Jazz Wagon Fact Of The Day April 9, 2007

While the Utah Jazz are mainly focused on the up coming NBA Playoffs, some of the front office is preparing for the NBA Draft. I am a draft junkie and one of my favorite places to find great draft nuggets is from the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament. The PIT is set up for "border line" NBA talent. You will not see Oden or Durrant here, but every year there seems to be someone who steps up and becomes a solid NBA Pro. Some of the players who have played in the PIT and made a name in the NBA include:

Rick Barry
John Lucas
Scottie Pippen
Ben Wallace
Cuttino Mobley
Avery Johnson
Ronnie Price

The Utah Jazz have had some luck with players from the PIT. Jazz players who started at the PIT:

John Stockton
Derek Fisher
Andre Owens
Shandon Anderson
Howard Eisley
Milt Palacio
Mikki Moore

Not to shabby. So who looked good this year? I would keep my eyes on two players, Rashad Jones-Jennings and Gary Neal.
Jones-Jennings is a 6'8" "Milsapie" forward from AR-Little Rock. He averaged 12.5 pts and 13.1 rebs during the tournament. Neal is a 6'4" guard from Towson. He led the league in scoring averaging 25.3 pts per outing. Look for the two names in the up coming draft.