2019 NBA Draft: Full Mock Draft 2.0, Atlanta Hawks Pick #4 and #10, Lakers Win Lottery

#23. Utah Jazz – Kevin Porter

Throughout much of the season, Kevin Porter out of USC was regarded as a late-lottery pick or mid-first round selection in the 2019 NBA Draft. Recently, however, Porter’s stock has fallen, and he is regarded by Tankathon as only the fifth-best shooting guard prospect in the draft behind Culver, Herro, Langford and Alexander-Walker.

Still though, for such a vaunted prospect, the Utah Jazz would feel as if they’d won a lottery of their own with the 23rd overall pick in the draft – similar to when they were able to land Donovan Mitchell in the 2017 Draft thanks to an ill-fated trade the Nuggets made to give up Mitchell.

One area in which the Jazz struggled in their swift series against the Houston Rockets in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs was on offense and especially shooting  the ball. Though the team had one of the greatest shooters of all time in reserve, Kyle Korver, he just could not stay on the floor defensively.

If the Jazz drafted Porter, he would be able to serve as a change-of-pace ballhandler when Mitchell doesn’t want to handle, and he could stay on the floor on defense due to a 6-foot-5½, 22-pound frame and a +4 wingspan. A good shooter (41.2 percent from deep), means he would also provide always-important spacing to Utah’s offense.