Dennis Lindsey has a history of finding gems outside the draft lottery, notably DeJuan Blair (drafted 36th in 2009), Tiago Splitter (28th in 2007) and Danny Green (signed from the D-League in 2010).

Lindsey, hired by the Jazz last month, was an assistant general manager in San Antonio.

"Those are things you notice and you go 'ooooh,' " said Jazz executive vice president Kevin O'Connor. "Will those guys be all-stars? Probably not. But they're good players on a terrific team and they were undervalued; they should've been picked higher. That is a guy who is a proven talent evaluator."

Lindsey got his start in the NBA in 1996 when he was hired by the Rockets. He spent eleven years with the Rockets, working his way up from video coordinator to director of player personnel to vice president of basketball operations and player personnel in 2002.

"He was already handling those duties long before he got the official titles," said Carol Dawson, the former Rockets general manager. "I just trusted him. He was one of the first guys to start using the computer (for evaluating players). He was doing that 'Moneyball' stuff — looking at tendencies. He knew how often a guy went to the baseline and where on the floor his scores came from."