David Locke: Hopeful that the Utah Jazz will ‘be bold’ if opportunity exists this offseason
DJ PK and David lock joins us his weekly appearance brought to you by the Murdoch Auto team David good morning good morning jeames how I missed talking to you my life has been so incomplete without you gosh it feels better right now little sarcasm that’s nice I don’t know I’m gonna shower oh why why why do you think that’s sarcasm this the tone attitude yeah as you call that sarcasm how many friends do you have in your life that you’ve been friends with for 32 years ready go 15 there’s Frankie there’s Joey Guido Sunny Louie where the travels good you were you you got a little time off at the end of all your PK all your friends in jail don’t count wow there’s some stereotyping going on there that’s relatives relatives I forgot sorry my bad so how are the travels you haven’t been with us for your I when I read weekly appearance I thought well that doesn’t exactly sound true but you got you got some Downs on you got away you saw the world how was it it was great I took advantage of being a member of the NBA where if you talk to anyone who is many people in the NBA they were all tell you that Croatia is one of the great spots in the world and I think I would have never gone had it not been for the Buon bogdanovich’s and eor C cops of the world but I did and they are right it is absolutely fabulous so we had a wonderful time and then headed down to St George for a little locked on work so all good glad to be back with DJ and PK my life feels complete again no sarcasm uh yeah those those spots that’s where you you go the uh young men and women in the neighborhood who have gone away for 18 months or two years and then they come back and they tell you about those places and I’ve heard those and and Joe Engles actually had a uh itinerary that opened our eyes you know because he bounced around and played back basketball all over the world too and we were just talking about that two days ago we got some friends who are going to Spain to Barcelona and my wife says didn’t Joe tell you that that was his favorite place and I said yeah yeah he did so uh I’ve seen pictures of it it’s probably all over see but uh those places are cool but now we’re back to basketball you know with things going on here General assessment of the playoffs is what I view is that it’s the blessing in the curs to the NBA because the regular season can be monotonous but the playoffs are usually just so awesome and I think this year has lived up to it again yeah I mean I it was a great note that uh was on dunked on neck Duncan podcast dunked on uh the Minnesota Dallas game the other day was never outside of single digits it was the first time that’s happened in like four years in or three years in a conference final or an NBA final game um that that first Minnesota Den Dallas teame never nobody ever led by double digits in the entire game um which is unusual actually because we’ve have such runs with three-point shooting now that you can get up by you know 12 or 14 it doesn’t really mean anything right um so just to have that tight a game no I think the playoffs been great I think the league you know the league has been on a quest for parody and it’s debatable whether it’s actually good for the league but they have been on the Quest for this for some time and they’ll have their six different champion MVP won’t have been to the finals for I think you know some like 10 straight years um the you know what Rudy’s one of the the only of the top 18 highest picked players that’s still available still playing right now uh they really there’s some incredible Trends going on in the league right now for what they what they’re trying to build and try to create the three teams that kind of went all in with stars and no bench none of them got out of the uh I guess didn’t they even get out one of them none of them got out of the second round then forgot to the second round but Phoenix and Milwaukee lost in the first so it’s it’s really interesting in what roster building and team building of what the NBA’s created here and I think Indiana’s the most interesting case of all they’re they’re the best mirror for us of what we can see out of a franchise and what they’ve done has to be really encouraging for jazz fans they they rebuild for about the trade to get Tyrese halberton and halberton became a top right now I agree with what you said about parody the NBA chased it and they are achieving SL have achieved it they continue to achieve it uh but they’ve also chased trying to get guys to play in more games and not sit out so many games and they’ve worked to that but I think that everything that’s happened in the playoffs is just going to tell players agents and certainly coaches and Executives rest our guys during the regular season because there have been so many injuries in the playoff halberton apparently hamstring injury earlier now his coach says it’s the same hamstring he’s limping off in the third quarter You could argue the series is over anyway but if he’s out then the series definitely over Boston to the NBA finals as expected and in the western vinyl there’s some doubt but before I get too fired up tell me if Conley’s going to play because when he was out in the last series the team looked terrible and tell me if donic is going to look like dones or if he’s going to look like he’s hurt because the games he’s limping around Dallas hasn’t looked very good so I just think all these injuries we’re going to have guys playing 60 games against next year do you think the same thing well so one is injuries are up like 20% in the playoffs game injury games lost in the playoffs up 20% from a year or two ago so that’s that’s a like is that causation or or cor you know correlation um like it’s that’s that’s the real question I think we’d have to dig in and see whether the injuries are happening to happening to players that would have been rested otherwise um you know I think that’s there aren’t that many players that actually fell under the NBA’s new rules right you had to be an Allstar star player to be one like I don’t think Tyrese halberton probably even fell under the NBA rules um maybe he did but um you know for on some of the resting rules and then the other part was whether you’re eligible for Awards and we’d have to look and see like did Tyrese halberton play the last maybe the answer on this is yes but last 15 games of season just so he’d be eligible to be all NBA so he can make his extra 41 million I think the answer to that’s yes and so then you do get into a question of like did that wear and tear coupled with the burden of NBA playoff games lead to a reinjury of his hamstring I I don’t know the answer it’s awfully hard to come up with it but there no it’s a real issue and it’s uh injuries in this playoffs are up way way up I I also just think we’re playing the game no one wants everyone physical and it’s softer and all this but that’s actually not what causes the injuries okay so that is true we’re softer you can’t bury someone when they go to the basket anymore but what causes the injuries is the starting and stopping and the you know stutter steps and the changing in directions if you watch a game 2023 NBA 2024 NBA game the amount of distance somebody’s covering defensively is than it was 2025 years ago plus we’re up about 12 possessions a game on each side so the bir dramatically much bigger than it ever was back in the 90s or 2000s while the game may be less physical the things that cause injuries which are starting stopping sprinting you know covering ground because of the space and the pace that we’re playing with the game just yields to so many more injuries than it than it ever did before your reaction to the Jazz I guess you could say they dropped two spots from 8th to 10th in the lottery I mean on the surface it sucks um however I do think in a draft that is being you know pooed and maybe rightfully so you know you may not have a dramatic difference between what you get at 78 n or 10 and then you’re not paying as much for that player which might be important what would be bad would be to go get the fourth pick and then get a player that’s the equivalent of the 16th and be paying them the set salary by the NBA rules that you get in the draft so that it might not be the worst thing and then frankly time will tell but my guess is if there’s a player at seven six or seven that the Jazz really want I think they could get there um you know they really have someone they believe in I I don’t know that I’ve seen anyone yet that I think is somebody you’d really believe in like that but if there is someone they really believe in I I think they could probably go get them uh my understanding of last year’s draft is that had the Jazz really had someone after five or five or below they really wanted they probably could have gone and got them um and so I think yeah it’s not great to slide to 10 because it’s easier to go move up if you’re coming from eigh and from 10 but maybe not maybe if someone’s got cap reasons they’d rather have the 10th pick than the eighth pick you know there’s some reasons why when the Jazz are suddenly trading that 31st pick might be more valuable than 28th pick or whatever they have 29 and 31 or whatever those two you know that the second round pick that’s not a set salary or you know on that system is actually a better pick because of for C purposes we will watch a bunch of highlights and a bunch of tape and obviously Scouts go to a bunch of games and and you got to do that it’s not that that’s not the important part of the draft process but watching Bob Myers I think the other night he was talking I think it was halberton he was talking about about how the Warriors should have drafted him and they passed on them and that was a mistake you going to know a lot about basketball but drafting isn’t it more about the conversations and the people around them and know who’s going to improve because they’re drafting people so young and the guys have to get better and their bodies are going to change so is the conversation mindset trying to figure out as Jerry Salo used to say when he tap his chest what’s in here is that the part of the draft that everyone’s struggling to figure out and why we’re seeing these really good players go 15 or 27 or in the second round maybe um you know I think the first thing is you’ve gotta like there’s teachable and non- teachable skills right so and some of those are playing hard right like I so that I think you know Cordy G’s always talks about play hard as a skill I don’t think you can teach play hard um so I do think that you know that might be saying the same thing but you know 67 210 is not coachable like I think what’s so interesting about this draft there’s there’s plenty of really good players and I run the numbers on all these players for all the talk of how bad this draft is frankly there’s just as many players that from a number standpoint that look good and look bad as any other draft over the last six years since I’ve run my numbers off it it doesn’t look worse what looks worse is Reed Shepard who has maybe the best numbers of any player I’ve ever run is 6’2 and needs to be 65 like if he’s 65 he’s Ray Allen and you’re drafting or Bradley Field and you’re like he’s going to be great but he’s 6’2 and Rob Dillingham is really interesting but he’s like 61 and 170 soaking wet and Isaiah CER has some interesting things particularly 66 but he’s not he’s 63 so like in this draft particularly the things that aren’t teachable are what’s lacking on a lot of players which I think is going to make this particularly interesting to see how it plays out over time you know I just think it’s a little bit of a crapshoot except for the the fact that when you don’t isolate a given draft DJ and you go look at 10 or 20 years of work it’s not a crapshoot like it’s a crapshoot after 11 and 50% of all players and basically from 11 on through 30 there’s about an if you take five pick increments there’s about an equal chance of you getting a good player and any of those points but the top five are the best players and then the next five are the best players after that and then it starts to equal out a little bit um so it’s not as much of a crapshoot as we try to make it out what percentage would you put on the Jazz using all three picks and bringing those three guys to Camp I hope zero I mean you just can’t have a roster that has eight players that are in their second year or less but maybe you can’t right like I mean you can but I would hope zero I would hope that we’re able to Parlay some of those assets into into future assets or into some other pieces of puzzles that are not just drafts okay so you’d be okay as far as not necessarily getting literally getting players that can be on the club next season yeah I would be totally I mean you have three players who all showed signs of development you’ve already traded oi because you either decided his development wasn’t going to happen or right sense was better right you there’s only so many minutes players can get so you actually at some point have to like open paths for them to get there if you go draft and Walker needs time I I think Walker’s year was better than people give him credit for so I’m still I’m still a walker believer um you know I I think you you go add three young players and suddenly seven of your if you do that seven of your um rotation players are in their second year or less right yep that’s a lot if you’re trying to give them all time and I would think that I would think that we’re giving Taylor Bryce keante Walker 10 pick all time the other two guys so maybe that’s only five but even that’s a lot like you know I think those five of our we’re kind of dead set right now that five of our rotation five of our eight or nine call it nine man rotation are probably second year or less already so I I’m I’m uninterested in a in another one PK was talking about the Danny a specifically but also Ryan Smith having a um kind of the itch right they’re competitive and they don’t want to just sit around and lose who wants to do that that’s no fun right that’s like ain’t sitting around draft night saying is this fun nobody wants to have zero picks on draft night but at the same time the Temptation with the next draft supposed to be great and you talk about how the best players in the top five and the next five so have a Bad Year and be in one of those spots in the draft and really tank in a season not decide Midway through the season and we’re going to move some guys and lose here over the last 30 Games those two thoughts there’s kind of a a tug-of-war going on as to which way this season might go do you have an idea which way this season might go that is my number one thought I have at all times I agree with you I mean let’s go the NBA Finals is going to be one of three teams at this point right we’re going to Discount Indiana we all good there yeah yep okay so there will be either an NBA final team that has two number three picks and a fourth pick in Chris porzingis and I think he was fourth pick and they’ll have against a team that has two number one picks right in Minnesota or has a number three pick in Luca who should have been number one yeah I mean like right one of the biggest dis draft disasters ever right um I mean truly like truly hor like horrific like Michael Jordan s horrific right um and leis aim alija was the first pick of that draft Yeah so that like Houston can say that was okay but DeAndre Aton and Marvin baggley instead of Luca donic like wow right um and then you got so I think um you know yeah I mean all right let me ask you a question Vegas odds came out to if the Vegas odds came out tomorrow over under win total for next year jazz or Spurs who has more probably the Jazz but asking that before everybody makes their offseason moves is pretty risky things can change fast if the you know look you always talk about what the Rockets did you put around a couple of nice veterans not Superstars but good players and you put them around the young talent and you can boost your win total okay so that’s that’s a little risky to predict I I would take Jazz I I don’t know what the Blazers are doing if just if Markin and plays the Jazz are better okay so I mean the question I would have probably taken Spurs um Spurs just because of Victor and then I kind of think that the Jazz and the Blazers will both be sitting at the same number but that’ll be 14th in the the Western Conference so we are situated in a position where we could probably without a lot of moves get right into the Cooper flag game but that’ll be you know it’s a long year and I think you’re where you started this question I don’t have a feeling that Ryan or Danny or anyone has a desire to do that but the world might be evolving in a manner that puts them in that position whether they want to be there or not and there it is we’ll leave it right there Denver or Minnesota real quick who you got well I don’t have Denver I promise excuse me I’m sorry I’m still stuck in that series Minnesota or Dallas he meant next year no I did I just I’m stuck in the last series it was going best of nine I’d watch it Minnesota or Dallas you got I have Dallas I just think Luca’s unguardable um you know I go back to all this convers I mean there’s some really interesting things going on in that series that like everyone’s criticizing the drop I actually went back and rewatch that game after all the criticism by Stan um who I’m a huge fan of I’ve gotten to know really well and I’m I’m a huge fan of Stan Ben Gundy so but I actually thought the drop was the right coverage like Luca beat them on a bunch of 15 foot jump shots didn’t get to the rim he’s just amazing if you don’t do that you’re giving up 42 threes and they’re open and open three in the NBA is a 40% shot it just they trapped a few times early and every time they got an open look now Mike connley comes out afterwards and said we should have never been playing drop on any possession anytime we’re playing drop we made a mistake well they play Drop like 90% of their pick and roll coverages so that’s the weirdest comment I’ve heard after the game I don’t have any idea what happened there in Minnesota so I’m super curious and I go back to a conversation I had with Chris Finch a year ago actually multiple conversations I had with Chris Finch a year ago about drop vers Blitz verse hedging he hates drop coverage like he fundamentally doesn’t like it that was the whole rub with Rudy the first years that Rudy wanted to play drop all the time Chris Finch doesn’t really believe in drop coverage so for Minnesota to come out and drop that whole game against Luca I thought was weird but I thought it was the right move I was super impressed by it now Conley makes that comment back to my convers with Finch I’m totally mesmerized to see what they do tonight no matter what happens Luc is getting you wide open looks he’s just unguardable he’s simply and there’s no math that works to stop Luca so um you know I don’t know if drik Jones PJ Washington Tim arway Jr and Josh Green are actually good enough to knock down enough shots particularly as the series goes on and I guess if I’m Minnesota I would rather have that but boy it’s hard to win a series when you’re just when you’re based on I’m going to give up wide openen threes and hope people don’t make them that is not a great way to win a series David we appreciate it good to have you back and we will talk to you next week you guys are the best you know I’m glad to know you just dismissed 33 years of friendship that’s thanks David see you DJ and PK coming up next RSL unbeaten in the last 10 tops in the west but coming off a game where they gave up three goals Jason chry is going to join us next to look ahead to Dallas and Seattle two Road games coming up this week stay with us
David Locke joined DJ & PK to talk about what he’s seeing in the NBA Playoffs and what he thinks the Utah Jazz might be considering as they move forward with their rebuild.
