Who would you rather have: Delaney Rudd or Jay Humphries?

Rudd was Stockton’s backup on the first Jazz team to reach the Western Conference Finals (yes, he played ahead of Eric Murdock). Rudd aggravated a lot of Jazz fans, as he was a definite downgrade from Stockton, but who wasn’t? Rudd, however, averaged around three points and two assists in his time in a Jazz uniform, hardly memorable. When the Jazz traded for Humphries, he had been averaging nearly double digits in Milwaukee. That obviously changed when he was backing up Stockton, averaging 8.8 points, 4.1 assists, and 1.3 steals in 26 minutes his first year in Utah. His other full year in a Jazz uniform his numbers dipped slightly.

VERDICT: This wasn’t even close. It has to be Humphries, who played college ball at Colorado, who was a legitimate player and now works as an assistant in the NBA (Rudd runs a basketball clinic in North Carolina where he attended college at Wake Forest). Really, the Jazz got rid of Rudd in favor of Humphries, and it was a good move. Humphries was a big boost to the Jazz.

This concludes Round One of Our Backup Point Guards of the Early 1990s contest.

Next time:

It will be Delaney Rudd vs. John Crotty for third place

And Jay Humphries vs. Eric Murdock for the title of best Jazz backup point guard of the early 1990s.

Who would you rather have: Eric Murdock or John Crotty?

Jazz fans are probably more familiar with Crotty’s line of work than Murdock. Murdock was a first-round pick by the Jazz (No. 21 overall) in 1991. Backing up Stockton, Murdock was unhappy. He averaged 4.1 points in 50 games in his one season in a Jazz uniform before his grumpiness over the Stockton situation forced the Jazz to trade him. He was sent to Milwaukee along with Blue Edwards and the Jazz 1992 first-round pick for Jay Humphries and Larry Krystowiak. The Tribune’s Steve Luhm put him on his All-Time I-Have-The-Talent-But-Don’t-Get-It Utah Jazz team (Edwards was also on the list). Crotty, unlike Murdock, was a team player. In fact, he replaced Murdock on the roster and had three undistinguished seasons in a Jazz uniform. He rejoined the Jazz for two seasons in 2000. Never a standout, Crotty wasn’t someone you’d want to see on the court.

VERDICT: Murdock, bad attitude and all. In the three seasons after he was traded, Murdock averaged around 15 points per game for the Bucks. If the Jazz could have hung onto him, who knows? As for Crotty, he somehow managed to stick around the league for 11 seasons. His best year was in 2001-02 for the Jazz in which he averaged six points and three assists in 20 minutes that year. Murdock hung around until 2000 although he never recaptured the success of those first three seasons in Milwaukee.

Who would you rather have: DeShawn Stevenson or Ronnie Brewer?

Both DeShawn Stevenson and Ronnie Brewer were mid-round selections by the Utah Jazz. Right now, their play is comparable. Clearly, though, Brewer has played much better in his first two seasons than DeShawn Stevenson did in his first two years.

VERDICT: Ronnie Brewer. While Stevenson has carved out a nice career, Brewer will have a better career although it is doubtful that Brewer will ever rip LeBron James the way Stevenson does. Stevenson had a brush with the law in Utah, pleading no contest to having sex with a 14-year-old girl. Brewer, however, seems like a really good guy, so he wins on character as well as on-court play. Brewer could well be a cornerstone, albeit as a role player, on a team that wins an NBA title. Brewer gives you a lot of nice things during the course of the game, as he hustles around, something Stevenson is not nearly as adept.

Plus, trading away Stevenson gave us Giricek, who eventually gave us Kyle Korver. Would any Jazz fan legitimately say they’d rather have Stevenson than Korver?