HOUR 2 | David Locke Gives Thoughts On NBA Draft | Utah Jazz GM Justin Zanik
your home for the best coverage of the Jazz UTS and cougars is right here on the Zone this is JJ and Alex presented by G2G bars a 975 the KSL Sports [Music] Zone all right welcome back it is JJ and Alex 975 the KSL Sport Zone thanks for being with us we’re outside Delta Center out here on the Plaza getting ready for the Utah draft night uh open to the public the 2024 draft they’re going to play it on the big screen in here uh the air conditioning will be on I I just got from a reliable source the AC’s going to be on at the Delta oh that’s good news I thought that was nice of them that was a very thoughtful that’s kind of classy move that scg kind you know they do that’s a you know what I mean not to not to throw shade at Alex MLL but here it goes Alex MLL Alex murel one would never ask the public to attend a party because he would have to switch on the AC or he would invite the public so that they could make money obviously off of like concessions or whatever uh and then they would ask you and then they wouldn’t turn the AC on that would be a former Arizona a coyotes move that’s why we’re excited uh to bring a a a a hockey franchise here look you won’t get that kind of trash talk from uh from like the the players you know the former players at least to your face uh but the reality was is there was a lot of stuff going on behind those doors that that scenario that I just built for you uh for fun is a hypothetical kind of happened on a regular basis right there’s that’s a reason why they’re not uh not not hosting an NHL team any longer in uh the valley down there it’s a shame because we’ll take it we’ll uh we’ll do it we got tons going on though it’s a it’s a jazz Draft Day the NBA draft is going to be for the first time or at least first time in my lifetime JJ it’s going to be a two-day event they’re going to go first round tonight you’re going to get all the first round coverage you can handle right here on the KSL Sport Zone uh as soon as we’re done on the air JJ’s going to stay hanging out you’re going to get Jake and Ben coach Steve Cleveland uh you’re also going to get uh at some point I think Hance is going to come and uh relieve you and we’re going to get uh just the entire almost good mix tonight yeah almost the entire staff uh chipping in to some degree uh tonight for the draft and that’s just the first round because then tomorrow we do it all over again uh starting middle of the day uh and then into our program we’re going to get the second round going on during our show and then uh we’ll carry that coverage all the way until the second round is done as well so uh anything that happens Jazz draft wise we’re going to get it to you right here on the KSL Sport Zone uh that’s our commitment to you so let’s kick off the hour though our program is brought to you by G2G bars all natural ingredients and no preservatives make the G2G bar perfect for anybody who needs a quick tasty nutritious boost uh you can find them at Costco holiday oil Maverick and Associated Foods and many other groceries popping up all over the place in the refrigerated section so give them a shot uh many thanks to our title sponsor of the program G2G bars let’s kick off the hour those as we always do with the cut let’s jump in right here it’s time for the biggest story of the day this is what made the cut with JJ and Alex a 975 the KSL Sports Zone also this portion of the show The Cut brought to you this hour by an incredible selection of Kia Subaru Chevy Jeep Dodge or Ram visit Doug Smith dealerships in American Fork and Spanish Fork great service starts with KN how and nobody knows like Doug here uh let me see here Justin zanic the Jazz GM of course did his uh his duty as a GM which was to address the media and therefore the public when it talked about kind of plans going in kind of at least surface level plans and I think they probably get asked a lot of the same questions JJ every year right kind of the overall 30,000 foot view of the draft you trying to build through you know free agency is it better to build through the draft how do you want to do it in fact that was actually brought up by Jay-Z and he talked about about building a team and I think it’s interesting you should be ready to build a team kind of however you can get it but he specifically brought up building through free agency is not the way that you want to do it as a a way of practice all the time there’s going to be opportunities to use it in multiple ways I think I told you guys initially like free agency isn’t the game Cher anymore it used to be just with all the extensions there’s some solid players out there but it’s not anybody that’s probably going to like move the needle in a significant way they’re more complimentary and so then you’re looking for other opportunities to add impact players that’s why we have our picks that’s why we’ve stayed flexible so that whenever those opportunities come up we can do it are they there this year maybe maybe not takes another team to agree all of that’s on the table for us obviously part of it may be for retaining our players too which you know I’d be really excited about uh we’ve talked about this Market that’s actually probably a good thing for Utah Jazz for the Utah Jazz and for jazz fans right to know well one free agency was a hard sell for people to come here to the state of Utah anyway so if that’s the case if the extensions and the way that the NBA is made up now uh is has moved more toward that model of building through the draft and every once in a while getting a nice uh free agency pickup uh or just playing the game through the through the trades you know trying to figure out how to get that blockbuster trade done that’s how the Jazz win because they’re never going to be that number one destination for for free agents well that just it’s not only not working for Utah it’s not working for anyone in the league th those opportunities aren’t there like who are the teams going out and trying to spend on James Harden and Paul George this year you’re not getting LeBron James he’s not leaving La so what free agents are you chasing that’s going to help you build a winner it doesn’t work that way anymore he’s absolutely right and so all of us who were programmed for years to think that free agency was this big deal have to deprogram ourselves from thinking that anymore that’s not how you do it what happens is is there’s a lot of teams out there that sign these stars to long-term extensions those players then can be moved and traded but you have to have the room under the cap to fit them in well guess who has the room under the cap to fit some of these players in the Utah Jazz that’s why they could have been in talks with Drew holiday on on the male Bridges situation they had opportunities there to absorb those contracts because they have the room for it so the Jazz are well positioned to make those kind of Trades and Deals you’re not going to go out and offer J harden a $50 million contract this summer but what you can do is like the situation with Mel Bridges is they could have found a way to make that happen now the Knicks gave up an insane amount I I don’t think the Jazz should have gave up six picks for Mel Bridges I don’t think they did the wrong thing last night uh the Knicks may have regret for that moving forward but they’re all in on this team uh this Villanova Knicks team that they’re building so deprogram yourself from thinking free agency is the way to go these teams are now built through the draft built through trades that’s how you acquire a big time Stars through the trades or you develop your own and so the Jazz key is for them to be able to be Savvy in these drafts find that guy in these drafts and develop him so development and your scouting and all that kind of stuff is key I we’re hesitant to uh well I mean we’re hesitant to say that there’s a massive win that can happen on a night like tonight because you really won’t know until you know sort of further down the road unless a big name uh could come to Utah because of a trade that could happen there’s always that but is there a way that the that what’s the worst case scenario we’ve talked about best case scenario What’s worst case scenario for this Jazz team like on a night like tonight how could you look at this thing and and know for sure like Ah that’s a bad draft night for this Jazz team when they have uh these first two picks uh they have the 10th uh 29th and 32nd is it staying Pat and just using all three of those picks uh and that’s not doing enough or uh is it trading away a bunch of draft stock for somebody that might be just like oh that’s kind of a nice name what’s a worst case scenario for you if you’re a jazz fan and you’re looking and you go okay I just don’t want them to do this tonight well are you a fan that wants to go all in and build around Lowry and contend and compete next season or are you the fan that’s all in on the 2025 NBA draft in the Cooper flag sweep Stakes so your perspective changes there are you convinced you can that you can build even around uh Lowry Markin in a long long term have that be your guy and then build everything else around it or do you need to add two more Superstars and have him be like your your third big name no that’s a great question and I think that we we’re now moving into an era where just having two players isn’t exactly all you have to do what you need is a team you need depth and so to answer your question yes you could but it depends on your depth how deep are you what players do you have at certain positions and what do they bring to the table and how well do they play together let’s use the Knicks for example do you think the Knicks with adding male Bridges vaults them into Contender status is that a team that can win the NBA title next year doesn’t feel like it okay uh they may not but you know what they have is they’ve got a really nice lineup a good start of guys that know each other well that will play together well and will have chemistry because they’ve had it in the past and that might be enough for them them but we don’t know that so they’re rolling the dice on that fact and I I wouldn’t feel Comfort be I wouldn’t feel comfortable rolling the dice on that if I’m the Knicks and I just gave up six picks to do it I think four of them are first round picks I I wouldn’t feel comfortable with that so maybe that’s a roundabout way of answering your question with the jazz is building around Lowry enough it may not be in the crowded West so then what do you do you have to take a step back and say okay what do we need to do if we’re trying to win a championship we may we may need to continue to pile up should I say it no no draft Capital give me the assets oh more assets so excited yeah I don’t know it’s one of the other right it’s always hard you know what’s always hard is like the Mel Bridges thing I mean you uh you nailed it about the you know maybe it is maybe it is enough for the for the uh for the Knicks right I mean but but it’s always hard to package four unrestricted first round picks like unprotected kind of for yeah kind of for anybody five uh first round wasn’t that what Rudy was four first round picks it’s a very similar deal to what the Jazz did for Rudy Go I mean that’s just it’s so hard that sets the market that’s what the Jazz are going to ask for Lowry marketing yeah that’s so hard like that in my mind in my mind the Jazz going out and getting somebody and giving away four or five of those picks that you know they sat on and told us for years that it’s been you know th this is what you work for this is what you want as a GM well then it better pay off and it better be a bigger name than Mel Bridges right I mean and that’s the unfortunate thing is like that’s that’s how you get guys here is through the trade or through the draft right you you trade you trade to get him here or you draft to get him here uh trying to make a pitch to get him to play here I mean you think I don’t know these guys are all talking talking to each other in the offseason the the do you think that the text thread between that entire Villanova you know Squad you think of of jayen Brunson and d venzo and uh and Mel Bridges and uh who’s the other Jos har and Josh Hart all all four of those guys could you imagine how Wild that text thread was after it they made it happen they were sharing um screenshots from their FaceTime calls see I thought that was I thought that was made up like I saw those I saw those and I thought ah those guys don’t like each other that much right but you know what they feel like they’re going to be able to contend uh they’re an immediate they’re going to be an immediate threat for sure I mean they were a good team this year but you know Boston still feels like a difficult uh to to to get to get over that hump to defeat the Boston Celtics that’s a is that move going to be enough uh it feels like it’s going to be you know pretty close at least at the very least it’ll be fun to watch to see how this thing gets pulled off but you know you get jealous when you’re when you’re a jazz fan and you watch other teams having all these all these fun things when was last time we you feel like there was a team that was having a uh you know a text thread or a or a a zoom call with everybody on the on the on the chat looking like they were uh you know the the accounting department you know at a at an office or something like oh Taco Tuesday you know like this is that’s what’s Wild is like you don’t get that kind of you don’t get that kind of stuff very often so I don’t know if you’re going to what you’re going to land tonight but you know Lowry marketing is a lot of things but you know this electric offc Court guy guy is not one of them and so you’re not going to get some you know I don’t think people are beating the door down to be like I can’t wait to play with that guy there’s not a lot of Mark and jerseys that where you see around town right I mean I hate just hate to admit it like it’s you need another guy you need an alpha you need a face like Donovan Mitchell was the face of this franchise for five years o I got a way to do it I got a way to do it okay put it on the hockey sweater boom okay then you got Mark you got Market in cuz I want one of those black uh finish a finish on a hockey sweater man it feels right no I think that can change look I’m that was unfair to Lowry I think that if the Jazz made it to the Western Conference Finals everybody would be wearing a Larry Market inur it’s not about Larry it’s about this team is not winning games this team is not making it the playoffs this team is not capturing the imagination and the hearts and minds of of sports fans in Utah we’ve seen the excitement around the hockey club the last couple of months when was the last time you felt that about the Jazz in this community yeah probably have to go back to 20 21 right which is recent pass but it all fell down after that so um here’s another thought I had before we go to break you mentioned free agency we talked about how free agency is not the way to go I’ve got a list of the free agents here do you want me to quickly go oh yeah absolutely so just to illustrate that this is not the answer you cannot build a contender through free agency anymore the opportunities are just not there that makes sense okay LeBron James top free agent available not leaving not happen off off the list Paul George they’re already talking about this deal with the Warriors whatever he’s 34 years old do you want to give him a Max fouryear extension no okay what did what did what did xanx say about it too he goes you’ll get a lot of solid guys on there but you’re not going to get Earth shattering who’s changing the face of your franchise now Tyrese Maxi could be that guy but here’s the caveat restricted Sixers are going to match Tyrese Maxi would be the perfect free agent Edition not going to happen Isaiah hartenstein does that get you going you think that’s the guy that’s going to put over the top of course not James Harden you going to bring him here isn’t it a little too late for that yeah now James hard and David lockel he’s going to join us next would tell you that you add James Harden to your roster you’re going to win more five to 10 more games a year that’s certainly the case here but you want to pay him $50 million a year to do it probably not um D’Angelo Russell does that get you going no demard de rosan in his 30s you know he’s 35 years old OG an anobi probably signing with the Knicks cavius calwell Pope Championship DNA but is he a Difference Maker no Klay Thompson at this stage in his career that doesn’t make any sense with the Jazz are at Tobias Harris that’s probably the name that’s going to be linked to the Jazz the most with free agent money this off season and that’s maybe a guy that’s the most realistic on this list but again is that changing your franchise is that changing the course of your franchise through free agency absolutely not no and so those guys aren’t out there are you going to go you want you want the baggage of Miles Bridges no of course not no no buddy hee no Gary Trent Jr is he your Difference Maker oh my gosh so you see where I’m going with with all this is the guys that are available you’re not adding a Difference Maker for agency so you have two routes you can either make that blockbuster trade for that guy that’s already on a long-term contract or you build through the draft the Jazz don’t have option number one right now so what are you gonna do you got to build through the draft so which is a painful slow methodical process so that’s interesting like list there because they actually have like the winds you know they do the wins against replacement this one would be how many wins that they would add to your team yeah every one of these guys is five and under exactly hey and you’re going to pay 30 4 million a 36 win Jazz team let’s go yeah no that’s what you’re talking about so you’ve got to you’ve got to start building these up in uh in the draft and through trade through a trade I would love to see a blockbuster trade that brought a big name here that got you excited um but I am also pretty like I’m also one of those guys I’m a little bit of a cheap skate JJ like yeah I don’t like giving away all those all those first round draft picks and Jazz fans historically have not they don’t they also I mean like you talk about giving players money they killed GRE Greg uh Greg oer tag for taking too much money like every guy that’s ever taken a bunch of money here has been held to a different standard right so you have that as well but you’re right like you don’t want to give up a lot of draft Capital uh but you have to eventually use it yeah I I don’t know if there taking three rookies every year is not the solution yeah and I don’t know if uh no and that’s what that was actually something too because we were like oh you don’t want a bunch of young guys in this locker room and Justin xanic was actually like I think he said something about that uh let’s listen to that Jeremy the one about to you know whether or not uh because we all get worried about whether or not having six super young dudes on the uh on the roster it would be too much and not having that veteran leadership but here’s what here’s what Jay-Z said about uh having six young players on the team there’s a difference between 23 year olds and 18y olds but if that’s the case it’s you want to make sure that that you have enough veterans on the team that can help them grow and do it they can’t raise themselves or raise each other that’s all they have to talk to and know so I think that becomes very important and I think we have some good veterans on our team right now but that will obviously factor into some of the things we either do in free agency or trades or things like that we’re not going to get into a leverage situation like oh I just can’t have six draft picks like so here’s one or give no take it it’s a shot at trying to get a good player uh By the way when they go oh I don’t want to you don’t want a bunch of 18y olds do you it’s like well no actually if if you get a bunch of 18 19 20 year olds those are the guys who are the most valuable in drafts typically nobody goes because what do we look at if a guy’s 24 if a guy’s 23 and a half and they’re in the draft you go you ain’t it bro hey Zach EDI how old Zach EDI 22 23 right he’s kind of along those same lines then you look at those guys and you go man that guy yeah he played four years in college he must be terrible right that’s kind of the Assumption right unfortunately I hate that it’s not fair but it’s the truth and the reality is is that it it would actually be smarter for you to get a bunch of big names that are 19 and a half years old guess who’s guess who’s 19 and a half years old or uh well he’s going to be 20 right before the season starts uh Stefan Castle right these are teenagers the best players players in the draft are below 21 right and in fact most years we look at it we go man how old is Big Vic now 19 and a half yeah like it’s that’s what we want we want young young guys you end up getting knocked if you stayed in college too long especially in college foot in college basketball no doubt so all right let’s take a break we’ll come back we got more to go uh when we C when we do return hey we’re 30 minutes away from lock up our sweep Stakes you can enter to win by going to kslp sports.com contest to go to not the NBA draft because that’s tonight but we are kind of giving you a quick turnaround we’re going to send you to Las Vegas by giving you tickets and $1,000 cash four tickets to the sphere and the NHL draft on Friday and then on top of it a thousand bucks of spending money or whatever it is you want to do with it down in Las Vegas wink wink sore all those things that go along with it and you know what what’s nice is gas prices right now JJ you don’t have to spend the full thousand on gas now so that’s a that’s a good thing nice so there you go we’ll give you a th bucks we’ll give you the four tickets to go down to check out the NBA or the NHL draft excuse me down in Las Vegas on Friday you just go to KSL sports.com contest and you can win that right there we will uh close the contest at 5: and we’ll read off a winner at 5:30 stay here more to go around the corner we’ve got a jazz draft up State we’ve got more uh coming up as well David lock is going to join us right here stay with us 975 the KSL Sports Zone every decision comes with enormous uncertainty counting you down to draf day with the 10th pick this is your draft update on 975 the KSL Sports [Applause] Z NBA draft in your draft update right here Utah Jazz GM Justin zanic and the draft plan that they have going forward try to find great players it’s not that uh not that crazy of a plan right the question is is who is that player going to be lots of competition of course out there but he doesn’t want to create competition among his own players and among his own draft picks I’ve been very happy with the development of those three guys I’ve told you guys before and you’ve seen development isn’t just guaranteed minutes on the on the court whether you have competition or not you don’t play free minutes here they have work to do no matter who we draft or we don’t um so I don’t look at it as like oh I’ve got to go create competition or right this isn’t football like what we’re trying to do is add as good many good players as possible do a great job of developing them and then we make it work and fit in terms of playing time and you know with the reality of trying to win games there’s your Jazz draft update right here 975d KSL Sports Zone uh hoping to get David lock the voice of the Utah Jazz in just a couple minutes here so we’ll stand by we’ve got more draft coverage including an insane amount of money for one of the New York Knicks no it’s not Mel Bridges no it’s not even a name you would have probably named off in the first two or three uh the amount of money going to some of these guys as role players stay right here at 975b KSL Sport Zone and it’s time to get the inside scoop on the Utah Jazz from the playby playay voice of the Jazz David lock Sweet Revenge presented by Murdoch Auto Group ow a 975 the KSL Sports Zone welcome back it is jazz draft night it’s the NBA draft we are outside the Delta Center out here on the Plaza uh taking in some of the scenery here of course oh they got the they got the uh the signature Salt Lake summer league uh signage up on the stadium is as well which is a very cool logo by the way awesome great it it looks dope and on top of it did I just say dope you did age yourself there I think it’s gas is what you should say oh it’s fire that logo is gas yeah that makes sense trying to trying to be hit with the kids but yeah uh if you want to come down check it out they’re opening the doors at 5 o’clock uh coming up in just just over 20 minutes to get in the doors and you can check out this Jazz draft party it could be quite a party David lock voice Utah Jazz joining us here on the program uh lock multiple pics is a lot more fun to have a party with right yeah could be a fun night be I mean if the draft is about entertainment this and you follow it I understand these are not the most recognizable names there’s not that much entertainment to Victor web Yama or Zion Williamson like you know exactly who they’re going to be you know who they’re going to you know what it’s going to be there’s not it’s not really a story there tonight I mean there are three to four players that are in play for all of the top five picks and then five to seven players along in play to every other pick along with the fact that if teams really do what they say which is build their own draft boards irrelevant of mock drafts and what the media says I don’t actually believe that to be true but let’s go with it uh then you could have players that are number one on someone’s draft board that’s number 12 on somebody else’s number five on somebody’s draft board is number 25 of somebody else so the mock drafts have all been very uniform for a while I I don’t think that’s how the night’s going to go well that’s I was going to ask I mean it’s a it’s a phenomenal point because we’re always you know it’s it’s all about whatever the GMS want what they’re trying to build and yeah the names aren’t as easy this year for you to be able to go oh for sure that’s your one and that’s your two you know last year at this time and walking up to the draft it was you know Victor W Victor Wim banama and then how often did we say yeah it’s big Vic and then it’s scoot big Vic then it’s Scoot and and and everything changed you know walking up to the draft and so things can change but in a draft like this uh you said three or four names there at the top uh are is it crazy to think that the Jazz and the name that they really want to go after could be somebody that ends up at 10 because teams do have priorities kind of going all in different directions I think there’s of the projected 10 players right now I think there’s two players that could fall one one player that surprisingly could fall to the Jazz that they might would have to really consider I think there’s a chance that bouas the g- leag kid could could have a tough night tonight considering he was projected as highest four and he’s interviewed with the Atlanta Hawks I think he he could have a doesn’t take a lot for me to suddenly have him slip um Cody Williams out of Colorado is a really nice player I think he’s projected at seven eight or nine I’m GNA be super surprised if he’s available at 10 but if he is I think you run to the podium to go draft him he’s he matches kind of every 10th pick that’s existing you know everyone says it’s a bad draft honestly evaluating this draft once you get to about pick six it’s about on par maybe even a little earlier it’s about on par to what you usually get in the draft at this the the six pick is kind of a six pick and the 12th pick is kind of a 12th pick and the in fact the 20th pick might be better than a regular 20th pick I think you know I’ve charted every draft for the last 15 years and where picks players come from and I think this will be a draft where the 15 to 30 may turn out to be better than many many drafts uh of years past in fact I’m certain of that there have been some drafts that we classify as good drafts who about 13 14 15 are literally over like there’s not another player to be selected that’s not the case here tonight I know you do a lot of homework before the draft so I’m curious to get your take and opinion on who who are the guys you’ve identified that you really like that are realistic in that top 10 range and or maybe there’s some guys beyond that that you really like in this draft well well let me just go big picture for a second just so like if someone’s listening driving home right now or going to be watching like there’s certain storylines that I think are really interesting and one of the ones I think is most interesting is the 23 year olds because of Co we literally have a bunch of guys that are 23 we’ve never had this in the draft before and those guys were seniors in high school when the Freshman last year were either in seventh or eighth grade and they had most of them had great years and they hadn’t had great years prior and so that to me is one of the biggest storylines what do you think of Taran Shannon Jr what do you think of Dalton connect how do you evaluate Baylor sh shyan these are 23y olds who just beat up on seventh and eighth graders and I gotta be honest I I’d be really scared if I was a GM and this second thing in this draft there a lot of guys who don’t shoot well and that I don’t have a track record I can’t find the last five years of data that I pulled and I need to have 10 or 15 years of data and I I’ll figure out a way to get it um but the last five years of data if you don’t shoot well in college like you don’t actually shoot well in the NBA either like that’s a that’s a myth so there’s guys in this draft who don’t shoot well and are really old well they’re different two different categories some are really old and they probably shoot pretty well now and the other guys are don’t shoot well and both those groups really would make me awfully nervous as a GM to put that name on a card and go to the board so when you ask me who I like to me those are the two driving forces but there’s a lot of GMS who probably figure the 23-year-old is ready to help out immediately um or that the that they can teach a guy how to shoot and I’m analytically don’t like either I don’t believe in either of those two things so you know my guys are kind of the 19 20 year olds that are can shoot it a little bit so I really I think Cody Williams got a chance to be really good if I had to guess you know every every draft I don’t think this one will as of right now but every draft supposed to have two all stars in the top 10 three guys bust by the way in the top 10 and then then you have another five players that are Rota players three or four of which are starters I think Cody Williams becomes a starter in the NBA um I think Alex s probably is a starter in the NBA at the number one or two pick um um Donovan kingan maybe becomes the second Allstar if he really becomes you know he’s huge and if he can do enough other things um but it gets thin quickly I like Devin Carter who if I had to put money on it I’d say that’s our pick um I like him he plays the game right he plays hard he’s physically strong um he knows how to play I I like Jared McCain a lot um who doesn’t have great athleticism he missed but he just seems like he feels the game right um the kid out of Cal uh Jaylen Tyson who will be available probably 29 I like a lot reminds me Dylan Brooks and he ran the most picking roles of anybody in the NBA in college basketball that’s in this draft so I think he can be ready to play um uh the center out of Marquette kind of a wild name there Oso um I was watching Tyler KCK who is a 23-year-old guard which scares me and I kept watching that Oso kid and thinking he was great and he’s going to go he could be available he could be available 2930 too curious what you would think of Stefan Castle somebody that a lot of jazz fans fallen in love with who’s all over the board there from one through 10 I mean I think he’s probably you know the very top of our draft board there a lot of rumors that we’re if he slides to five we’re going to trade up for him if I was in the draft room I I would ask them why you think he can shoot cuz if he can’t shoot when there’s six minutes left in the game you’re going to take him off the floor great point you know uh Jay-Z we listened to a lot of his you know stuff obviously over the past week of of what this draft class looks like and he’s dealing with a lot of the same questions lock that we hear every year about every draft right but one of the things he did bring up was hey look I can give you some negative stuff on 450 guys in the league but that’s also uh maybe the most talented League you bring that up all the time as how phenomenally talented this league is uh is it getting better uh is it the way you’ve kind of painted the picture of some of these you know bad Shooters coming out of college some and and I know your love of the college game sometimes watching some of those is hard to stomach during the year but uh is basketball getting is a state of basketball in a really really good place though as these young players com into the League this year and and looking forward I mean the NBA’s loaded and you know we haven’t had expansion forever and simultaneously not having expansions we’ve had the coolest guys in the world playing our game and the skill set and we’ve had European expansion and we’ve had skill expansion and so the game’s you know this class of players is to a league that’s harder to make hey than ever before like what GE last year okay Victor weany right and Brandon Miller was okay and Scoot Henderson was terrible yes and Aman Thompson and oor Thompson were interesting but like Aman Thompson got good in Houston when they turned him into a center because he can’t shoot and Jarice Walker who was the seventh pick of the draft didn’t play and like run down the list right like you know everyone wants talk about oh this Dr s yeah this the kid last year out of Houston Dre Walker everybody couldn’t stop talking about a Grady like it didn’t play yeah and Anthony black didn’t play like it’s incredibly hard to be good enough to be in this league I I talk to my friends about this all the time that I feel like I go on these radio shows and everybody thinks I’m the biggest you know what on the planet because I think all these guys coming in the league have no chance and I’m not trying to be Debbie Downer or be a jerk to these players it’s out of respect for how flipp and great every single one of the guys in the league is yeah like Chris Dunn was a fifth pick of the draft who’s hanging on for life right yeah you don’t think Chris Dunn would murder every single one of these kids on opening day of an NBA season next year he murdered them on the court and he’s barely hanging on and he’s G to get a minimum contract from someone no doubt uh the big story in the last 24 hours H wait kayin Orton Tucker would kill these kids yeah and we’re killing him uh you know in as we watch him play right hey before we cut you loose kid what like here’s an interesting one wait look this one up for me for a second this is a great one this is awesome I had got this is awesome how old is T Horton Tucker Oh I 23 okay so St and connect what do you think Tay Orton talk were doing in the SEC last year he’d be the player of the year player of the year yeah oh my God he’d scored 38 points a game he killed people that’s fair he’ll be 24 middle of the Season yeah so so even though he looks like he’s 34 so dton connect yeah yeah so will con so will Baylor sh Miker so will Tyler K so will ter Shannon Jr I can’t touch any of those guys yeah D kect might be our if he gets the 10 I’ll bet you we take him he can shoot it he can play the ball his hands he can do a lot of things but he was 23 and he started in a junior college and then he played at Northern Colorado I’m scared of that no yeah I get it 100% uh lock I want to get your rea reaction to what the Knicks did the last 24 hours the male Bridges trade and the uh the uh agreement they’ve made with ogan anobi what impact does that have on the Knicks in the league well they’re great me the second best team in the Eastern Conference I would quibble with Alex’s cheese a little bit I think ogan and noi’s really good but I think he’s probably we were just looking at the numbers 42 and a half per lock and that’s the only that’s the only part is I’m like I guess that’s and that’s not knocking him I guess that’s where the numbers have gotten on on these guys and of all the names I I just feel like he maybe just because the Mel Bridges and all these other Villanova Wildcats are so much more you know you just I don’t know anobi had a good playoffs so I mean that that’s and that’s really kind of where you get paid obviously in the offseason well I mean he was really good in Toronto um so I mean so 10 tan is a veteran bench player that gets off the bench some of the time 20 is a rotation player 30 is a starter 40 is a high-end starter 50 is a St 40 is a high-end starter and 50 is a star that be 60 50 next year huh right well then three years it’s going to be on the new TV deal it’s going to be 80s a star so yeah I mean so if you just signed ogan and noi to a four-year contract it’s 40 I I don’t know the numbers I didn’t know they had signed him I just heard your teas and figured that’s who it was yeah it’s 5 years 22 yep so it’s 40 a year yep well it’s probably too much for the next two years when Mel Bridges is making 20 and then he’s probably underpaid after that when the new TV deal kicks in it’s a good team team’s good if you go grab the ringer top 100 list I don’t I I think I put him at Top 40 player in the NBA is that too high maybe maybe top 50 an anobi Bridges bridges is number 50 on the ringer top 100 list I think I mean I think o 55 they’ve got him they’ve got him at 55 yeah they’re about the same I mean yeah they’re both long Wings who can can defend and shoot no I think the real story is whether Mel Bridges was actually worth five first round draft picks and the answer is no that’s but the answer is yes so the answer is no Mel Bridges is not worth five first round traffics but if you’re New York and you’re looking for the one last final piece and you need your second Wing Defender to guard Jaylen Brown and Jason T because you already have OG and noi is your other one and this guy’s available and you have have a buy on bogdanovich contract you can trade today but you don’t have any other contracts you can ever move so you got to use that one now and you’re once you’ve signed some of your other guys to other money you’re not gonna once you sign ogan and Obi and you’re and and Isaiah harinstein you’re not going to be able to do other deals well then who gives a beep if you throwing the fifth first fourth and fifth first round draft pick throw all throw the whole thing because this is your chance to do it and so that’s what that’s what’s hard for us because we’re trying to get Mel Bridges but we got to be using our assets correctly and the Knicks are like well we got this whole thing built this is our shot here we are let’s go David lock voice of the Utah Jazz uh lock I think that uh are you doing some you’re doing some TV work tonight right I I think uh yeah I’m I’m running a moment behind I’m gonna blame it on you guys it’s not don’t tell anyone it’s not your fault at all but I’m only gonna walk in and say sorry I had to do I had to do the sport zone and sorry sorry I’m late coming in but that yeah roll your eyes at us no problem bad uh you and uh the coach what else is uh where could people come watch where can people watch you tonight we’re gonna be on Jazz plus um tonight so that’s the only way to see us I think on Utah Jazz YouTube maybe also so Jazz plus and Utah Jazz YouTube and uh bowler and thorough are gonna be there and then you got great basketball Minds like Tim lome and Michael Smith and then I’ll have a lot of conjuncture and bull craft that people will think sounds good that probably is going to be totally inaccurate I’ll let nobody ever takes the show I’m a little concerned it’s on YouTube because it was just on Jazz plus I could talk about how much I like players like Jared McCain who may never play more than 10 minutes in the NBA and um and and then I’m going to and then I’m going to end up you know having it on YouTube and someone’s gonna pull the take the way they did to Stephen A Smith today about nobody on vova being an NBA player we’re we’re all we all could become victim to Old takes exposed tonight we all have to be careful all right lock have fun tonight man we’ll cut you loose and you can get to your gig and uh thanks for coming on with us man we love it I can’t believe you guys made me late today so did that our fault we’re the worst appreciate it lock there you go there David lock Jazz plus and then uh pull those Clips off of YouTube [Laughter] immediately someone will take care of that that’s right all right I’m going to do it one more time we got five minutes left here you guys up until 5 o’clock we’re going to enter people to win oh yeah we want to send you to Las Vegas and uh we’ll do it with four tickets to the NHL draft on Friday and then $1,000 cash to be walking around that’s some Wham money right there JJ some walking around D money well yeah Wham money’s a walking around money oh just Wham walking around that’s a new term I like it you thought Vegas went somewhere else with that huh no you’re a bad not all not at all don’t put that on me all right here’s what we’re gonna do and it’s now it’s time to go to break KSL sports.com contest go right now KSL sports.com contest the winner we’re going to pull uh we’re going to take the last names all the way up till 5 o’clock we’re going to pull that name and we’re going to read it off for you at 5:30 uh and then of course we’re going to keep bringing you Jazz draft coverage all the way up if through the end of the first round tonight and then into tomorrow when round two starts up again we’ll do the same thing again so stay right here uh KSL sports.com contest and we’ll enter you to win and uh I just can’t wait somebody’s going to get a th bucks and four tickets to the sphere to watch the NHL draft uh we’re in NHL town now this is part this is this is our new reality this is this is this is us now this is our go hockey yeah you’re Dar right we’re going to come back more to go around the corner we’re live here at the plaza at the Delta Center you can come down check it out got a free watch party for jazz fans to come see the the NBA draft stay with us 975 the KSL Sports Z
JJ & Alex keep talking NBA Draft and this hour they chat with the voice of the Utah Jazz with David Locke. They discuss what could happen with the Jazz on draft. Plus, GM Justin Zanik explains his process.
