10th Pick, Utah Jazz | 2024 Mock Draft
grizley fans welcome back into the grind City media mock draft of 2024 we are all the way down to double digits officially Andy Larson joins me to represent the Utah Jazz I am excited for this one because I have absolutely not a clue who Utah is gonna go with in this mock draft um before we actually get to the pick Andy can I ask you let me set the scene first for people who may not have watched the Utah Jazz uh they went 31 and 51 this season but there was a whole lot of injuries so you look at the record and you’re like I don’t think that team was as bad as the record shows um and if Grizzlies fans are watching that I’m sure they can relate to that um but they have this shot with a top 10 pick to accelerate this rebuild with this year’s draft surrounding guys like Larry marinan who’s an All-Star Jordan Clarkson K keontay George Colin ston John Collins Walker kle there’s so many names that at this team should be good moving forward plus a top 10 pick all that to say Andy do you think initially you go for fit or best player available always best player available but I think especially in this draft you know where uh and especially with this roster a little bit where there aren’t super duper Stars you know L marketing has absolutely raised his game in the last couple seasons and is you know made the All-Star game two years ago was close to that last year but you still look like he still looks like a player you can put any kind of player around right and I think that’s true for the rest of the Jazz’s roster I think there are some names that a lot of NBA fans are familiar with you named them off but uh I don’t think any of them are irreplaceable or or you know would necessarily get in the way of someone they draft so I think they have a lot of flexibility with this pick which is kind of even more exciting or terrifying whichever way you look at it uh let’s put you on the clock representing the Utah Jazz and de Larson who we draft in I’m taking with number 10 pick of the Utah of the 2024 NBA draft I’m taking Matas buellis okay tell me why he’s a really talented Prospect honestly a lot a guy a lot of teams thought could be in the running for the number one pick about a year ago um 69 6869 Wing player uh who has just shown a variety of tools over the course of his career I think kind of the thing he’s been most consistent at is playmaking and passing for others you know kind of as a secondary uh good decision maker um with that size and kind of ability to see over the defense a little bit um along with some good team defense in instincts has always been good at like helps side blocks and Chase sound blocks and and and stuff in transition um the shooting is kind of a a question mark where he was an awesome shooter in his last year of high school and then was a really bad shooter in the g- league level so needs to kind of figure that out uh and then and you know there is like some question of whether or not he’s going to be like actually a dribble Drive guy in the NBA or just attack Closeouts but I think with the size the youth um you know I got the chance to see him play here in Salt Lake City at at the All-Star game last year uh at the NBA’s cup for for youth there at the their International cup and I I think it’s uh he he was impressive to me so I I like what he can bring you know I I don’t think he’s going to be like a star player by any means but as a guy who can potentially play maybe even starter minutes if if everything fills out right um I think he’s a really nice addition to what this Jazz team has on on its roster yeah really good versatility good ball handling he’s like super athletic um and I I like you said so the ignite this year he did shoot 27% from three which is obviously not great but if you’re not looking for him to be a shooter obviously that’s something that you can improve on but you’re telling me the shooting doesn’t like it doesn’t scare you away if that’s his big flaw is not terrifying to you look normally I hate guys who can’t shoot like I think obviously being able to shoot in the NBA is such an important skill what I think makes me excited about balus is that he has been a good shooter and then lost last year and you know maybe that’s variance maybe that’s just a bad scheme or bad coaching situation whatever it might be I think he gets better shots at the NBA level and I think if you work with NBA level shooting coaches maybe you regain that form that he saw I mean he shot let’s see it’s 43% in his last high school year right like that’s that’s great yeah so you know if you can find a happy medium there or get back to 43% all of a sudden you’re a really really high level role player and and so I think you know given the options here at number 10 and some of the players that have already been selected who you know also the Jazz would be interested in I think balis is a really good fit with a lot of upside that they can they can hope for I like it as well and okay let’s just say for argument’s sake since we’re here the Jazz take it okay so now you’ve got him on your team you said could play starter is minutes you keep Jordan Clarkson maybe I know he started and wasn’t to keep him six-man does he play the one beside Colin ston like how do how does it like how do you envision it in your mind yeah I mean he’s in my mind kind of a prototypical NBA small forward right like you could probably play two could probably play the four um you know can he stay in front of quicker guys is I think a question so you’d probably want him kind of on the lower end of that but and needs to fill out his body for sure but I I think uh you know right away he’s coming off the bench realistically you know I I think you have probably Lowry marinin and then probably a better Prospect in front of him and Taylor Hendricks um but those guys can really battle for a position you know and and then you have again some flexibility to train a 19-year-old into being an NBA rotation player um you know that’s my real hope for for buellis and then you know what I like about him is that he does have so many different potential paths for improvement where uh you know maybe he can use that you know defend defend of defensive abilities s to become a better on ball defender or be to become a better shooter or just to become a playmaker you know like I I think there are a lot of different ways he can be a useful NBA player and um despite a difficult g-league season like has the talent to to get some of those pieces together just for context almost everyone on the ignite had a difficult g-league season so I don’t think that’s something to hold against him one thing that I do like about some of the ignite players and we talked we’ll talked about that with Ron Holland is that they’re so young so they’re so moldable and so the room for potential you know like if you’re drafting for example a 24 year old there’s a reason that some some teams will look at a 24y old and call him old is because how much left in the tank does he have an 18 19 year old you look at him and you’re like there’s so much potential still to be happening you’re talking about him filling out he’s he’s 210 is right now um he’s GNA get bigger like just naturally you’re GNA you’re going to get bigger than when you’re a teenager so I think there is a lot of upside in that pick and I think we’ve seen that with some of the g-league ignite draft picks so far and maybe not all of them but you know like uh Jonathan kaminga from the Warriors is a guy who I see you know it’s kind of in a similar situation where you know a talented Prospect maybe underperformed a little bit at the G League ignite level uh and then struggled for his first year year or two with the Warriors but then found his body kind of put it together figured out what he could contribute at in the NBA level and I think was a relatively important part of that team and I think you know that’s a it’s a promising path for bazal to follow yeah I like it Andy I love the pick we’re less than a month away we’re only a few weeks away a weekish away um from the actual NBA draft to see how it all shakes out I appreciate your time so so so very much thank you again for coming on the mock draft thanks for having me
Kelcey Wright Johnson is joined by Andy Larsen for the tenth overall pick in the Grind City Media 2024 Mock Draft presented by Southland Casino.
The Utah Jazz are on the clock! Who will they take?
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