Marcus Paige had to sit and wait through 54 picks during Thursday’s NBA Draft–anxiously awaiting a moment he’d been imagining his entire life.
With only six picks before the end of the draft, time was running out.
Then, nearly two hours after watching his best friend and roommate–Brice Johnson–get selected by the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round, the former UNC point guard was chosen in the second round (55th overall) by the Brooklyn Nets.
Brooklyn then traded Paige’s rights to the Utah Jazz.
Although as a second round pick he won’t be guaranteed a contract, Paige will have a chance very soon to make an impression on the Utah front office.
Paige has shown during his four years at UNC that he is much more than just a spot-up shooter. (Todd Melet)
The Jazz are set to begin play in the Salt Lake City Summer League–an event consisting of three games in four days–on July 4 against the San Antonio Spurs–with Paige likely getting a significant number of minutes.
Utah will then take part in the Las Vegas Summer League from July 9 to July 18.
Those games typically allow teams to showcase their young talent while giving draft picks and undrafted free agents a chance to prove themselves against similar competition.
Paige could be playing alongside 6-foot-6 guard Dante Exum–a top five pick in the 2014 draft who will likely be making his return from a torn ACL that robbed him of his sophomore season.
A young squad built around forwards Gordon Hayward and Derrick Favors, as well as the “Stifle Tower” (young French center Rudy Gobert), Utah is in need of backcourt help alongside Trey Burke–the 2013 National Player of the Year while at Michigan.
That’s where Paige fits in.
While some scouts have worried about how Paige’s small 6-foot, 175-pound frame will translate at the pro level, his production and leadership in college shows he’s more than capable of making a splash.
First off, he’s the all-time leader in three-point shooting at UNC, having made 299 shots from beyond the arc during his time in Chapel Hill. He’s also one of just two players in ACC history to score 1,800 points, dish 500 assists, make 275 three-pointers, and have 200 steals in a career.
Oh yeah, Paige has also been named to All-ACC teams as a sophomore and a junior and three Academic All-American squads-while being the only three-time captain the Tar Heels have ever had.
He and Johnson represent the 20th and 21st players drafted since head coach Roy Williams took over the program in 2003.
Now they’ll each be heading off to the West Coast trying to make their mark in the NBA.
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