Utah Jazz take Baylor guard Jared Butler with 40th pick in NBA draft after trade

Baylor guard Jared Butler cuts down the net after the championship game against Gonzaga in the men’s NCAA college basketball tournament, Monday, April 5, 2021, at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Baylor won 86-70. | Darron Cummings, Associated Press

Baylor guard Jared Butler is headed to Utah.

The Jazz drafted Butler with the 40th pick in the 2021 NBA draft on Thursday.

Butler — 6-foot-3, 193 pounds — declared for the draft after his junior year at Baylor.

Last season, Butler averaged 16.7 points, 4.8 assists, 3.3 rebounds and 2 steals for the Bears as Baylor won the national championship. He scored 22 points in Baylor’s 86-70 win over Gonzaga to win the title.

Butler was widely considered a first-round talent — some thought he could go in the teens — but there became questions about a heart condition he has, and he slipped to the second round when contracts are not guaranteed.

As Thursday’s NBA draft approached, talk became louder that the Jazz would look to trade the 30th overall pick instead of selecting a player.

With the Jazz on the clock in the first round, ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reported that the Jazz would in fact deal the pick, sending it to the Memphis Grizzlies in exchange for the 40th pick as well as two future second-round selections.

The report was confirmed by the Deseret News.

Memphis is sending No. 40 and two future seconds to Utah for No. 30, source tells ESPN. https://t.co/YACkZgjerK

— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 30, 2021

Technically, the Jazz made the pick for the Grizzlies, choosing Spaniard Santi Aldama.

It is likely that this will mark the first of two first-round picks the Jazz will send the Grizzlies in consecutive years, as a pick involved in the trade that brought Mike Conley to the Jazz in 2019 is expected to convey in 2022.

from Deseret News https://ift.tt/37bp3ZU