David Locke: The Utah Jazz are in need off adding talent to their roster, Zach LaVine or otherwise
David Lock’s weekly interview brought to you by the Murdoch Auto team David good morning David James my week is complete my summer gets better because I get to talk to you every Friday morning back in our regular time so good do you have that other guy with you today what’s his name again I believe you know his name and I believe you’re tempting fate right now but you know you do you and you want to play with fire go ahead Patrick kenahan I missed you I miss you he’s on vacation he’ll be back he’ll be back no worries he’s not there still wow a lot of the is it coincidental that he takes vacation every Friday and I’m supposed to be on the show it it is it is they got a very good vacation provided by a friend and they just need to say yes at the right time and Fred says Wednesday Thursday Friday it’s Wednesday Thursday Friday David the Chicago Bulls just made a trade to bring in Alex Caruso the Jazz maybe bringing well they’ve been mentioned I don’t know if they’ll do it or not to bring in Zack LaVine it looks like the Bulls are blowing things up they really haven’t had very much success and they got a bunch of guys who are in their 30s now so you get why it might be time to move on when you see the Caruso trade what do you think it means for a LaVine deal and the Jazz please connect the dots and put it all together for us I mean I think it’s clear lavine’s going to be moved I mean they played frankly I think his time has has come to an end and I think everyone will be better off if he moves um both Zack LaVine who’s really good and Chicago who I think is just you know worn out and then when they played much better after he got hurt last year was probably the finishing touch on that um you know he’s the only thing is I would say he’s a little bit of a damaged asset right now um because of the fact that they played so much better after he got hurt last year in addition to um just I think there’s a question on how whether his numbers are a little Hollow and his numbers are great and his efficiency is incredible and you know I I generally would believe in those two things um but I think that there is a question of if it’s a bit Hollow from from a jazz standpoint I I kind of on a reoccurring theme on this with a lot of times when we ask about what do you trade for a player like I I saw there was a report that like someone said the Jazz aren’t looking for like Zack LaVine type players and I was kind of like what like we talked about this all last year but like who’s our second best player and where do they rank in the NBA so Lowry’s probably a top 30 player in the NBA like our second best player is maybe a top 80 player in the NBA uh some people are in their some people are in their car screaming Jordan Clarkson others are yelling Colin seon um I don’t know somebody else might be yelling I don’t know’ be so like I’d be curious the ringer I think just relaunch their top 100 NBA players they’re only gonna put one jazz player in there aren’t they I think Colin probably makes the top 100 at this point I don’t think Jordan does anymore okay um and so well Zack lavine’s top 100 player in the NBA so the idea that like we’re not looking for those type of players seems really weird to me because he would be our second best player like if we traded for him tomorrow he’s our second play this is the same way I feel about Trey young like you can tell me all the things you don’t like about Trey young great he be our best player like at some point maybe it’s not the piece that gets you to the championship is it the Pie lead to the piece right yeah you got to do that like we’re we’re short on Talent right now I guess the question is uh from the Moneyball perspective which means many things to many people originally to the Oakland A’s it meant uh we only want to spend $1 million on a player and that’s our top deal I think you need to take a little more nuanced look sure for part of your Ross that’s one way you have to look for it but how do you get someone who outperforms the value of their contract because most good teams have that and so ifine is a if lavine’s a $30 million player and a $40 million contract I get why that gives an executive pause but if he’s been that and you can get more out of them and you get a damaged asent that there’s a Moneyball aspect to that if you think you can revive the damaged asset yeah I actually I’m gonna take a different approach and then I want you to end it really quickly if you think it’s too geeky and really boring and people are going to fall asleep in their cars we have accents all across I15 um and so the area where I would change that discussion is where are the places where you can actually make money ball impact so I think they’re on the very top and the very bottom I was okay I was going to say the bottom 70 to 80% of the roster okay but go ahead and explain well because the max salary exists if you actually get a true player who’s one like you know one of the top 10 12 players in the NBA they’re far exceeding their value of their contracts you’re right so so that’s the first you can’t pay Michael you can’t pay Michael Jordan enough right can’t right right you can’t pay Luca and joic and Giannis and Tatum now enough um though they’re going to um so and then I think the bottom level is where you have a guy in a rookie scale contract he’s performing or you you know like the bulls actually had a little bit of that I think people believe Alex kuso is probably delivering more than his contract of the time his new contract with the Thunder he gets an extension I’m not sure that’ll be true now I think he’s probably overvalued um but I so on Zack LaVine certainly hey if you can get him to play play better um and then he gets closer to his contract value I I do also think there’s some areas where like you just can’t play Moneyball right the way the rules work there are certain salary structures where you’re just going to be paying um you’re overpaying a little bit for those players but yeah I think so I don’t know that I think Zack lavine’s an area where you really win money ball I also think the other one we have to just kind of like wrap our head around here is 10 million a year is your ninth guy your 10th guy who kind of plays 20 million a year is a rotation player 30 million a year is a starter 40 million a year is a high-end starter and 50 million a year is a star like that’s oversimplifying it but that’s our salary structure now so what Zack lavine’s deal for 40 he’s at he was just at 40 he’s going to get 43 next year 46 and then he’s got an option year at 49 but it’s it’s a little high right but it’s not like he’s a if he plays a little defense and you know does some of the things he’s not doing as didn’t do as well in Chicago then he’s a highlevel starter he averages 22 points a game he’s a 50 close to a 50 40 90 guy like oh that’s not crazy is anybody who signed for a long time a good value pickup this summer because in another year the network TV deal is going to Triple or if they sign a fourth deal with TNT it’s going to more than triple and the salaries are about to go into the stratosphere so anybody gets signed in the current climate is that well it’s a huge pile of money for LaVine I mean it’s 40 million plus a year right this is awesome but is it going to be undervalued as soon as a new salary kicks in so I have to do what year the new salary kicks in and none of the con contracts are so much shorter now but your theory is 100% right someone really if someone really has three or four years left on a deal the end of that deal is going to be just fine no matter what if they don’t smooth the deal like they didn’t do last time which is why the warriors were able to afford Durant because the cap took a huge pop and suddenly they had money he LaVine would play two years with a contract signed under the old cap but he’d have two years under the with the money wildly inflated he’d still be making 46 and 49 million which while it’s a lifetime worth of money to your point are stars going to be getting 60 or 70 million right no I start starters are going to be 60 to 70 million and stars are going to be 90 and I don’t know this I haven’t I haven’t done the Deep dive into this or talked to people who are smarter about this but I’ve heard speculation that the hundred million player is on the way yeah right around the corner oh my gosh so at that point at 40 awesome now he’s got to be producing at age 30 that’ll be his age 31 and 32 Seasons here’s the other thing let’s look at the Boston Celtics for a second yeah okay yeah Derek dck white yep Derek white uh plus- siiz first position Drew holiday positional size or plus Jason Tatum plus size of his position Jaylen Brown plus size of his position Chris ABS ringis plus size his position uh Luca donic plus size for his position kyri Irving not but the most gifted offensive player in the world Derek Jones either his size position or plus size at his position PJ Washington Plus siiz or at his size position Eric Lively Daniel gaffer plus size at their position Zack LaVine Plus siiz at his position I think if there’s a signature to what keontay George Plus siiz at his position Taylor Hendricks plus siiz of this position I I think you’re gonna see the number one Lowry Markin in big time plus size of his position you’re gonna see a signature I think out of Danny a and Justin zanic it’s going to be position I would be very surprised if we make moves that don’t match positional size good it’s the one reoccurring comment that has been said the whole time from them and that gets very interesting on Wednesday because there are not a lot of players that are positional size appropriate for this draft good I’m All About It Kevin oconor said he when he came in I want to make the team taller longer and more athletic but and and they did in some regards right kirol Linka was it but they went out and got Ur and Boozer because they were the most talented guys available D will was plus-sized at his position Andre was but the other guys weren’t and they were really good you want a great d story in one second I just want to finish that they were really good until they ran into the Lakers who were plus-sized all the way across the front line with 37f Footers and Kobe then is the shooting guard plus size at his position and they lost to those guys three times in four years they were so long Lamar OD them right Lamar arams the small forward at seven feet so now go ahead and hit me with the DW story in Carmel this week um my daughter was playing golf tournament I’m walking down the street and I look inside this nice little restaurant to kind of look at it and there’s D will sitting there at the table yeah I like hey it’s good to be king I I want to go to Carmel this week it’s pretty great it’s pretty funny hey bud my daughter was like we go and I like pop into the restaurant what are you doing I was like that’s Darren she’s like oh okay did Oklahoma City just really help themselves I mean the Jazz are a long way from worrying about who the top four teams in in the Western Conference are but did that trade moving giddy for Caruso screams the future is now you just traded a young player for an old player but you traded a guy whose three-point percentage has gone like 20 32 34 it’s getting better but it’s still not good enough it’s getting better maybe he’ll get there one day but they I just think they don’t want to wait for one day he obviously had an issue off the court that could have wrecked his career and now you’re bring in a guy who can defend who doesn’t have to have the ball in his hand to impact the game who’s good in transition and who’s a career 38% three-point shooter and shot 41% last year that just screams win now and at $9 million if you’re playing Money Ball uh I think he outperforms his salary I don’t think there’s any doubt about that so they had to move giddy he didn’t match he didn’t fit um and I do think this is like a trouble that the Jazz could have along the way where you know you and I don’t know if this was the case but you get a guy like giddy who’s a really important part of the team and then as your team evolves he really becomes like your sixth or seventh man well he he’s probably not that interested in that right he was the one of the primary ball handlers and things like that as your team evolves that’s going to be something the Jazz could have a problem with as we evolve you know guys that got the ball a lot suddenly become sixth or seventh men like hey who whoa I’m not that’s not my deal I’m a starter right and I and I get that but isn’t the answer so we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it thunder got to it and they made the move yeah and then um you know I think that if you can’t shoot you can’t play like Josh gidy just can’t shoot well enough and he’s really talented in every other way but he really can’t shoot well enough and you know again as we go into this draft like if you can’t shoot you can’t play like how many times do we need to look at this you know here’s another top five pick that like can’t shoot can’t play okay but but you have to be a plus-sized guy right you gotta either match your position size or be bigger and you have to shoot it really well and if the whole league holds on to these two things there’s a really limited number of guys who meet that disc Ron and there’s plenty of smart people who are like well that’s what I need yep no I mean that’s the difficulty um you know I think giddy could be more valuable in Chicago if he has the ball in his hands he really just becomes their point guard but with Shay and Jaylen there’s no role for him to do that there he has he became an off ball player and then he’s not a very good off ball shooter or and teams aren’t going to guard him and so then his his role just didn’t fit as well there um so I think he could be a p you know he he becomes their primary ball handler in Chicago for Chicago to go get a 20 Oney old who you know I I don’t think that shot ever becomes something that’s particularly viable it just doesn’t even look right I I think um he a pretty good move in the sense that like if he you’re giving him a little bit of a different role and you know this goes back to like how Eric spoler dealt with Dwayne Wade not being a great shooter when he had LeBron and he had Chris Bosch and all those other guys was well if you put the ball in the hands of Dwayne Wade then he has gravity so if the ball is is in the hands of Josh giddy then he has he has gravity and he can do things and he’s pretty good at that um if you need him to shoot it’s not going to be the greatest thing ever do you have names a couple of names to watch for you think the Jazz should draft and will they have to trade up to get to these names so I do like Cody Williams of probably the most of anyone um he’s right size he’s a little skinny kind of shoot it shows some little other aspects of his game that might make him better than what he is right now um they had a big 300 lb Center that sat there the whole time that blocked everything um not sure either of these guys are totally right siiz but I think Devon Carter and Jared McCain will have NBA careers that are have some length to them um have some concerns on both of them but I think they’ll both have NBA careers late in the draft I like Baylor shyan and I like KJ Simpson another Colorado kid they both can shoot how many full seasons will JJ reck coach the Lakers we have a poll question up I’ll tell you what the answer is we’re 200 votes I’ll tell you what the answer for the public is seven seven seven David gonna get a second contract David you’re really going seven that’s your answer you’re not messing around you’re gonna stick with that yep we get a second contract did Phil Jackson Go seven years um maybe not but at some point they have to stop this routine and this is where they’re going to do it Phil Jackson went six the second time and then quit yeah I don’t know if he’s wi titles or anything like that I just think he’s gonna do fine with LeBron and AD and then they’re going to transition out of it and he’ll do fine with ad and whatever it is and then they’ll transition out of that and he’ll get a renewed contract and he’ll be fine okay there it is uh most people are going with two two two two’s the number uh seven puts him right in there in Pat Riley territory it looks like Riley did eight Don Darin ham probably still deserves to be the coach but so this is a little complicated but there’s I think JJ reck will they will check boxes the daring Ham’s not the first time they fired a coach who got him to a Western Conference Final they expect titles so he got he got the Dell Harris treatment he got the D Harris treatment they’re a long way from titles yeah we think we agree on that I know you got a run David we appreciate the time thank you see you bye DJ and PK it’s 97 five The Zone still to come this morning NBA draft Wednesday and Thursday draft party Wednesday for the Utah Jazz draft party Wednesday then the second round is Thursday afternoon then another draft party for the NHL draft Friday Corey prman senior NHL prospects writer and analyst for the athletic joins us at 9 o’ to look ahead to the Utah Hockey Club and what they might be doing DJ and PK it’s 975 the zone
David Locke joined DJ for his weekly visit on the show to talk about the Utah Jazz, NBA and the upcoming NBA Draft.
