The Jazz HAVE To Trade Up In The Draft | Open Floor

The Jazz HAVE To Trade Up In The Draft | Open Floor

You know who is hoping that you’re wrong is Utah. I think Utah would love to get their hands on Ace Bailey. Like I I think I mean you’ve got Jeremiah Fears going there. If the Jazz draft Jeremiah Fears, not to say you’re wrong, that’s not going to be a popular pick in Utah because they already have Kee George who has turned into a pretty good player. Isaiah Collier who is turning into a decent player. uh you draft an 18-year-old point guard at a position that’s not one of need. Uh I don’t know if Jazz fans are are passionate enough to revolt on draft night, but I don’t think Danny A and Justin Xanic are going to be enormously popular in Utah. Uh is that just best player on the board for the Jazz or do you see something else? Yeah, I think best player on the board. Um I think you know as you know Kier and George also had the benefit of playing a lot of minutes in really bad games on really bad teams, right? and they put up numbers and early on I I think Fierce is a different level of prospect and I think again if you’re you’re Utah you’re still in asset gathering mode and I think that Jeremiah Fierce would certainly be a really good asset. Uh again you could argue you could you could go after Trey Johnson who I had had going sixth to Washington. He would be again he’s probably more of a two guard but doesn’t necessarily solve all your problems. He is a big time scorer though. um probably a little more exciting than Fierce uh if I was a if I was a fan of a team. But you’re 100% right like if if you talk and find a way and whether that’s moving up a spot or two, whether that’s you know just hoping that people really worry that Ace Bailey is only 67 and a half without shoes. That was a huge conversation apparently. Um, but you what whatever it takes. Like Ace is the type of guy that Utah could at least come out of this draft feeling good about, right? All right, we’ve got this big talent swing and we’re still probably going to be bad next year and we can still go chase an AJ Debonsa who’s been going to be in their backyard at BYU that’s been talked about for quite some time. If it’s not him, okay, maybe it’s Camboozer, Darren Peterson. This is a a strong top to 2026. I know it’s uh annoying to look ahead already, but uh I I I’m sure it’s a conversation point already in in NBA uh team conversations as well as planning for the future and that 26 class has been circled for a bit. So, it’s not it can’t be considered a hot take, but Utah’s got to move up. They they can’t draft Jeremiah Fierce. They they can’t do it. Um Ryan Smith was out there over the last week doing dozens of interviews, it seemed like. Uh he’s on all the major outlets. Uh and he said over and over again like we he pointed out we’ve got the assets to make a deal. We can do some things now. It’s time to put your money where your mouth is. You got to take a big swing if you’re the Jazz. Uh Jeremiah Fears could turn out to be the next Chris Paul. I don’t know. But it doesn’t make sense for them to draft at five and protect all these assets that they have for the future like 12 13 first round picks whatever they have over the next five or six years. Um if if someone like Philadelphia maybe which doesn’t have a huge interest in VJ Edgecomb at three or uh Charlotte level above them if they’re willing to do a deal you’ve got to make that deal. I I think they’ve got to get their hands on Ace Bailey. I think the upside of Bailey is too much for them not to roll the dice on. He could turn out to be, you know, a a ballhoging volume shooting low percentage wing. I I don’t know. He he could he could turn out to be not worth the investment, but if you’re the Jazz, the one piece you’re missing is that alpha. You’re missing that star. Like I don’t think Lowry Markin is long for Utah. Um they probably regret not making that deal with Golden State last year that would have gotten them something back in return. Um but you’re building around some good young pieces there, but you don’t have that one guy. I think of the guys two on or three on, I guess, Ace Bailey is the guy that I think has the highest upside of that mix. I don’t know if you 100% I I think also like if you’re Utah, you’ve been accumulating all these assets for a reason, right? Like they’re great on paper, but like at some point you have to use them and and so for like I think you’re right that the the potential match between them and Philly if Philly says, “Hey, like we think Ace is really talented, but we probably can’t draft Ace if we’re trying to win. Um but we can go down to five and we can go get Trey Johnson to play with Tyresese Maxi or we can go get Jeremiah Fierce to be our point guard of the future. we can um yeah like there there’d be a lot of options for them at five. I don’t know how the like the contracts are separate thing but like like if I’m the Jazz like would would I dangle Lowry Markin in in a deal like like you don’t Lowry Markin is not going to be there when your team eventually gets good. Like he’s not old but he’s not young enough to be part of kind of what you’re doing and what you’re rebuilding there. Like they’ve got to get in that mix. Danny A is one of the most aggressive general managers of all time. Um often it’s the reverse. often he’s trying to, you know, accumulate those assets and and he’s able to take advantage of some people, but he’s now in a position where I think you can’t draft a Jeremiah Fears or an Edgecomb or any of the guys other than Ace Bailey that are in that mix. You’ve got to take a swing to get a a a potential superstar on your team. And Ace Bailey to me is that guy. Well, and if nothing else, right, like unless the lottery odds are changing, you can’t assume that next year it’s going to be different, right? Like it would be ideally you could say all right like we like Trey Johnson enough, we like Fears enough, we like Casparakon enough and we can go push all our eggs into the Debansa basket or the Peterson basket. But I mean how could you I mean insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, right? Like how could you go back and say, “All right, we’re going to hope that next year in Chicago the lottery balls bounce our You just can’t do that if you’re Utah.

Chris Mannix and Kevin Sweeney discuss why Danny Ainge and the tanking Utah Jazz have to trade up in the draft after falling out of the top four in the lottery.
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