Hour 1: The Utah Jazz get The Shaft in the NBA Draft Lottery | Top 3 Stories: Future is bleak for…
Broadcasting from the Mountain Home Services Studio, this is 975 KCNS FM Covamp, 1280 KZNSAM, Salt Lake City, and 102.7 KSL FM HD2 Salt Lake City Midbam. This is 975, the KSL Sports Show. And now it’s 10:00 a.m. Let’s just get down to it. And it’s time for your sports picks. Strap yourselves in, folks. From two guys who have covered the teams you’re passionate about for years. We are professionals. This is Jake Scott and Ben Anderson on 975 the KSL Sports Zone. Jake and Ben 975 the KSL Sports Zone. This song reminds me of Robert Lund. I’ve talked about him before. the guy that does satire and he did one about John Beck uh having a bad game at Stanford and crying afterwards. Anyway, shout out to Robert Lun. Uh what’s going on over there, Ben? Jake and Ben 975 KSL Sports Zone. Are you wearing like are you you going black on black today for some sort of like funeral reason or are you just you know are you are you having a bad day today or is it just like Johnny Cash that’s like just your thing? It was 91 degrees yesterday. It’s 57 degrees today so I put a sweater on. Oh, okay. I see. Simple as that. Very simple. Uh but yeah, people were uh we were talking uh you know obviously the Jazz did not get the lottery luck Ben. It comes out, they get the the number five, or as I call it, the shaft. The Jazz got the shaft. Yeah. And uh well, I mean, it was predictably so. Honestly, there was a 48% chance that they were going to get the shaft. Yeah. I think everybody knew that this was a very realistic possibility, but also understandably due to fandom, people were hoping that that wasn’t the case. People hope a you had a more likely chance of getting a top four pick than you had of getting the fifth overall pick and you just you had the worst luck. You you hoped that at some point it would have been easier if you were a Jazz fan for this rebuild to have some direction and last night did not provide it. Okay. So, we had a conversation before we came in here and and we’ll get into all of it and uh I heard you had an outstanding breakdown uh yesterday, Ben, on uh it was fun to do the the lottery show there in the afternoon and get everybody’s voice on it. And of course, they put Ben right smack dab in the middle of uh of prime time. Uh, but we were talking about the fan reaction before the show and uh, Christian and Hatch and I were talking about when the last time the fans were this angry and we kind of were saying, “Oh, probably since Gordon Hayward left because fans were really weren’t angry about Donovan and Rudy necessarily.” Um, so when they were the But then it got me thinking like, why are people angry? I get disappointed. I get tired of the shaft or as I call it, the shaft. But why are people angry? You know what I mean? When I have bad luck at the blackjack table, I’m not angry. I’m disappointed I didn’t make a zillion bucks. I’m I’ve got, you know, if you have bad luck, I mean, why are people angry? Like, what is the reason people are angry? I I do think fans feel like Well, there’s a couple of reasons. one fans feel like they uh sacrificed a season and stayed engaged to get a reward at the end. Okay. And the re reward so far because we don’t know what’s going to happen in the draft and etc., etc. There’s a lot of movement between now and and June 25th when the when the draft actually happens is the worst payoff. So, you sacrificed, you put in, I guess, what fans would consider work. And, you know, that was hard. That was not fun. This was a really not fun year to watch the Utah Jazz. And then the reward at the end of the tunnel was the worst outcome. And you had hoped that the sacrifice of not just this last season, but the two years before that, post Donovan, post Rudy, etc., would finally have a payoff that made it easier to be a Jazz fan. And I think you look at next season, you say, “This isn’t getting any easier.” And you’re angry about that? Okay. I I still don’t understand like this is this is part of the issue I always had with the the tank note thing. And I do understand the concept that you don’t want to be in the middle. But the concept that you’re ultimately living and dying with every win in a negative fashion seems silly to me because it’s all for this random low chance at something that honestly, you know, if you if you’ve do you have uh Ben, you don’t gamble a lot. I guess I don’t gamble a lot either, but it’s probably because I’ve got the worst luck. I never win. Sure. Is it because there’s actually something physically wrong with me? Like, is bad luck actually a thing? No. Stuff just doesn’t go my way, right? My brother is the luckiest dude ever. My brother could lose his wallet. This has happened. Lose his wallet. No idea. No clue. Woke up the next day and his wallet is gone. And a week later, it shows up in the mail. Huh. Yeah. A week later shows up in the mail. This has happened with his keys before. His wife, he’s like the most forgetful dude uh with with some of this stuff. And the reason he’s forgetful is because it doesn’t matter. It’s just going to come right back to him. Sure. You know what I mean? I am not that. But it’s not because there’s something right with him or wrong with him or whatever. It just doesn’t go your way. So if your entire like strategy is built around having some random chance at something and that’s all your tunnel vision is focused on. Well, that is foolish. That and and it is foolish. I I will push back because that’s the design of the NBA. That’s not the design that the fans have chased. That’s the design of the NBA. The league has said the lottery is random and it’s going to have a huge impact on how the teams function. Okay, so the Spurs, as much as we can applaud their front office, their head coach, etc., have had an absurd amount of luck that continued last night and the Jazz have not. And the Dallas Mavericks have now had an absurd amount of luck that the Jazz have not had. And the league rewards that. And the league has built this system for you to rely on luck. So you get mad that the system has created this almost forced the Jazz hand not entirely. This was this was a decision by the Jazz front office and ownership to to take this approach but has told you that this is a viable way to build a team and then you see other teams based purely on luck have success that you’re not having. So that’s jelly not angry. Sure. But people get angry but but you know anger comes as a result of sadness uh frustration jeal jealousy certainly we see that that’s that’s being jelly and yeah the system is stupid I’ve been telling I’ve been talking about the system being stupid for literally years and that’s why it would be stupid just to have one way to go I one iron in the fire I understand like if I don’t believe that the Jazz were truly putting all of their eggs in the Cooper for flag basket. I don’t believe that. We know they’re not. But if they were, then that is silly. Yeah, we know that. They have all these other assets they’ve acquired. They’ve got other young players. They’ve got veteran good players. They’ve got a lot. There are so many other things that can happen, good or bad, between here or there, but people get so focused on the one thing and it it’s just a lot of wasted energy in my opinion. And I think this is proof of that. Dallas falls out of nowhere and gets the dang number one pick. Yeah. and the Jazz the Shaft, right? Or as I call it, the shaft. Was that some master plan by Nico to get the number one pick? No. And again, the conspiracies think yes, but no. And now everybody’s like, wow, this is going to save Nico’s job. And it’s like, well, that’s really stupid, too, because if you just employ somebody because of blind luck when they’ve proven to be not a terrific general manager in the first place, then Why would that save his job? Like that’s foolish, too. It is. So, I I don’t understand why people would be angry. I just don’t I I don’t Should they have tried to be me mediocre? Probably not. Should you have been sweating every win? Probably not. No, of course not. No. And that that was the joke of the tweet last year that I had and you know, worrying about every win and every loss and it happens and there are things that are uncontrollable. Now, it’s important to step back. First of all, I will say I understand the frustration of Jazz fans who feel damned if they do, damned if they don’t, because you had what I would call ethical tanking the last two years, right? You didn’t try and lose every game. You did pull the plug after the trade deadline, but that’s when other teams pull the plug, too. You had been legitimately competitive before that. You were 500 most of the year before that. And then you say, “Let’s see if we can increase our lotto luck a little bit.” And then you go to 10 with Taylor Hendricks and you were supposed to get eight and you ended up or nine with Taylor Hendricks, excuse me, and then you were supposed to draft eighth or you had the eighth best odds and you got jumped by two other teams and you fell back to 10. So you kind of did the Dallas thing. You kind of did the San Antonio thing where you were middle of the pack. You didn’t sell out to lose every game and put your team through that. And when you realized there was no reward at the end of the tunnel worth being in the middle, you said, “Pull the plug. Let’s be bad. let’s get one of these better picks and have a 35% chance of top three. And then they still fell to five and it’s on the long end of the Jazz constantly falling in the lottery. So I think that frustration is there. Now, what I do think we are seeing people overreact to is a what the actual difference is between the third pick and the fifth pick, specifically in this draft. And that a top five pick is still extraordinarily valuable and far more valuable than a 10th pick, 11th pick, a 12th pick, if you don’t boot it. Yeah. Yeah. If you don’t boot it, but I mean that that’s true with every pick. If you don’t boot it, it has a lot of value. So I I think that’s the other aspect where the pendulum has swung too far and needs to recorrect itself a little bit that you still have a very good asset and a number five overall pick. It’s not Cooper Flag. After Cooper Flag, as good as Dylan Harper might be, the odds of him becoming an all-star are still 20%. And your odds of getting an all-star at five are like 12%. Like the gap again, not to get lost in 14 percentage points, which is now going to haunt Jazz fans for the foreseeable future, is actually not that difference between what you’re getting at two, I think, especially this year, and what we will be getting at five. Yeah, you got to play the hand you’re dealt. And that’s what we’ve talked about for a long time. I’ve always hated the narrative in the NBA that if you don’t have LeBron, you’re screwed. Yeah. If you don’t have Steph, you’re screwed. There’s more than one way to do it. There’s more than one way to acquire talent. There’s more than one way to play. I mean, that’s the whole point of the coach. How does your strategy give you an edge? How does your culture give you an edge? How does your front office give you an edge? How do you play the hand of having Salt Lake City and Utah and how do you play that? You know, how do you play your location being obvious, you know, and some are more complicated than others. It’s not hard to sell LA to young people. It’s just not, you know, but it is. It can be hard to sell Salt Lake to young people. So, how do you sell that? Like, it’s all built in. It’s all baked in. And so, the Jazz didn’t get the number one pick. So, what what do you do now? And I saw Scotty kind of backtrack on his tweet where he he brought up Danny A. And uh Danny uh what specific trade did Scotty bring up? He brought up the he might have brought up the same one Ben talks about. Kevin Durant, not Kevin Durant, but yeah. wanting trying to draft Kevin Durant and end up trading the pick for Ray Allen and he got blowback about people are like not now Scotty or something and he retweeted he said it’s uh you know too soon or something like that and it’s like you know no it’s not no it’s not too soon that’s the point what do you do how do you play it you know like how does your this is why you hire a good general manager this is where Justin Xanic and Danny Age go to work you didn’t get the number one pick Harrison is the luckiest bozo on on the dang planet. Yep. And he’s going to keep his job because now he has a no-brainer decision in front of him. He can’t screw it up. Danny A doesn’t have a no and Justin Xanic don’t have no-brainer decisions in front of him. They got to go out and play. This is why you why you hire those guys in the first place is to figure it out, right? If you were if your whole thing was just we’ll just get the number one pick and build around there. You don’t go hire Danny A because Danny A doesn’t do anything to increase your luck of getting the number one overall pick, right? Like you just say if if you’re all based on that, just go cheap. Just you run it. You be the owner and run it by yourself. You know, like if your only goal is to get the number one overall pick and that’s how you’re going to win. Anyone can do that. But no, you need guys who can make adjustments on the fly and know what the league rewards and what it doesn’t reward and then how you adjust with the hand you’re dealt. I think you’re right about that. I will say I do think the Jazz probably do need to make a shift away from what they have been doing the last three years which is this scattershot acquisition of talent hoping to get the number one guy and not really having any path forward towards team building. I would start to approach this off season a little bit differently with the idea that I want to know where this team is headed versus what has been the deconstruction process for the last few years. And look, if that means you have to continue the deconstruction process this season, that’s fine. But you’re looking at Lowry being 28 now. We know John Collins, Colin Sex, and Jordan Clarkson are not a part of the long-term future. At the very least, I should say John Collins and Jordan Clarkson. Maybe Colin Sexon is because he’s only 25 years old. But I I I don’t think I’m doing this craps table approach, which is couple pieces on this number, couple pieces here, couple on the money line, whatever. I don’t actually know any of the terminology. I I’m I’m starting to eradicate some of that. I’m starting to trim that down a little bit and I’m narrowing my focus a little bit more if I’m the Jazz. This is just my personal and I usually don’t give them advice on what to do. But I I think that last night was painful enough and not just for the fans, but I’m guessing for the front office that they’re going to be tested a little bit in this exhaust exhaustion of just let’s try a little bit of everything, which is I think of what they’ve been doing. And I totally understand it. Like we said, Mhm. you’ve just kind of got a couple of chips on number six and a couple of chips on nine and one on black and whatever. You’re just trying to win somewhere. I might narrow that down and re reorganize my gamble or my investment approach. I don’t think the scattered thing I understand what you’re saying, but I don’t think that was ever the plan, Phil. Okay, that’s very possible. You know what I mean? That was the plan, Phil. out outside of John Collins. And that move always baffled me, but I think they wanted to move those guys outside of Lowry for a while. Sure. And I kind of thought Collins would move at the trade deadline, honestly, because he was playing so well. Yeah. Because he was he was really I I still to this day think he could have really helped a lot of teams. Like teams still in the playoffs could really have benefited from John Collins. I I don’t know if they ever really intended to keep Colin Ston. Now, I could see the the vibe that he’s a culture guy. And not that John Collins isn’t necessarily, but you know, we’ve all seen that with Colin Ston. He’s definitely an effort person, and that’s a that’s a good tone setter. So, I I certainly understand that, but I don’t I actually don’t think it was ever the plan to keep him. You and I talked about it at the time when the Jazz traded for him, they resigned him to the most tradable contract on the planet. They did. Yeah. So, I mean, I don’t know if it was ever the plan really to keep him. Jordan, I definitely don’t think the plan was to keep him. I think they would have moved him years ago if it was possible. Um, who am I missing? And Larry, they didn’t even know like the Jazz will tell you they thought they were trading for an all-star. And I get why they would tell you that. And maybe they did. I don’t think they did. No, they they didn’t. They didn’t think that’s what they were getting. Yeah. That’s like a That’s like value that fell out of nowhere. So, what do you do with that? And the answer is well you resign it and then you figure out what to do with it later. So I don’t think the the scatter it across the craps board strategy was actually by design the strategy. I think that’s just what happened right what is currently happening. Agreed. You know what I mean? I agree with that. I I mean so I think what you’re asking for is actually happening. Does that make any sense? I don’t think those guys are Maybe they’ll be on the roster next year because they can’t be moved, but I would guess they’d be somewhat eager to move all of those players with the minor exception of maybe they do want Colin Ston as a culture guy. I’ll leave my my uh brain open to that possibility, but I would guess they want to move all of those guys, including Lowry. I will be curious. And by the way, I’m not saying it’s the wrong decision or the right decision. I will be curious because they’re have it’s going to be a test of their metal if they are willing to run it back exactly as was this year with just a top five pick because if you are saying the strategy was right last year to do what you did last year and you believe in that strategy I think you should do it again next year. If you thought that was the right strategy then nothing has changed that wildly in the NBA. They haven’t changed the lottery system. You haven’t acquired another player in a different way. So, you should just go do it again. And again, I’m not saying it’s the right thing or the wrong thing. I don’t think that’s a good PR move. If you come back with Larry Markin and John Collins, Colin Ston, bloated uh uh injury reports night in and night out, artificial injury reports night in and night out, kind of playing young guys, kind of not playing young guys, losing games on purpose. If that is what it looks like again next year, I think you’re really going to test the fan base. And I’m curious if they have the stomach for it, which again, I think you can accomplish what you accomplish this year in a different method that might win over the fans a little bit better. Okay. Wait. Well, I kind of disagree with that, but define stomach for it. What do you mean? I think you’re going to see a growing criticism that we felt come to a head last night, double down or either check out or continue to build at a higher level throughout the season if we if it’s January 17th and John Collins is on the injury report for his back and Larry Markin’s on the injury report for his knee and Colin Sexton’s on the injury report for a finger and Jordan Clarkson is out for rest. Okay, I get and it’s just the same thing over. So, let me answer your question now. they have the stomach for it and uh because they’ve well one it’s a proven concept where they’ve been through rebuilds before but two I’ll I’ll tell you this I here’s where I disagree with something that PK said this morning he was criticizing Charlotte and he said nobody cares about basketball in Charlotte incorrect and if the Hornets made the playoffs next year that town would go ape nuts yeah grape nuts grape nuts I was trying not to say ape S and I went with that and it kind of sounded worse. That was that was really unintentional. Uh that market Uhhuh. would go crazy. Yeah. Crazy. And they’ve been bad for 20 years. If uh Oh, hey, look at Detroit. Look at Detroit. Detroit, watch a regular season game. Nobody’s there. The playoffs against the Knicks, it was loud. It was crazy. It was an awesome environment. Now, that is not true in every market. No, it’s not. It is true in Charlotte. It is true in Detroit. It is true where Danny Age was before Boston who also was bad for a long period of time and didn’t seem to lose any fans. Now in Atlanta, that is not true. Right. Miami, it’s actually not true. Miami, it’s not true. Dallas, it’s not true. Phoenix, it’s not true. Well, maybe Phoenix is a little true because the Suns were there first and Suns fans, as you know, are are numerous. But to get to the end of your point, you know where it is true. It’s true here. It’s true here. It’s true here. You could be bad bad bad. The second the Jazz make the postseason, there’s going to be 19,000 people in that building and tickets are going to be hard to get. Let me uh I’ll tell you a funny story. Well, no, I won’t tell that story, but um the last rebuild or not the well, well, you want to say the last rebuild post post Ty Corbin pre Donovan Mitchell that rebuild. Attendance dropped to 14 15,000 people. Ballpark. Sure. Never less than 10. Never. Not even bad games. Never less than 10. They made the playoffs with Gordon Hayward and the Clippers. I have experienced very few other of that environments of that intensity. That first game back in the playoffs after that rebuild, Ben, was dang electric. And I’ll tell you from a radio rating standpoint, things were interest. Yeah, those fans didn’t go away. You know, maybe they didn’t want to go out of their way to buy season tickets, a few of them. I’m not even saying all of them, but it didn’t kill the interest. Even in Sacramento of all places, yeah, if they’re good, that’s back. That stupid cowbell is ringing all the dang time. Yep. you know, the beam. Yeah. It’s not true in places like Minnesota. I would argue it’s not true in Portland even. Yeah. I don’t think Portland. Yeah. But it’s true here. It is. And it’s true in Charlotte, believe it or not. And it’s true in Detroit. I Great example. Great example. Those Pistons fans didn’t go anywhere. No. It’s like Raider fans. Yeah. Scattered across the Western United States. They’ve been bad forever. And yet they’re still I still see obnoxious Raider tattoos all over the place. How’s that a thing? They’re awful. Yeah. So, I would I would say that yes, the fans have the stomach for it. Maybe they’re not excited about it. Oh, I don’t know whether the fans have the stomach for it. Does the ownership have the stomach for it? Uh, yeah, because he hired Danny H. And honestly, yeah, because he should know that. If he didn’t know that before, he should know that now. It will be counter to his natural demeanor, which is have fans vote on the name of the team, which is have fan or have surveys for clients. I get it. Tell a big story on how what what your approach is going to be to building your company. Then he should have hired Isaiah Thomas. Well, no. He hired Danny A. It’s a great move. It was brilliant. He didn’t hire a yes man. In fact, Danny A is the worst yes man in the ultimate no man history. Yes. So if you believe in what happened last year, you should do it again next year or you can I not should you can do it again next year if Danny Age believes that’s the best way to build a team. The best thing that happened to Danny Age if you know we’re talking about Ryan Smith and stuff. The best thing that happened to him was that they bought a hockey team. I’m sure Danny was like, “Sure, yeah, go be distracted with hockey a little bit. I’ll do I’ll hold down the fort over here. Don’t worry about it.” But uh I wonder but Ryan I think fights that if he has that like hey I don’t have the stomach for this he certainly fights it or he would have hired somebody else. I agree with you. And you know what if he was doing micromanaging Danny A Danny would just leave. Yes he would. He doesn’t need it. He doesn’t need this. Yeah. So I mean I don’t know. I I don’t think that’s actually a factor. I think the fans stomach for it actually matters more than the owners at the moment. Sure. How are the fans going to react? The fans were angry last night. I’ll be curious how they manage that because they’re going to have to put out some type of approach to change the reaction to what happened last night. I think they’ll get over it. Uh I I I really do. And I actually don’t think they’re angry. I think they’re jelly. Okay. And disappointed. Yeah. Of course. Like me when I leave any sort of blackjack table or whatever. I’m a little jelly of the guy with the big stack. Yeah. And I’m a little disappointed that I didn’t make any money. Stay tuned. More next. Jake and Ben 975 DKSL Sports Zone. Hey bro, you hear us every day with our crazy opinions. Hey, what are you doing? Well, now it’s time to hear from you. Hey, great show. Download the KSL Sports app and fire off your thoughts with the call-in tab on the bottom of your screen. Your show is fantastic. It’s the one that captivates me the most. You can tell PK to stop singing. Cheap base. Cheap base. Let Jake and Ben know what you really think of the jazz. Tell Hans and Scotty about your favorite barbecue spot or what color of tie JJ should be wearing on TV. The best entries will be played on the air. Download the KSL Sports app now and hit the call-in button to let your voice be heard. I think you guys do an incredible job. This is 975, the KSL Sports Zone. It’s time to break down the biggest stories of the day. This is the top three stories of the day on kslsports.com. 975 the KSL sport. 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Explore their expertly crafted engagement rings made from the finest materials. Jbrooks Jewelers. All right, Christian, where do you want to start today? Number one, the big news coming out of last night’s Celtics Knicks game. Of course, the Knicks get the win, but Jason Tatum suffered what appeared to be a pretty serious injury. Regardless, I don’t think we’re going to see him again in the postseason. Very likely it’s an Achilles. Um, the fact that there was no report last night is not, I think, a great sign, though. Usually, you can diagnose Achilles very quickly. It’s like, can you lift your toe or not, you know? Um, but not putting any weight on it. the classic step back uh to to launch off your foot is is how it breaks in the NBA. It’s how you snap it and it looks like it snapped, which turns an already interesting Boston Celtics off season into a very critical offseason. They were already going to be way overpriced. Remember, they sold the team last year. Yep. Um new owners sometimes want to cut costs. Sometimes new owners want to double down. This throws a big wrench into everything because as much as Jaylen Brown won the MVP trophy last year in the in the finals, uh, and as much as they have talent around him, Jason Tatum is is the engine on that roster. You know, he is he is the centerpiece of which everything revolves. And there’s a high likelihood he’s out at least all of next year. It is amazing how wide open the playoffs all of a sudden is. I mean, just wide open. And uh maybe it even was before this injury, but it it stinks for him. I mean, it really does. He’s going to lose, you know, at least a year likely. Again, we don’t know officially what it is, but at least a year. I agree with you. Uh out of his the middle of his prime and then the year coming back and the year coming back at least. And I realize that some players have come back better from Achilles uh injuries in in recent memory, but nobody ever comes back the same. I I still don’t think Kevin Durant has come back as the same player. He hasn’t. So, very good still, but he’s not come back the same player. And by the way, with all due respect to a guy who’s recently injured, Jason Tatum’s not as good as Kevin Durant was. Yeah. Yeah. Uh but he’ll have more time to recover from that injury. He will. Um so maybe maybe he eventually gets back to somewhere where he is. But I mean, that is just a a monstrous setback for him. I would love to see Boston uh rally around it and go out and uh try to win it for the Gipper. Uh yeah, I they’re they’re not better than the Knicks right now. They’re obviously much more vulnerable without Jason Tatum. There’s no doubt they were vulnerable with him. They were going to lose that game. I mean, that was the last 40 seconds of the game, right? What was it? They were going to lose that game anyway. They were already going to be down 3-1. And look, I still think if you’re going back to Boston, you’re very heavily favoring Boston to win that game uh five. And then you go back and they got to win game six in New York, which was going to be tough. But then if they do, they go back to game seven. I mean, that was primed for a 3-1 comeback. Mhm. that Celtics game was specifically. Now certainly looks like the Knicks are going to the conference finals. And look, the truth is you do need injury luck. It happens. The Timberwolves are gonna get to the conference finals because Steph got hurt. Now maybe they would have beaten them anyways, but it certainly helps that Steph got hurt. And the Knicks are going to get there now because uh the Celtics are very beat up on top of Jason Tatum’s critical injury. You know, Jason Ta Jason Brown or Jaylen Brown’s been dealing with a knee injury. Chris Porzingis has some mystery illness that can’t stay on the floor. like they’ve benefited from the luck of that. I’ll tell you what, maybe we we can get to it a little bit later. Um, but yeah, it’s it’s tough and you’re right, the the playoffs are certainly wide open because as dominant as the Thunder were during the regular season, they have not felt that way in the playoffs. And even if they get through Denver, which I expect them to, I mean, it’s only 2-2. They are waiting for a juggernaut in the Minnesota Timberwolves. Yep. who are just as deep and are going to be far more rested because they’re going to wrap this thing up in five and and are the type of team that Oklahoma City is vulnerable to. Great size. They have a true superstar player. They’ve got even better defensive players than the Timberwolves or than the Nuggets do. Yeah. The Thunder do the No, then the Nuggets do. The Thunder are going to struggle with the Timberwolves. Yes. Because the Timberwolves have more defensive talent than the Nuggets do. I get you. Like there’s a real chance that the Timberwolves are in the finals. It’s like the Timberwolves and the Pacers. I would love it. I would love it. Oh, the NBA would hate it, but I would love that. They would not mind crowning Anthony Edwards as the next great American superstar. Could you imagine though if Rudy got a title and Donovan is Well, let’s talk about that coming up. Can’t get out of the second round. Talk about that coming up at number three. What’s next? Number two, we know the Jazz fell last night, but who won the lottery? Of course, the Mavericks are going to be picking at one. And the Spurs jumping right up there to number two. Uh the Mavericks, whatever. Um I think they’re just going to make the pick. When you get that type of player, you just make the pick and you know, another superstar coming to the Western Conference. The Spurs get very interesting because truthfully, they should trade the number two pick. Okay. I have two thoughts on this. One, when uh Adam Silver asks you to make a trade, you make it because he’s because he’s going to take care of you on the back end. We like the idea of Luca in LA, but Cooper’s coming up. But hey, I’m going to take care of you. You make that move. That’s the conspiracy. Certainly. Uh you you’re fine. You make you say, “What? I’m going to trade my best player to to the Lakers. We’re going to save you $300 million.” Yeah. You you’ll be fine. Trust me, you’re you’re going to be all right. So, when Adam makes that phone call, you just go ahead and say yes. Uh but uh the secondly, with the Spurs, perfect opportunity to rid themselves of Adele. You think you use this to get rid of De’arren Fox? Yes. This is your chance. After you just traded for him? Yes. Um, they made the De’arren Fox trade to win now, right? That’s a You’re getting an all-star in his prime to come in and play with Victor Wimyama. I like Dylan Harper quite a bit. I’ve watched him a few times now. He doesn’t make any sense for the Spurs. He’s another somewhat questionable shooter who is a rookie who is not going to help you win in year one. Uhhuh. You you you can now buy yourself time with this mighty luck and you can move off of De’Aran Fox and plug in Dylan Hart. I don’t think they want time. I think they’re going to trade it for Giannis. And I think they should trade it for Giannis. I think that’s the move they’re going to make. You trade this player who again 20% chance of becoming an all-star. What’s the average, you know, second overall pick? We talked about yesterday the pitfalls of the number two overall pick and how how many misses there actually are in that stretch. I call it Milwaukee. I say number two. I say Devin Vel. I say you got whatever all the you know whatever veteran Harrison Barnes to make salaries work whatever it is and future draft capital but we want Giannis and then you’ve got the Darren Fox and you’ve got Giannis. You’ve got WBY and you have a probably three-year championship window which is long for today’s day and age as we’re just learning from the Boston Celtics. Three years is an eternity in today’s league. And I think you do it and you try and kick the door down and win a title. I’d rather have Videl out of the room than have a championship. Okay. No, Rich Paul. I can’t even believe that they let Adele into the room. On Pat McAfee right now is driving to the Spurs facility to pick up Dear Fox to take him to Milwaukee. No, take him somewhere else. No, no, no. I think he’s driving to the Spurs facility with the under the guise of taking Dear and Fox to lunch to really take Victor Winyama to try and get Victor Wyama under his watch. Rudy’s agent’s freaking out right now. Seriously, he should be freaking out right now. He’s about to lose his biggest client. Yeah, it’s uh like Jerry Maguire when he uh hung out with Cuba Gooding Jr. instead of going down to the floor to press some flesh. It’s an extremely advantageous spot for the Spurs to be in. But they have a huge decision to make in the next six weeks because draft picks are like cars. The second you make them, they lose a ton of value, right? You like the idea of them, the mystery of them. The second that player is on your team, plays in a summer league, the value changes radically. Now, if it’s WBY, great. But you can’t ever trade Wimby. That’s the hard part. You know, you can’t trade the guy who’s the superstar on your roster. So, I think you got to capitalize on the value of this this pick that you lucked into uh from what seven. They jumped up to number two. And I think they’re they’re going to trade it for a star. That’s my guess. Next. Number three. Back to the playoffs. Down 3-1. Donovan Mitchell is a game time decision tonight. I think this playoff run is going to be the one that haunts Donovan Mitchell for the rest of his life. Okay, that’s pretty dramatic. He is going to look at how wide open the playoffs are, which you just mentioned with Jason Tatum going down, the Eastern Conference being his. He had the best record in the NBA. He was the best player on that team. The seas parted and he’s not going to get to the conference finals. Nope. And it’s going to be the one that Cavaliers fans look back on and say, “Ah, that was the year.” The same way Jazz fans look back at 9495 and 9596 say Michael was out of the league. You just had to get past the Rockets or whoever they lost to. You just had to get there. I think it was 93 94 94 95 96 was Jordan was back. You just had to get there. But if you got there, it would have been your title. That was your chance to win the championship. Everything was set up for you to win the title. You were legitimately very good. You had the best team in the Eastern Conference. Talking about the Cavaliers now shifting back to Donovan Mitchell and you didn’t get it done and you blew it and it was sitting right there for you. And all the things secretly in the darkest part of your heart hope for is that can it just be easy? Can they just get an injury that means that the Celtics are not the team that we can’t beat? Can we just have something open up? Can Jordan retire for two years? Just take a break, Jordan. just go away for two years and this will be our opportunity to win. All those things have happened and the Cavaliers aren’t going to make the conference finals. Yeah. And they’re going to be call it the shaft. They’re looking at the Timberwolves or the Nuggets or not the Warriors most likely or the Thunder on the other side and say, “I think we had a chance. I think we really had a chance. That was our opportunity to do it and we just let it get away. We just fooled it away to a to a 3-1 series deficit against the Pacers because they’re going to be worse next year. It’s just going to be I I I think this is this is a a series that is going to have specifically Donovan Mitchell because the Cavaliers got their title in the last 10 years, but specifically Donovan Mitchell is going to be the one they look back and say, “What if?” Okay, so the Jazz, sorry Ben, you piqued my interest. In 9495, the Jazz lost in the first round to the Rockets who went on to win the title. And the Jazz were the upper seed, right? Weren’t the Rockets the six seed? Uh, I don’t have seeds in front of me. Apologies. And then in 9394 they lost in the conference finals to the Rockets. So both years they lost to the Rockets. And then the year following in 9596 they lost in the conference finals to the Sonics before eventually breaking through against the Rockets. The f follow following year the Jazz had won 60 games. What was the first year? 9495 was the first year uh No, no, no. 9394. Okay. The two years the Rockets won it were 9394 and 9495. I think 9495. That’s when the Jazz lost to the Rockets in the first round. First round, the Jazz won 60 games that year. 60 and 22. The Rockets won 47 and the Jazz lost them in the first round of the playoffs. And the Rockets went on to win the finals. Yikes. You win that series, you probably win because the Jazz had dominated the Spurs through that stretch. Nobody in the West was going to top them. And then who’ they beat? The Knicks in seven. Yeah. Um, Jazz probably went that series. Maybe it was the Magic. It was the No. Is the Magic the second year the Knicks? No. Or was that flipped? I don’t know. I We should look this stuff up. Uh, all right. Brian Taylor is going to join the show next. We’re going to talk a little golf with BT. Stay tuned. from Jake and Ben 975 the KSL sports zone. This is this is DJ and PK joined now by Steve Cleveland. He stops by every week. I had a casual conversation with somebody who played at BYU. This player says they got so much money the golf team’s swimming in it. Have you heard similar stories about even the Olympic sports are doing well at the Y? I have heard that but you caught me off guard here with a golf team. Okay. I wasn’t thinking that way, but it makes sense. They have the finances. As I look at these teams and I watch them and I know the coaches, it’s just a completely different environment. As I’m on campus and I go to different events, it’s like Final Four time. There’s so much excitement. There’s energy for the majority of the sports. There’s a significant fan base and an expectation and there’s a great following. [Music] Catch DJ and PK mornings from 6:00 to 10 on 975, the KSL Sports Zone. What’s up? Whether it’s the Jazz, Utes, Cougars, or Aggies, these guys have got you covered. Time to eat, fellas. You’re locked on to Jake Scott and Ben Anderson on 975 KSL Sports Zone. This PGA Championship update is brought to you by Mountainland Supply, Science Bank, Black Desert Resort, Hoops Vision, and Sig Freed and Jensen. Now, here’s Real Golf Radio’s Brian Taylor. Jake and Ben 975. the KSL Sports Zone. Jake Scott Ben Anderson. It is time to talk a little golf. Let’s get out to the zone phone. Of course, he is the co-host of Real Golf Radio. He is our buddy. Comes on, he and Bob come on the station, give us great coverage of every single major. He’s the one and only Brian Taylor. What’s going on, BT? So, Brian, I break into this commiseration and talk a little golf. Break it up for us. Uh, I think every every fan locally will appreciate that. Uh interesting weekend coming up because this uh tournament’s being played at Quail Hollow, which is one that a lot of the players are very familiar with. This is a regular stop, right? How does that how does that change the approach this weekend? Yeah, it does. I mean, the ref’s a little bit longer. Other than that, they’re going to be very familiar with this. And the guy that’s most familiar with it is, of course, Rory Moy, who is coming off that Masters win, Grand Slam. And you know, when you talk about big game hunting, sorry, had to drop it. Uh you’re going to probably want to pick a big name this week because uh I I just it’s we’re on a little bit of a heater in the majors. If you go back to Jordan Spie’s Masters win 10 years ago in 2015, the only player outside the top 50 in the world ranking to pick up a major was Phil Mickelson in 2021 when he became the oldest major championship winner to win the PGA there at the Ocean Course in Kiwa. So, uh it’s probably going to be a big name. Uh should make for an exciting weekend. A lot of players are playing well, but Rory kind of owns this place. He’s won four times. He got his first tour win there. Um, he kind of lapped the field, the last win that he had there, and he’s coming off of the, you know, the the Masters win. So, a lot of people are looking to Rory. Scotty Sheffller, though, just tied the PGA Tour scoring record at 31 under par in Dallas a couple weeks ago, and, you know, he’s the best driver of the golf ball. He’s the best iron player in the game. He hits it the closest. he’s, you know, top 20 putter. Like, it’s just hard to imagine that that Scotty’s not gonna have something to say about this week. So, um there there’s just so many good storylines. This one should be really exciting. All right. I was uh out about town on a Saturday morning a couple weeks ago listening to uh Ray All Radio, of course, and uh I heard you guys I heard how you guys uh were talking about how it’s actually set up pretty well for Rory to have a shot at the Grand Slam. So I I’m curious, describe for our listeners that may have missed it. Yeah. So, well, first of all, we nickname you you probably heard on that same show, we nicknamed Bob, you know, Grand Bob Grand Slam Casper because, you know, he is all about the Grand Slam. He’s been cheering and rooting and picking Rory to win the Masters for the last 10 years to complete the Cur Grand Slam. Now, he wants Jordan Speed to win this one so he can complete the Cur Grand Slam because he’s only missing the PGA Championship. But uh now you’re talking about a calendar year grand slam. We’re talking going back to Bobby Jones in 1930 when you know he picked up the two M’s and the two opens which was the Grand Slam events at the time. And no one else has done that until you go to Tiger Woods when he won the last three majors. He missed the Masters in 2000. BJ got him there. Then he went on to win the 2000 US Open, the Open Championship, the PGA Championship, and then the 2001 Masters. So he won all held all four at the same time. And that was the Tiger Slam. And we haven’t seen anything since. And I go back to that Jordan Speed comment in 2015. He won the first two. Best was back when the US Open was the second major. And he finished a shot out of the playoff at the old course in the open championship and then finished runner up to Jason Day in the PGA at Whistling Straits. So, you know, he went 1-1 probably four, I think, cuz he just missed the playoff and there were three guys and then two. So, he was the closest that we’ve seen to maybe picking up a grand slam. Uh and Rory, you know, Rory wins the Masters, which has been the toughest one for him. Then he’s he has Quell Hollow where he’s won four times. It’s also rained uh a quarter or 4 inches of rain in the last couple weeks. And so he and he loves his first win, the US Open at Congressional, was Soggy. So this this course sets up perfect for him. And then we start looking at the US Open and you think, okay, if he can get the US Open at Oakmont, which was going to require you to be a long and straight driver of the golf ball, which Rory tends to be, then you start to say he’s got a good shot there going to Royal Port Rush in Ireland, Northern Ireland, which is his home golf course. And so you say, wow, you know, what could this be for Rory? But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. It’s highly unlikely that that happens, but it is a a potential storyline. Uh give us uh a couple other ideas of of uh whose game this course Quail Hollow might fit. You mentioned kind of the elite, but is it the drivers? Is it the putters? Who are we thinking? It’s drivers all the way. I mean, we’re talking about, you know, Justin Thomas in his press conference today said there’s just not a lot of creativity off the tee. You just want to step up and hit driver on every hole and you got to hit it a long ways. Uh it’s so I mean I you look at Justin Thomas he won the PGA championship the only other time they played it here at Qu Hollow and that was back in 17. That was an August date. It was hot and firm a little different conditions but um the other thing to think about when you say is it all Rory is the only player that has won the Masters and the PGA in the same year or the last one to do so was Jack Nicholas in 1975. Now I do think it’s hotter to stay or it’s harder to stay hot from April to August. Now it’s April to May. So, I think that could that stat might be a little bit outdated with the PGA moving from August to May, but uh nevertheless, it’s it’d be a big feat. So, I like JT. Obviously, I mentioned Scotty. Uh and and then you wonder about Xander. Xander hadn’t even won a major till he clipped the PGA last year. Then he went on to win the Open Championship and and hasn’t won since. And so, he seems to be, you know, he had a rib injury, but that’s a guy that could get it going this week. Um Ludvig Goldberg is always a guy to look at. He’s young. Uh he seems like he’s a guy that’s going to start winning, you know, more prolifically. Uh, so those are some of the guys that I’m looking at. Shane Lowry has been on a heater and has not broken through and sensed a lot of frustration when he left last week and he was close at Augusta as well. So, um, those are some of the names that I’m looking at. Thank you, Brian. We appreciate it. We’re excited to catch up with you and Bob Bob all week long. Thanks, Appreciate you guys. See you. See you, Brian. There’s Brian Taylor. I still can’t get used to the PGA being earlier. Yeah, I I know it’s been several years now, but like uh when Christian today was he’s like, “Hey, BT’s jumping on.” It’s like, “Oh, man.” Yeah, of course. The PGA is already here. Wild. All right, stay tuned. Tim Lome joins us next. 975 the KSL Sport Zone.
Hour 1 of Jake & Ben on May 13, 2025
• The Utah Jazz fall to Pick Number 5 in the NBA Draft Lottery. What are the next steps for the franchise?
• Top 3 Stories of the Day: Not looking good for Jayson Tatum & the Celtics, What will San Antonio do with the Number 2 Overall Pick? And Donovan Mitchell is a Game-Time Decision for tonight’s potential elimination game.
• Real Golf Radio’s Brian Taylor Checks in to preview the PGA Championship.
