Thursday, June 11th, 2009 at 8:00 am  |  26 responses

SLAMonline Mock Draft: Gerald Henderson, No. 20

GH II?

by Ben Osborne

As your default Utah Jazz “writer,” (no, I’m not sure why it keeps happening either. Matt the Jazz fan needs to get his writing game up), I’m happy to select Gerald Henderson with the 20th pick of the 2009 SLAMonline Mock Draft.

I was all set to freshen up the Jazz backcourt and give DWillGerald Henderson an electric back-up who could’ve played with him for about 10 minutes a game as well in Eric Maynor, but Myles and the TWolves beat me to that Monday.

That left Henderson, and I have no qualms taking him here; in fact, I’m pretty surprised he is still on the board. Given the emotions involved with many of our contributors, I’m guessing Henderson dipped a bit on here due to “Duke hate.” I’m not a Duke fan myself, but I feel like dude is the classic “best player available.” And considering how hard it is to truly, truly fill a need at #20, I think the Jazz will go in that best available direction. Which will be Henderson’s direction.

While not a refined shooter or ballhandler (shot just 34 percent on 3s last year and ended his college career with a 1-for-14 fiasco against Villanova—admittedly a problem when you’re listed at 6-5, 215), Henderson is still a supreme athlete, gifted at taking the ball to the rim and making exciting plays on offense and defense. He has also shown a great basketball IQ during his high-profile high school and college careers, no surprise given his basketball roots (more on that at the end of this post). His college stats improved pretty much across the board during his three seasons in Durham, and there’s no reason to think he won’t keep getting better.

I think at his best, Henderson could actually push the average Ronnie Brewer for starter’s minutes in the Jazz backcourt, but even if that didn’t pan out, there are always at least bench minutes for players who boast athleticism, hustle and knowledge of the game.

The height and advanced skill sets aren’t quite there with Gerald, but I do see some “poor man’s Grant Hill” potential in dude. A wing player with a spotty jumper who loves to attack the rim and makes good decisions? And of course, one who went to Duke and has a former pro athlete for a father? Makes some sense, no?

For those of you too young to remember, Gerald Henderson Sr was a very solid NBA PG throughout the ’80s. Son is a much more dynamic athlete than pops was, but in terms of ultimate effectiveness, if Jr matches something to the effect of Sr’s career averages of 9 points and 4 assists per game over an 871-game NBA career, and does it mostly for the Jazz, than I have made a nice pick here.

2009 SLAMonline Mock Draft Results
Pick Team Player
1 L.A. Clippers Blake Griffin
2 Memphis Grizzlies Hasheem Thabeet
3 Oklahoma City Thunder Ricky Rubio
4 Sacramento Kings Brandon Jennings
5 Washington Wizards Jordan Hill
6 Minnesota Timberwolves Demar DeRozan
7 Golden State Warriors James Harden
8 New York Knicks Stephen Curry
9 Toronto Raptors Tyreke Evans
10 Milwaukee Bucks Jonny Flynn
11 New Jersey Nets DeJuan Blair
12 Charlotte Bobcats Terrence Williams
13 Indiana Pacers Earl Clark
14 Phoenix Suns Jrue Holiday
15 Detroit Pistons B.J. Mullens
16 Chicago Bulls Sam Young
17 Philadelphia 76ers Ty Lawson
18 Minnesota Timberwolves Eric Maynor
19 Atlanta Hawks Patty Mills
20 Utah Jazz Gerald Henderson
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  • Ken

    ThEn I have made a nice pick. Honestly though, despite the biography I don’t see much similarity to Grant Hill. Hill was MVP material almost from his rookie season. I see Henderson as an Allstar maybe one year in his career as best.

  • larrylegend

    i see hansbrough bleeding again.

  • Czar Ruke

    I can see Hansbrough getting chosen here if he’s still available. Could be used as a ploy to sign boozer for less, plus the Jazz need help up front if Boozer and Milsap leave.

  • Czar Ruke

    Gerald Henderson=Dantay Jones??

  • Fleezy

    The guy only has a 33 inch vertical. I am not so sure his “athleticism” will translate to the pros.

  • http://lastknickstanding.blogspot.com Bryan

    What is athletic ? Everyone raves about bj mullens and he has a 30 inch vert. I probably have a 30 inch vert and I’m 6 foot and 235 pounds.

  • http://lastknickstanding.blogspot.com Bryan

    I will say duke players fit well with the jazz on paper.

  • http://mindyourbusiness@nosybutt.com Allenp

    Henderson really improved a lot over his time at Duke, and at points during the season he was basically unguardable. He plays hard, attacks on offense, and has a penchant for making plays off the ball defensively. He’s a bit undersized and could stand to improve on outside shooting but I definitely think he’s tremendous value here at 20.

  • http://mindyourbusiness@nosybutt.com Allenp

    Uhhh, I am not AllenP. Weird.

  • http://nationofmillions.ca Ciolkstar

    Whats the deal SLAM?

  • http://slamonline.com/ Tzvi Twersky

    Amazingly enough, I was actually on the same all-county team as Gerald (and Wayne E.) senior year. He was the best athlete in the area then and I think he’s the best athlete in the draft now. That said, Sloan won’t give him or any rookie playing time.

  • Seven Duece

    Since they probably can’t resign Boozer, I think they should take Hansborough. A hustling big off the bench is a luxery most teams don’t have.

  • http://Nicekicks.com MeloMan22

    im kinda suprised he fell this far, but i’ve been a fan of his (and Wayne) ever since that feature in SLAM a few years back

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  • JH

    As a Jazz fan…I gotta disagree with this pick. Ronnie Brewer has improved his game every year and SG isn’t this teams weak spot.

    Jazz have 2 more urgent needs.

    1) A backup PG. Brevin Knight isn’t gonna be enough if the Jazz want to improve. Brevin Knight 5 years ago…maybe…but not now. Ronnie Price? Could be the answer but I’m not just seeing it.

    2) While I still think there is a chance that Boozer stays…some PF insurance wouldn’t be a bad idea. Psycho T? Maybe a good fit…and not just cause he’s white.

  • Quail

    DARREN COLLISON!!! he’d be a perfect back up for DWill. and they could play together easily.

  • http://nbacheapseats.blogspot.com Chendaddy

    ESPN’s D.R.A.F.T. Initiative made an interesting point about drafting talent over need, basically that the concept is shaky after the first five picks and nearly moot after the first 10. Why? Because the players available usually aren’t all that talented anymore (in this draft, Blake Griffin is the only talent and everyone else should be used to fill holes). At pick 20, it’s better to draft a solid player who can come in right away and contribute at a position of need. Now the question is, where is that position for the Jazz? Ronnie Brewer and Kyle Korver have produced very well in different ways at the 2. Plus Morris Almond, the scoring virtuoso, is still in reserve. I don’t see Henderson defending better than Brewer, shooting better than Korver, or being a scoring spark-plug off the bench better than Almond. Back-up point guard is a big need, and Darren Collison and Jeff Teague (who’s more like a combo guard anyway) are still available. Hansborough had a big day at the draft combine, but do you really expect to lose both Boozer AND Millsap? Let’s not forget that Kirilenko, whose contract is unmovable, also plays best at PF. But what about SF, where it’s just C.J. Miles and a begrudging AK-47? Austin Daye, DaJuan Summers, even James Johnson, they’d all be great value picks who could contribute there.

  • http://slamonline.com Ben Osborne

    Thanks for the comments…people seemed to miss that another part of the Grant Hill link was the initials. Oh well. I think of Korver as a 3 as much as a 2. I’m into the idea of a back-up PG here, but I don’t love Collison that much. I’m also not high on Hansbrough and I don’t think there’s any way the Jazz lose Booze and Millsap. Again, I appreciate the comments, esp these recent ones that dispute the pick, but even as someone who admits they shouldn’t really be given the role of “Jazz expert,” I still think that if the same players were available to Utah on June 25th that were to me last night, that Henderson would be the pick.

  • Quail

    Ben, ur prolly my favorite writer on this site, but with all due respect, its not about who or wut u love. its about wut would help ur team the most. just sayin.

  • Czar Ruke

    SLAM!

  • 30seconds…Go!

    I would love to see the jazz trade up in the draft….trade boozer, future first round picks for memphis’s 2nd pick and pick…Hasheem Thabeet. Than we could fill the gap at center and at the twentieth pick, we could take Hansborough to help out at PF. In the second round, we could choose an international pg.. someone like Parker we could bring in a few years. I think Price is a solid back-up who provides a great spark for the jazz…much like Williams did a few years back. So I don’t think we desperately need a new back-up pg just yet. If we could pull that off, I would be a very happy man. :)

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  • J.D.

    WHAT ABOUT TY !!!!!!

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