David Locke: Scouting some of the NBA Draft talent
this is DJ and PK Utah’s highest rated sports radio morning show for over 20 years ridiculously good presented by Murdoch Hyundai Utah’s number one Hyundai dealer for 16 years in a row a 97 Fox the KSL Sports Z [Music] [Applause] djpk and David lock David Lock’s weekly interview is brought to you by the Murdoch Auto team David good morning oh my gosh my life just got better talking to David J oh you said life I thought you said wife it’s like that sentence didn’t make any sense no your life got better my wife my wife’s life would be better if she talked to David James instead of David lock that’s for sure Hy give her the phone hand it over let’s go the NBA draft is creeping up it is not that far away and I’m reading about it and it doesn’t seem like there’s much Clarity and if there is if there isn’t much Clarity I don’t know that there couldna be that much Clarity for the Jazz that they can know what’s going to happen in front of them so I mean what’s really going on is kind of what we’ve known the whole time it’s been characterized as a bad draft which I think is is simplistic and maybe too rudimentary so it’s not there’s like there’s four players that might go in the top 10 that with my numbers analysis I don’t think I could draft like what I know the research I’ve done which is you know not nearly what an NBA team’s done but I’ve got five years worth of data now on prospects and what their numbers are before they get in there four players in the top 10 that I I I couldn’t pull the trigger on and yet there’s a bunch of players from call it you know nine to I’m trying to figure at the backside number here five that I think you’re going to be really good NBA players um and somebody in here is going to hit and defy logic I think maybe not um but that’s the story on the draft the story on this draft is that because the top is not heavy everyone’s calling it a bad draft but there’s plenty of players that are really really good that are still gonna be able to play in the NBA the only thing I would say about this draft universally that I think is which makes it I think really really interesting is almost every player has a butt statement I really like this guy but or he’s got this but and that’s not been the case in a lot of other drafts there’s even even the players that are usually drafted around you know 19 or 20 you’re kind of like yeah I like them they’re they’re lacking their athleticism or something but they’ll be a good such and such this one just kind of you know there’s just these big butt statements on like I’ll give you an example I really like Jared McCain he’s a freshman point guard out of Duke he kicks all my numbers correctly he moves very well on the floor he’s kind of a poor man’s Jaylen Brunson um I re I really feel like he sees the game before it happens I really really like this kid but he’s about an inch too short and he’s was too old his entire basketball career in other words he’s born on February 10th and he’s a year behind where he should be in school so when he was playing fourth grade basketball he should have been playing fifth grade basketball and he just was older than everyone his entire life and it makes me super nervous that that means he’s not kind of what he really looks like or has been portrayed to be with these butts that you say what’s one thing whenever you draft a player wherever you draft him that you’ve got to have that there isn’t a butt now I realize that could be different for Center versus a wing player and so forth but as far as that goes because there might always be some form of button it might be the rare exception that there’s not but what’s one thing that you got to have then so can I give two and that’s kind of the essence of what makes this draft so complicated yeah go ahead so my two are you have to be able to shoot you just gota be able shoot like let’s stop the joke you can’t you can’t shoot you can’t play and number two is you’ve got to be right sized I know we love to pretend otherwise but you got to be right sized you got to hit your measurements so in this draft Reed Shepard out of Kentucky yeah sure he’s got the best shooting profile pick and roll profile athleticism profile of about any player I’ve run in six years and he’s 6’2 like oh five right Rob Dillingham same thing I mean not like same thing like he’s 165 like he’s he makes Darius gardland look like Evans trying to think of a big guard that was a random reference um so yeah that’s those are the two that I think are most important so ra Holland who played in the G League last year and the g league for the g-league ignite was a total unmitigated disaster so it’s hard to tell whether anything matters is 68 220 I swear he’s Harrison Barnes child I I there’s zero chance that he’s anything but Harrison bar he looks just like him he’s got that little hunched run like him everything about him looks like Harrison bars the perfect NBA athlete can’t shoot at all so there’s the butt statement that’s kind of what I mean on every single one of these guys got there’s there’s a butt statement can you figure out which guy has the heart and the determination because there are a lot of players who came in like you would have said the same thing about Kawhi Leonard because he couldn’t shoot but then he could and now it’s been a good career injury Mar but nonetheless you know really good player and part of you know Championship part of the championship team in San Antonio and then in Toronto so what about finding a guy because if they’ve got that will and that desire to succeed how they improve in the summer summer after summer I mean they they can fix a lot of this except to 62 guy isn’t going to make himself 68 that’s not going to happen yeah and you know what actually if you the more and more doubt I have you can’t actually teach someone to shoot you can improve their shooting a little but like I’m looking at guys that and and we’re talking about bottom tier percentile Shooters so bottom 30% bottom 20% like I’ve got you know 30 cases now of guys that are in this real like they they they they actually don’t become Shooters like Marcus Smart is but he’s I think Marcus Smart’s a career 29 30% three-point shooter like they’re all right there yeah I mean they all be come like 29 30 31% three-point Shooters they’re all right there that’s not good enough agreed with that in mind here here’s the one I think’s interesting is Cody Williams Colorado he’s my guy they gotta take him I I think I think most people agree with you and I I think I do too if if that’s on the I don’t know that he gets there I might trade up to make sure I could get him I would at this point um yeah I mean I would trade up to go get Reed Shepard honestly like if if the Jazz can go get Reed Shepard go get Reed Shepard but you got to trade way up to get him whereas Cody Williams you may only have to be one or two yeah either one of those would be great um I don’t the skill that I can’t like so there was a three playay sequence out of Cody Williams I thought was really really interesting so he’s driving the basket he looks like he’s in super nice control he jump stops makes a pass out and I write my notes like oh wow like control Vision to well the next play actually got two guys kind of on him and he really accelerates and gets through it so I’m like oh my gosh the burst and then he’s so out of control he doesn’t have the ball anymore he loses control of it and it’ss a turnover and then the next time he comes down kind of similar again you see the burst which makes you super excited because of his size and there’s a bunch of things going on he throws the ball into left field and I was like all right so the first time there was literally no one around there was yes he’s under control but the minute he gets sped up the handle’s really loose the vision’s really loose the body control is not there he’s 18 19 years old I got it like is that what you can teach that’s the one I think you I think the more reps you can teach that but I’m not sure you can teach touch which is what’s teaching what you’re really teaching with shooting everyone talks about mechanics this and that like it’s touch right Joe Eng Les mechanics are all jacked up but he shoots 40% from three I I know it’s mandatory I referenc Joe Engles once on this show every time um but like that’s you know you know think about like Tyrese halberton shot is like super strange he was in the 99th percentile in college in his spot up shooting and his catch and shoot shooting like it’s not shouldn’t be a surprise to people he can shoot like you know like it’s so I I feel like you know Reed sheard’s in the hundred percentile of shooting and 99 percentile and 96 percentile off the B there’s never been a shot profile like this by a player he’s he’s small he he he reminds me when I watch him he reminds me of great great players I I think he’s terrific I would take him I would take camer Donovan Kling in one if I was ATL do you think there enough people who want to move up that the Jazz could move out and bring in veterans and make their team older or do you think they’re going to have a top 10 pick in this draft I think they’re gonna have a top 10 pick in this draft I I can’t I can’t see who that veteran is that moves the meter enough Maybe not maybe I mean I do think we just need a talent upgrade so you know I hear all these things like the Jazz aren’t interested in Zack LaVine like yeah I can get why the Jazz aren’t interested in Zack line he’d also be our second best player like there’s just at some point in this process you just gota if you’re trying to get better you’ve just got to add talent and then that allows you to actually trade that talent to get even better Talent that’s how this works but we’re still we’re just Talent short right now so I don’t want a veteran player I want talent I I I’m not entirely sure where I see I’ve run through the rosters of a lot of teams I mean I like let me just give an example I don’t think this is it we’re just talking about Atlanta so Atlanta’s a on the alphabet so they’re the first team you look at every single time so they so DeAndre Hunter I would guess Atlanta might be willing to move DeAndre Hunter it’s kind of been you know it’s kind of worked kind of hasn’t worked good pick good like is that like what you’re talking about do that work does that work for you like he make us better like is that what that like that’s a pretty blaz yeah that have you got cam Johnson of there was a trade on Reddit that a bunch of guys had cam Johnson for the 10th pick and everyone said no I was like what are you talking about like cam Johnson’s way better than what we’re getting in the 10th pick like at least odds are so like cam Johnson for the 10th pick again DeAndre Hunter for the 10th pick is that what does that do it for you is Minnesota gonna pay a luxury tax or are they gonna are they gonna make some major change to their roster I think they’re probably going to make a major change to the roster but I don’t know that I think they’re going to do it today I think I have to I don’t know if I understand the cap well enough for them but if I understand it correctly there’s some element where they could run it for another year and the penalty is bad but not ex overwhelming they could run it to the trade deadline and possibly have no penalty and there’s you know like if I were that might run it like what happens if they if they start 40 and 10 then like maybe that luxury tax is worth it they start 30 and 18 or know those are different numbers I got it but like you know 30 and 20 or 26 and 24 then yeah then maybe you move cat at that point I mean cat’s the move like you’re gonna have to move cat a player that the Jazz might have available to them is Devin Carter 63 guard out of Providence and if they should go in that direction do you believe that at some point he and George could exist as starting guards yes I think I don’t think that Keon proved that he’s a point guard in the NBA I think he proved he’s a guard in the NBA yeah um and I think that um you know I think that they if you know I like Jared McCain he’s a little than Deon Carter and I like Jared mcain more than I like Deon Carter nobody else does I just do um but I think Jared McCain and gonay George could coexist you know or or you you know you’re building we got a long way to go so some point you yeah okay those are two of your guards and you your third your second one better be 66 right so that’s the only thing I would say is negative about that is that if if if you do that and those become two of your guards then your other one better be really big and athletic and impressive yeah that’s why I was asking if you thought they could coexist yeah so they totally can coexist it just it now hamstrings you a little bit on what your next move is but that’s fine like at some point you have to narrow down your options I’m just trying to think of like a team that has two smaller guards to play together they’re not Keon’s not small ke 64 but you just if you just kind of think that you build a three guard rotation and that’s how you’re using those 96 minutes then you’re only probably playing 15 of them with the two of them on the floor together and you’re playing the other 32 33 with the 66 guard with one of your other players and then that’s how it work and then so yeah so you totally can coexist and then you make the trade for Cody Williams and then there you go yep I like it Cody Williams might be Cody Williams might be a 67 too absolutely that’s what I’m talking about yeah yeah are you Cody Williams is super in a sense that like he starts the your gang busters as like heading toward being the number one pick yeah Ben Anderson did a nice piece on this the other day then he gets an injury and he kind of backs off and then somehow he slid down a little bit right his he didn’t show a full display like are you just banking that he’s gonna pick up a dribble drive game somewhere he’s gonna pick up some weight I mean right now he’s a spot up yeah three-point shooter I love his defensive feet like the difference between him and Ron Holland to me when watching athletically it might have been Ron Holland might have been playing better players was that Ron Holland got beat I rarely saw him be able to slide his feet and move laterally to get back into the play whereas Cody Williams got beat and then would get back into the play and impact the play still or even get back in front of his man now again that could be the difference between g-league players and NB and college players you have to be a little careful and g-league spacing and college spacing so I have to be a little careful with that comment um but is you think there’s other he’s developing other pieces yeah because I think that you know he’s a phoenix kid and his brother plays for OKC so I’ve heard about him for a number of years and I think you know he gets in Colorado and he doesn’t really just take the the team by storm at at the moment he had some injury issues and then it got to the point where Tad Bole the coach I mean they’re all in win now mode right so he’s got two other potential NBA guys on his roster so he sort of got a little bit lost in the shuffle a little bit there and then his stack Dr Stock dropped we talked I I showed DJ at the start the college basketball season I said keep an eye on this kid and he immediately goes on and and Googles him up there and there he was in the top three pick of the NBA now this would have been in November but the situations played out and he really couldn’t find a rhythm there in Colorado because of the circumstances and the other talent that was there a kid named D Silva should go in the first round here from Colorado and I think it was circumstantial I mean let’s be honest they had a 300 pound round mound to rebound sitting in the middle of the paint every single time anybody on that team wanted to drive like lampin killed everybody yeah here’s an interesting one you know want my this is actually Keon had this too C can you pull up Cody Williams game log go to basketball reference and click on College and go to Cody Williams game log my guy who loves to do that is doing it as we speak okay so this is really interesting and this happened to Keon last year and I’m a huge believer in this so these freshmen come in and they come in with all these accolades and everyone’s excited to have them and then they take too many shots and then the rest of the team freezes them out and then they never get looks again for the rest of the season and if I remember looking at Cody Williams chart yes he’s taking like 15 16 16 16 16 get injured double digits almost every game it was double digited he goes double digits one more time the rest of the year from November 1st uh for excuse me I’m reading that wrong uh from November 21st he took 10 shots against Florida State game four was the first time he took 10 shots then he took six and then it’s 12 13 13 10 13 10 10 I mean he’s getting shots right and he’s hit too and he well doesn’t he drop like 22 in one of these games uh he does against Oregon he was 10 of 13 and he scored 23 points and then he doesn’t get 10 shots again right after the Washington game January 24th he doesn’t get 10 shots in a game until they’re playing Marquette in the round of 32 yeah that is not a coincidence no he’s he’s got 497 964 yeah 66 go look go look at keante George keante George’s story is that Baylor team went to Europe or somewhere overseas in their offseason Keon tears it up comes out I think he scores like 30 in like his third or fourth game and then he just never gets looks ever again college basketball is a wonderful thing yeah against UCLA he’s eight of nine but he doesn’t get the 10th shot okay and the next night againsts USC and this is on the road he’s five of six against USC but he do get the seventh shot right I mean they just box they just completely froze him out it’s ridic ridiculous I’m I’m in on Cody Williams me too man I’ve been in on them all season a drafting Brown and Tatum likes that type of player so get it done Danny Ray yeah I mean I think I might be willing to give up either 28 or 30 29 or 32 to if he’s on the board at six or seven and might even be willing to give up more than that oh yeah so what is more than that a veteran you a player on the right now or all three picks to move up oh all three would be fine if you like him that much um and I’m just being uh I’m just doing Asset Management I’m not talking about players you just have this this is the evaluation okay if the other team likes one of your current players in this case would be probably Bryce sensah and you like a player at 29 or 32 as much as Bryce sensah then you’d be willing to move Bryce Sensa right I mean I’m not saying you should but that’s the game what the reason you have all these assets is to be able to be flexible to a team so let’s say who I don’t even know who’s at eight in the draft Spurs yeah so they’re probably I mean that yeah okay so the Spurs probably need another player Young player like a hole in the head too but um Portland seven how about that yeah so Port so Portland suddenly decides that they like either Portland wants 28 or 29 or 32 or Portland really likes Bryce sensah and they call and say well yeah we’ll take 10 in sens off for seven and then you have to make an evaluation at 29 or 32 can you get a replacement to Bryce senso and I you know ironically enough he’s not quite the same but the other player I really really like in this draft is KJ Simpson out of Colorado for 29 of 32 I also the one I there’s there’s two old kids and my numbers have failed badly on older kids every time I get burned it’s a it’s a Chris DTE Tai Jerome uh an older player they all they’ve burned me multiple times um but there’s two old kids really old 23 and a half plus so you know they’re basically think about it as other eighth graders playing third graders because that’s literally going to connect here we’re not actually we’re going to the kid out of kraton Baylor uh uh which is last name starts with an S and then um I’d have to know more about the rape charge that just got dropped but uh Teran Shannon Jr who Illinois he’s been around forever I mean these guys are so old so you have to be really careful with how old they are yeah is the kid I think you’re thinking of Shan I actually might I might like Baylor shyan more than dlon connect hm they’re the same age yeah yeah yeah well yeah they are I don’t I gotta be honest and I gotta rewatch Dalton connect I watch Dalton connect now three games I had three bad watches I mean seriously would you please be willing to touch another player just once just make contact with another player and own your space it’s literally the first thing I like to watch on a player do you own your space are you tough enough to own your space you want to know who owns the space that kid a cow Jaylen Terry is that his name Jaylen Tyler yeah Tyler Jaylen something like that dyslexia is a brutal if you don’t have the names in front of you um that kid owns his space I don’t know if he’s a good enough NBA player but holy cow does he own his space I mean there is not a player who played against that kid who afterwards didn’t feel it yeah you’re thinking of uh Jaylen Tyson Jaylen Tyson I want players who you feel playing them Devin Carter you feel playing dein Carter but he’s also old but right but is there anything that’s happened in the NBA Finals that informs you on team building I mean obviously a put together some of the core pieces of that Celtic roster and obviously they made a couple big moves since he’s been gone but nonetheless as you watch how these two teams were built anything that jazz fan should be learning and the Jazz could uh you know borrow or steal your best players will dictate this and we don’t have a player yet who dictates this but at some point in time you have to know exactly who you are so Boston is a driving team they drive and every so they went F they got Chris ainga so they go five out they got Drew holiday they’re a driving switching team they knew exactly who they were and they got context that you know Dallas is a pick and roll team with Luca and so they got bigs that roll to the basket they got bigs that cover the basket because Luca’s a Civ defensively and they got okay Shooters they’ll upgrade their Shooters and probably be back in the NBA Finals the next year you know two of the next four years um Minnesota kind of bought into that they were a defensive athletic team and they built their team in that fashion so your best players are going to dictate this Indiana I think is a little bit fluky being Easter Conference finalist but they figured out that they were a run and Gun quick paced open floor team because of Tyrese Halbert and Miles Turner which is actually the two best Twan game in the league right now and you know they’re terrible defensively and they bought into it probably restricts them it’ll be really interesting to see if they try to get better defensively and they suddenly take away their their running and their space I think it’ll really hurt him so we’re not we don’t will hardy doesn’t have enough pieces of his puzzle to Define that yet um and so you we’re still just in Talent acquisition mode but at some point there you just have to acquire talent and you know get get enough talent that you can start to build a system David we’ll leave it there we appreciate your time as always we will talk to you again next week you’re fabulous I will talk to you soon PK yeah you’re way smarter than you look thank you I think bye let’s compliments go where do you rank that one oh man in my life I’ll take anything that’s at least an eight I get slam most of the time when we come come back what you missed next stay with us
David Locke joined DJ & PK to talk NBA Draft prospects and who the Utah Jazz will be looking for with the 10th pick. Does the Jazz make a move prior to the draft?
