Utah Jazz Select Duke Standout in Latest NBA Draft Prediction

The Utah Jazz did not have the fortune in their favor for this year's draft lottery to land the number-one overall pick for the draft to select this year's top prospect in Duke's Cooper Flagg.

Instead, the Jazz fell much further down the board than they would've hoped, dropping to the fifth-overall pick, sliding out of the aspired top-three range, and now have to get a bit more creative in their draft process.

A tough reality for the Jazz and fans alike. But, with those new results in mind, could it lead to Utah selecting Flagg's Blue Devil teammate instead?

In the eyes of Yahoo! Sports' Kevin O'Connor, that could very well be the route Utah ends up going with.

O'Conner recently put together his newest mock draft outlining how the first round could inevitably go around the league, and for the Jazz, he pinned Duke's Kon Knueppel in as the selection.

"It’s a major blow to the Jazz to fall four slots, especially this year when there’s no obvious pick here that fits the remainder of the roster," O'Connor wrote. "But if the Jazz stay put, Knueppel makes some sense since he brings more than just a sharpshooter’s stroke, thanks to his brainy pick-and-roll playmaking and crafty scoring feel. Pairing him with the existing young backcourt plus Lauri Markkanen at forward works because Knueppel can simply fit with anyone. There could be some untapped upside in him, too, since he’s got a slick midrange bag and strength scoring inside. To become a player who takes over games, though, he’ll need to overcome his average athleticism."

Of course, Knueppel doesn't jump off the page like any of this year's top three to four prospects do, but with what Utah has to work with for their fifth-overall pick, there's a chance the Duke sharpshooter could be worth a decent look in the event the Jazz stick and pick.

During his last season at Duke, Knueppel averaged 14.4 points, 4.0 rebounds, and 2.7 assists while shooting over 40% from three across 39 games as a strong piece in the Blue Devils' eventual Final Four run. He's not quite to the level of Flagg, but will find his way into conversations of being a top-ten pick.

Perhaps for the Jazz, they may like what he brings to the table at number five.

The Jazz definitely have a lot of holes to patch: defensively, fine-tuning their ball security and turnover woes, finding their future number-one on a championship team, etc. Knueppel isn't a surefire fix to any of the above, but as a long-term piece to implement into Utah's plans, he has an extremely versatile fit, and could easily find his way into an early, impact player, thanks to his dynamic offensive ability and standout shooting.

Keep an eye on Knueppel for the Jazz as we near closer to next month's 2025 NBA Draft, kicking off on Wednesday, June 25th in Brooklyn, NY.

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