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The Jazz never wanted to take home three young guys and looked to move their second-round pick. With the 35th pick, the Jazz traded Jarnell Stokes to the Memphis Grizzlies. In exchange, the Jazz acquired a 2016 second-rounder.
"We felt like we needed to push out that pick going forward," said Dennis Lindsey, the Jazz general manager. "Our ability to accumulate assets was key to making moves down the road. We have an extreme youth movement, so we just felt like we needed to move the pick."
The Jazz are a young, inexperienced team with a first-year coach in Quin Snyder. They have 11 players on roster under the age of 26, including three of five starters from last year. The Jazz finished 25-57 in last place of the Northwest Division last season.
Stokes is a Memphis native, and has spent most of his basketball career playing in the area. The 6-foot-8 forward from Tennessee University averaged 15.1 points, 10.6 rebounds and 2.0 assists a game last season. For the Volunteers, he holds the record for offensive rebounds at 337 and ranks first for offensive rebounds per game.
Weighing in at 206, Stokes is a rebounding machine, especially around his own basket. In his junior year at Tennessee, he recorded a single-season record with 392 rebounds — of those, 155 were offensive boards. He finished his college career ranked fourth on Tennessee's all-time list for double-doubles at 40, eighth for total rebounds at 836 and fourth blocks.
The 20-year-old is a winner. He has won gold at the 2013 FIBA U19 World Championship and 2012 FIBA Americans U18 Championship. He was also named 2013 All-SEC Tournament Team.
Stokes was the Jazz's third pick. They also selected Australian shooting guard Dante Exum with the fifth pick and Duke small forward Rodney Hood with the 23rd pick.