SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Jazz took the buzz out of the NBA Draft for their fan base Wednesday by trading away their first-round pick for a much-needed top-tier point guard.
Most fans were happy to take that trade-off, considering standout point guard Mike Conley is Utah-bound.
But after that and some more last-minute wheeling and dealing, the Jazz didn't end up selecting for Memphis after all. The Grizzlies traded up to the No. 21 spot with Oklahoma City, according to multiple reports, to nab Gonzaga's Brandon Clarke. Utah then picked 6-foot-9 forward Darius Bazley — an Ohio athlete who trained on his own this past season to prepare for the draft — for the Thunder at No. 23 overall.
The Jazz also had a couple of surprises in the second round.
First, Utah traded with Indiana to move up three spots to select Charleston's Jarrell Brantley. The Jazz then took Hofstra's Justin Wright-Foreman with their No. 53 pick and, just as everyone was Googling those two, the organization acquired one more player, Yale's Miye Oni, by buying the 58th pick from Golden State, according to ESPN.
Brantley is a 6-foot-7 forward who averaged 19.4 points and 8.4 rebounds his senior season. He finished in the Top 10 in school history for points, rebounds and steals.
The 6-foot-2 Wright-Foreman was the second-leading scorer in the nation last season, averaging 27.1 points per game.
Oni is a 6-foot-6 guard who averaged 17.1 points, 6.3 rebounds and 3.6 assists for the Bulldogs. He's the first Ivy League player to be drafted by an NBA team since 1995.
Brantley, Wright-Foreman and Oni will likely play for the Jazz's summer league team at the Salt Lake City event and in Las Vegas in July.
The Jazz reportedly will give Indiana a future second-round pick in exchange for picking Brantley up at No. 50. It's unknown how much the team will play the Warriors for Oni.
Utah will fill its roster during the free-agency period after sending veteran guard Kyle Korver, power forward Jae Crowder, second-year guard Grayson Allen and two first-round picks — Bazley and a future protected selection — to the Grizzlies in exchange for the talented Conley.
Bazley originally committed to play for Syracuse and then came close to playing for the SLC Stars in the G-League, but ultimately decided to train on his own for a year in preparation for this draft. As the Deseret News' Eric Woodyard reported, Bazley filled part of the time by taking a three-month, $1 million internship with New Balance.