Patterson said. "They all get along with each and every person on the staff, down to the interns."

There was a mentality in Utah that players could feel in the workouts.

"You step into a winning environment in Utah," said Udoh.

The cornerstones to the Jazz's recent success have been point guard Deron Williams and power forward Carlos Boozer. While Boozer's future with the team is up in the air, Williams will be the floor general next season, and the possibility of playing with him has a few players giddy at the prospect.