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The youth movement is alive and well in Salt Lake City. Despite the rumors of trading out of the lottery in the 2024 NBA draft, the Utah Jazz chose to stay put and draft 6-foot-7 wing Cody Williams out of the University of Colorado. It was a pleasant surprise for the Jazz brain trust, considering most mock drafts had Williams projected to be long gone before pick No. 10.

Williams fits the mold of what Jazz CEO Danny Ainge has been attempting to build since arriving in Utah. Finding versatile players of elite length who can play a positionless style of basketball has been on the agenda. Williams checks those boxes and will get plenty of opportunities playing for a franchise that’s entering the third year of a rebuild.

Williams has been blessed with all the physical tools to have a long career, but that doesn’t mean the road to the NBA has been easy. Williams had some trying times before he earned a No. 7 ranking on ESPN’s top 100 recruits heading into his freshman year at Colorado.

In fact, his 17u coach recalls some difficult days when he spent some time with Vegas Elite in the Elite Youth Basketball League. Vegas Elite Head Coach Rich Thornton sat down with Jazz on SI and recalled Williams’ adversity as a young player attempting to put it all together.

Those past experiences will certainly be useful when entering the NBA at only 19 years old. Playing time out of the gates won’t be easy starting out. He’ll likely take a similar path in which last year’s lottery pick, Taylor Hendricks, took in his rookie year with the Jazz. Hendricks played 13 games for the Salt Lake City Stars before making his way to consistent playing time in the NBA.