SALT LAKE CITY — Justin Wright-Foreman let a three-letter word describe his emotions late Thursday night.
“Wow,” the 6-foot-2 guard tweeted.
After hearing his named called as the 53rd overall pick in the second round for the Utah Jazz in the 2019 NBA draft, he was floating on cloud nine.
“My emotions are high right now,” Wright-Foreman told The New York Post in a phone interview following the draft. “I’m going to be the hardest-working person when I get there.”
The back-to-back Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Year was the NCAA’s second-leading scorer at Hofstra University last season, averaging 27.1 points per game, but will likely fulfill a different role in Utah if he’s able to stick.
“He can score at all three levels, he’s had to have a big load,” said Jazz general manager Justin Zanik. “Obviously, as he transitions into the NBA, that’s not the role that’s going to be available to him early.
“If he can grow into that, great, but he can make shots,” Zanik continued. “He can make open shots, he can create for himself and any time that you can acquire those types of qualities — whether it’s guards, wing, big — you want to be able to go after it.”
Utah’s lone first-round pick at No. 23, which ended up being former McDonald’s All-American Darius Bazley, got dealt to Oklahoma City as part of the Mike Conley Jr. trade with Memphis.
In addition to selecting Wright-Foreman at No. 53, the Jazz also acquired the rights to the 50th and 58th picks of the second round to get College of Charleston’s Jarrell Brantley and Miye Oni from Yale.
All three players are expected to participate in summer league action, according to Zanik.
Like Utah Jazz rising star Donovan Mitchell, Wright-Foreman also hails from New York. The Queens native left Hofstra as the program’s second all-time scorer with 2,327 career points.
He was the only New York City player to be picked in this year’s draft after pushing through 14 pre-draft workouts, including one in Utah, and putting together an impressive four-year run at a mid-major college that he hopes will carry over into the big league.
“I heard my name and it was crazy,” Wright-Foreman said to The New York Post. “It’s an emotional moment. Nobody knows what I’ve been through, all the late nights in the gym, staying there until 1 a.m., staying there until 2 a.m. To see it pay off is so relieving. But I know I have more to do.”