Utah Jazz: Hansbrough is popular Jazz mock draft pick

With the NBA Draft Lottery now in the books, updated opinions on whom the Jazz may take in the first round of the June 25 draft pepper the Internet.

And they're all over the board.

The Jazz's choice comes 20th overall in the draft, whose No. 1 overall selection — seemingly bound to be University of Oklahoma power forward Blake Griffin — was won by the Los Angeles Clippers in Tuesday night's lottery for non-playoff qualifiers.

Memphis will pick second, followed by Oklahoma City, Sacramento and Washington.

Many of the mock drafts — which, it should be noted, are frequently mocked by NBA scouts and general managers — appear to be influenced at No. 20 by the summer free-agency status of the Jazz's two power forwards, starter Carlos Boozer and backup Paul Millsap.

Millsap is a restricted free agent and Boozer, a two-time NBA All-Star, is eligible to opt out of the final year of his current deal.

Popular projected picks for the Jazz include both senior power forward Tyler Hansbrough of the national-champion University of North Carolina Tar Heels and DeJuan Blair, a power forward from the University of Pittsburgh who could be gone before they get a chance to pick.

Here's what some mock-draft authors are saying about Utah, with their guesses for the Jazz in parenthesis:

— ESPN.com's Chad Ford (Hansbrough): "It feels like destiny for Hansbrough to end up in Utah. His tough, blue-collar game should work really well for Jazz coach Jerry Sloan. And with the Jazz likely to lose either Boozer or Millsap, or both, they'll probably have a need at the 4."

— ProBasketballNews.com's Tony Mejia (Hansbrough): "The Jazz have a lot of questions to answer during this free agency period, so expect them to go with the player who best fits the philosophy of the organization and be able to help immediately. Yeah, Hansbrough playing for Sloan before he hangs it up seems fitting."

— RealGM.com's Christopher Reina (Duke shooting guard Gerald Henderson): "Henderson is incredibly smooth and sound in just about every facet of the game. He is a little small and underwhelming to be anything more than an average NBA shooting guard, but would be a valuable fit for the way Utah plays."

— SI.com's Ian Thomsen (Pitt small forward Sam Young): "(Young is) a tough, athletic worker who doesn't shy away from the paint — sounds like a Jerry Sloan guy, especially if they need to replace free agents Boozer or Millsap in the frontcourt."

— SportingNews.com's Sean Deveney (Blair): "The Jazz are in danger of losing all their big men this summer. Blair would, at least, help offset that."