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STUNNER – Utah Jazz TRADE for Zion Williamson REJECTED by Utah Jazz Fan Base in Mock Draft



STUNNER – Utah Jazz TRADE for Zion Williamson REJECTED by Utah Jazz Fan Base in Mock Draft

Jazz fans demonstratively say no to the Zion Williamson trade. Huh? Based on with what expectation? How come? Are y’all nuts? It’s next on Locked on Jazz. B. You are Locked on Jazz, your daily podcast on the Utah Jazz, part of the Locked On podcast network, your team every day. How are you? I’m David Lock, radio voice, Utah Jazz. Jazz NBA insider. This is Locked on Jazz, your daily podcast on the Utah Jazz, giving you insight, expertise, geeky numbers, and hopefully making it way better to be a Jazz fan each and every day. Thank you so much for making Locked on Jazz your first listen of the day. We are free and available on all podcasting apps and on YouTube. Everydayers, you’re the greatest. Thank you so much for tuning in each and every day and being a part of this program and walking you all the way up till draft day. Here’s the plan. By the way, I I don’t know if I’ve said this. I will be with you till next Thursday and then my son graduates from college. Ah, and we’re going to go do that and then we’re going to take a little vacation with him for his graduation present. And so then Leaf Tulene takes over next Friday, a week from Friday, uh, with all of his draft breakdowns, which will be amazing for you because he’s better coming up to the draft than I am on. So that’s what’s coming up for you. Just want to make sure I got that. All right, we will look at the uh, NBA Finals and our final and Tyresese Albertton, the new greatest player ever. Suns coaching search is down to five and has a familiar and interesting name in the mock draft. The 21st pick is on the board. Where should I go? But we start with your rejection of my incredible deal to get Zion Williamson on the Utah Jazz. My deal was amazing. I just want to point that out. Universally, when I’ve run this through NBA people, which is a risky little venture to tell NBA people you’re part of a mock draft and see what they think of your deal, I’ve gotten 100% out of 100% and most people say, “Why would Nola possibly do it?” And Jazz fans have said no. They want no part of it. Jazz Nation posted on Instagram. There were 73 comments. I read them all. There was probably 5020. No. On our YouTube channel on Locked on Jazz the would you trade the fifth pick of this year’s draft for Zion Williamson. It’s on the board in a mock draft. The trade was Zion Williamson, Jordan Hawkins, Milwaukey’s 2026 first round pick to the Jazz. Milwaukey’s 2026 first round pick. and the fifth pick, Colin Saxon and Jordan Clarkson. And I probably gave him a second. 63% of the people said no. 63% of the people said no. All right, you have spoken or at least 63% of you, which is generally kind of how I thought Jazz Nations was. You know, maybe I thought that was a little more. No, pretty dramatically. No, you’re not willing to take the risk on Zion. There were three universal reasons why everyone said no. One was Zion’s injuries. Got it 100%. Don’t know how you think you’re acquiring top 10, top 15 talent in the NBA without risk. Okay. So, you’re right. Zion has missed more games than he’s played, and there’s a chance that you’re risking the fifth pick of this draft, and maybe setting your timeline back a year if Zion doesn’t plan out, which I might argue has already been pushed back a year by the Taylor Hendricks injury. Didn’t get into that yesterday. I do think the Taylor Hendricks injury, just side note, is way more significant than we talk about. It’s just kind of two things happened when Taylor Hendricks got injured. One is out of survival, he just kind of stopped talking about it. And two, he got way better. It’s a unique thing. It happens. He got way better when he suddenly stopped. He stopped playing and he didn’t play anymore. And in people’s minds, he got way better. He’s got so far to go and he’s got a year in which he’s got to come back from a massive injury instead of worry about development and then he’s got to start developing again. I don’t think we know who Taylor Hendricks is for two or three seasons. Very unfortunate. Maybe Taylor surprises us all, but I’m not that’s not a criticism of Taylor. That’s just a realistic like all of next year is getting back in shape, playing the game, and at some point along the way he gets comfortable enough he starts learning again, but he was way behind still in the game. He’s much bigger, much stronger. Red shirt ears are actually good. I got it. Okay. Side note. So, the first reason why everybody seem to be against the Zion was the injuries. Totally legit. And the only question I ask you is at this stage, at this moment, how do you think you’re getting top 15 talent on this roster without risk? And what? Just for interest, I’m not saying you have to trade the fifth pick, but if you were to trade the fifth pick, what player would be acceptable for you in the NBA to trade the fifth pick for? I think that’s maybe the most interesting question. And it would be very fun to do the thoughtout exercise with everyone on what that is because the you’re not getting Giannis, right? Like if you run through the top 10 players in the league, you’re not getting any of them for if you run through the top 20 players in the league, you’re not getting any of them for the fifth pick of the draft. Devin Booker’s not coming to Utah for that. Tyresese Hallebertton certainly isn’t. Jaylen Brown’s probably not coming for the fifth pick. So, you’re not getting any of the top 30 players in the NBA unless you can get Trey Young. And I would guess if I did a show tomorrow on the Jazz trade for Trey Young, the answer would be 60% no. I don’t think you’re getting a top 40 player in the NBA for the fifth pick of the draft. If you called Philadelphia tomorrow and asked for the fifth pick for Tyrese Maxi, probably not. If you if some like depends where you have like somebody like Derek White or Zubac or someone like that. And then I think like the ne the best player I think you can get for the fifth pick of the draft would either be Trey Young, Zion Williamson, or maybe you’re into Scotty Barnes, Austin Reeves, Tyler Hero, who are 40s. So if you’re saying no to Zion, I ask you what do you think you’re going to get for the fifth pick of the draft if you were to trade. Okay, so that gets to number two. If you’re saying no to the trade because you want the fifth pick, because I saw a bunch of Well, I want Trey Johnson. I like Trey Johnson, too. Who do you think Trey Johnson’s going to be? Like, I I’m nervous for this poor fifth pick coming to Utah. Who do we think this is going to be our best player? Right? like immediately. Maybe Lowry’s better, but of our young players, this will immediately be our best player. Agreed. On the top side, I really like Trey Johnson on the top side. The top top side when I watch Trey Johnson and I get super excited. My highest player I can come up with is Bradley Beal. It’s really good. Three-time all-star, one-time AllNBA. That’s a great player. I mean, that is a great player. In 2021, he is one year he was a top 15 player in third team allNBA once. Okay. Now, I’m not trying to criticize Trey Johnson. I could do this same thing. When I watch VJ Edgecomb, my best case scenario is Victor Oladipa two-time all-star one-time third team allNNBA. So the high side projection on Trey Johnson and Victor Oladipo, at least in my opinion, is that each of them become NBA Allstars and if they hit their max, that each of them at some point in time are a third team AllNBA player for a single season. That was Oladipo 17, 18 season, 25 years old. This one time he averaged over 23 points. 20 aver 23 points a game in Indiana. He had most improved player. He had a monster year. So the high side on the fifth pick of the draft in my opinion on these two players, just my opinion, is that each of them for a given year of their career could be a top 15 NBA player. not consistently for a single season. But it is worth noting that Victor Oladipo played 11 years in the NBA, was a great player, and in nine of those 11 years did not make an all-star team. Bradley Beal is a flipping stud. Bradley Beal has been in the league for 13 years. In 10 of the 13 years, did not make an All-Star team. I I think it’s fine to say no to Zion Williamson. I’m don’t think it’s crazy, but ask answer the question of what do you expect from the fifth pick of this draft? Realistically, we’ll continue on that plus a bugaboo we’ve got to get over as a fan base. Next on Locked on Jazz, Wednesday edition of Locked on Jazz is brought to you by my good friend over at Intercap Lending, Steve Carter. This is the best. It’s just so cool for me. Here’s what’s so cool. Because we have this relationship with Steve Carter, I get to sit here with 100% confidence and tell you about Intercap Lending. know that if you need a loan right now and you follow my instructions and go to Steve Carter and we get you set up that you will have the best experience you possibly could. I don’t know if he’ll get if what your loan will be. I don’t know any of those. I just know 110% that Steve Carter will be attentive. He’ll be fast. He’ll be considerate. He’ll be hospitable. And he’ll treat you like you’re awesome. And to me sitting here telling you about Intercap Lending, that’s the greatest gift I can have. Inner Gap Lending is a mortgage company that’s shaking up things by making home loans more accessible, straightforward, and personal. 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Terms apply. Thanks so much for making Locked on Jazz your first listen of the day. Super appreciate it. Locked on NBA big board with Raphael and brother James there for you each and every day as well. All right, so I just think it’s a worthwhile conversation. I think the Zion conversation has led to a very good conversation on like what is it we really think the fifth pick can do, right? So this year, last year was a terrible draft and the fifth pick was Ron Holland. We don’t actually know if he’ll play in the NBA. The fifth pick was is a sewer Thompson the year before on a loaded draft. Jaden Ivy the year before that. These are not like Jaylen Suggs the year before that. Like Isaac Aoro the year before that. And I’m not saying every fifth pick is the same. Darius Garland 2019 was terrific. Trey Young in 2018 on a what was a loaded draft. De’Arren Fox in 2017. Dear Fox is pretty great player. He’s like 35th best in the NBA. Maybe Chris Dunn in a not very good 2016 draft. Mario Hona in a 2015 draft that people will regret. Dante Exom in a 2014 draft. Alex Len in the 2013 draft. This is ugly. Thomas Robinson in the 2012 draft. This is one heck of a streak by fifth picks. And Yonas Valenunis in 2011 draft, Demarcus Cousins in 2020 only because somebody was silly enough to take Wesley Johnson. And then Ricky Rubio taking two picks before Steph Curry, which ends all draft conversations. I want to address one other thing I read in a ton of comments. And I want you to listen please closely. Okay? Don’t get outraged. Just listen. So the number the the thing that kept being said time and time again. Zion wouldn’t want to be here. So I have two comments on that. What’s that based on that concerns me? Like if Zion like why why he’s a small town South Carolina kid went to Duke has played in New Orleans like he’s been in no legal trouble he went to think he’s from I think he was born in Salsbury North Carolina if I remember correctly small town South Carolina somewhere okay like why like what makes you say that no no really think about So that’s like I just want to really chew on that one for a second. Okay. What are you saying? The second one on this concept of he doesn’t want to be here is if I just take it on face value without overthinking it like I might have in the first part or implying some other stuff. No one wants to be here. Listen closely. There is no NBA player that wakes up in the morning and says, “I hope I go to Sacramento.” There’s no NBA player that wakes up in the morning and says, “I hope to go to Utah.” There’s no NBA player that wakes up in the morning and says they hope to go to Detroit or Cleveland or Oklahoma City probably or Portland. most places, almost all of them. In fact, if you’re 25 and have millions of dollars, you might want to go to Miami or Los Angeles, maybe New York, but that hasn’t shown to be true. Maybe San Francisco, maybe if you’re from there, Dallas or Houston, but that hasn’t totally shown. So, there’s a flaw in the concept. and that is that most players don’t want to go where they go. Most people don’t they don’t want to go to Philly. It’s big city, pretty awesome. They don’t go to Philly. That’s that’s the truth there. There’s these players don’t have free will on where they get to go. They go wherever they get drafted and they get traded to. And your responsibility at that point is to try to build an organization that’s good enough. And also, by the way, in a era in which they only can force themselves out of trades to go somewhere, you try to build it the best you possibly can. Ryan and Ashley Smith are doing that as well as they possibly can. You cannot live as an NBA fan or an NBA organization under just this utter fear all the time of, oh, they don’t want to be here because no one wants to be here. I do. I love to ski. I think it’s the greatest place on the planet. I can’t believe I’m lucky enough to live here. I’m have gratitude and gratefulness toward it every day. But I’m not a 25-year-old NBA player. And a 25-year-old NBA player doesn’t want to be any of these places. Now, they might they I promise you they don’t want to be in Oklahoma City. They might decide that it’s worth to be in Oklahoma City for a year or two because they’re going to win a title. Maybe, maybe not. It’s pretty hellacious. But that’s what you’re trying to do. So, this kind of constant narrative that I read in all of the comment sections, and I shouldn’t maybe I shouldn’t worry about my comments, but this was literally thrown out the comments. That’s what this is about. But I don’t want they don’t want to be here. First, I just ask you like, who does and what is it you’re looking for that would make you ever say a player does want to be here? Like, who would that player be? I mean, seemed like the kid from Indiana might have been that guy, right? seemed like the intellectual kid from Greenwich, Connecticut might have been that guy. So like let’s lose that narrative because one, it inhibits any progress. Two, it ignores the work that Ryan and Ashley Smith are trying to do to make this as appealing as any place possible. And I love Ryan’s narrative that we’re not a small market. And frankly, I’m not sure being a small market matters right now since if you combine Indiana and Oklahoma City, you still aren’t in the top 15 markets in the NBA. That is true. You combine Indiana and combine Oklahoma City and put it together, you’re the 16th biggest market in the NBA. And they’re going to play in the finals and we’re going to have the worst TV ratings in the history of the league. And everyone’s going to create a narrative out of it. It’s not true, too. So, that’ll be my next rant. So, I just wanted to address that. Like, what is possibly based on that he doesn’t want to be here if we traded for Zion Williamson? Why? And who does? And what are the cities in which someone wants to be to? Let’s ask it that way. Rather than criticizing Utah or criticizing Salt Lake City, ask it like what cities does somebody want to be to. There’s five. Tr No one wants to go to Indiana. Trust me. So, we got to kind of get over that, frankly. The 21st pick of the NBA locked on mock draft is on the board right now. Let me let you tell you who I’m choosing from and see what you think next on Locked on Jazz. The mock draft is going on. I don’t want to ruin all of it for you. It’ll be done the 16th. But as we get close to the 21st pick, some of the names of interest are off the board. Carter Bryant went very early, which is an Arizona kid I’ve been intrigued by. Igor Denman went right where he expected. I’ve got a lot of people said, “Well, I haven’t talked about Igor Denman.” Okay, well, Jay Catch can talk about it. Locked on Cougars, but we have the fifth and 21st pick, and he’s going to go somewhere between 11 and 17. So, I can talk about Igor Deman certainly, but like from a Jazz standpoint, Igor Deman is not someone Nick Clifford who out of Colorado State who I really like puts another guard and we already have Isaiah Keonte Bryce. I think we should draft him, but I don’t think that Nick Clifford is dramatically better than those. And I you need to you got to draft someone’s got a route to getting on the floor. He went 17. Danny Wolf out of Michigan who’s kind of a Kyle Philip, poor man’s Kyle Philipowski in my opinion, went 18. By the time we got to 21, there were, I would say, five really interesting players on the board. And those five players um on the board are were the following. So Colin Murray Boils, who’s this kind of big huge, and I think some of this might be slightly educational. I don’t think a lot of people have dug deeply into the 21st pick. So Colin Murray Boils is out of South Carolina. He’s was a sophomore. He’s 66, 240 pounds. Um he plays with the ball in his hands. He’s got some offensive playmaking skills to him. He averaged 17 points, eight rebounds, two assists. He is not really much of a shooter. There aren’t a lot of players that match his like I am a bit one of the scouting things I believe in is like, okay, his best case scenario is Draymond Green. Okay, well that’s not going to happen because Draymond Green’s one of the Hall of Fame and maybe it is, but it’s probably not. And so who’s next on the list? It’s like when people say, well, he’s the next Charles Barkley. Well, he also might be the next Clarence William Williamson or he might be the next Byron Houston. You don’t remember those names because they didn’t play. So that’s a little bit how I feel. And Colin Murray Boils. Jace Richardson is on the board for us. He’s a freshman out of Michigan State. I think these are very realistic, by the way. He’s six feet tall, 66 wingspan. His dad’s Jason Richardson. He played at Michigan State. Um he shot it really well. He comes out really well on our numbers. He’s a real possibility. Um, again, we get into a little funny game here where we have Isaiah Collier, who’s not so good that you don’t draft a player in that position, but you also need to have a route for them to get on the floor. Re Walter Clayton Jr. out of Florida is on the board. He had the incredible NCA tournament run. Um, he’s 6’2. He’s another guard. He’s 22 years old. You have to be a little nervous because he really prospered later in his career, but he had some fabulous numbers last year. Thomas Sorber is on the board and really interesting to me. He’s out of Georgetown. There’s a lot of players that are interesting here in this realm that we’re all kind of on the board. This is 21 is going to be a really interesting pick. There’s just a lot of players. Sorber averaged 15 points, nine rebounds. He got hurt. Um he plays crazy hard. He had a foot injury in February that kind of ended his season. Um, he’s 6’9 and a quarter, so he’s not quite big enough. He’s 262 pounds, but he has a 76 wingspan, which begins to make you think he can make up for some of his height. Um, he’s low, wide, big screen setter. Kavon Looney type maybe would be a good comp here. Um he’s really to me jumps out as a pretty intelligent player. Maybe he’s Wendell Carter Jr. who I’ve always really loved. Maybe overly um think he’s really interesting. Liam Mcnal out of Yukon is on the board here. This is an interesting kind of does a lot of things, plays a lot of different, but I thought he fell down a lot honestly, which is of all weird things. He’s 66, 20 years old, 214 lbs. He It’s you can see it. He plays with the ball in his hands. I’m a little nervous on my choice and my pick that I think I would make in this circumstance, but curious what you guys think. is the kid out of Illinois. Will Riley Canadian? I’m a fan. Um, I think there’s a lot in here. This is a little bit of a projection pick. I like the fact he’s 6’8. Like, honestly, like that’s it. His wingspan is not great, though. He’s just 6’8 on his wingspan. He you I look at 68 kids and it’s like, yeah, they all like they all end up playing in the league. Um, I thought he did just a lot of different things in how he played. Uh, he was on an Illinois team where he wasn’t always in the rhythm of the game. Um, he shot it. Okay. He’s 68. I thought he showed some athleticisms. Thought I showed little. He just saw showed pieces. you’re huge projection here, right? Like I’m basically taking tiny little pieces, which is frankly what I did with Cody Williams, and we’ll see how that works out. Obviously, initial season was as rough as it can be. We’ll see whether he can put this together a little bit. Um, and there were pictures of him in it. Jim reworking his whole shot recently on the internet. Like hopefully that works out. Um, when I looked at I’m trying to find my numbers on Will Riley, I don’t see them. Where are they? Here we go. So, the interesting one on Will Riley that’s a little nerve-wracking is that he was in the 35th percentile in transition. He’s in the 90th percentile in isolation on 48 attempts, which I certainly saw in the film that he had this like ability to get free. 49th percentile in spot up shooting, which is average. catch and shoot 48th percentile and off the bounce dribble took 99 of them which is a lot for this kind of level of the draft and was in the 46th percentile. I just at 19 years old, 6’8, Canadian, just feels like there’s a lot of pieces there that possibly could come together now, right? Asa Newle was gone. Nate Clifford was gone. One of the two French kids was gone. So to a little bit to that level, that’s the thought. But those that’s the choice at 21 that I had in the mock draft. Uh interesting your thoughts on that. Tyresese Hallebertton last night, 30 points, 10 rebounds, 15 assists, zero turnovers. There is a fundamental change going into the game right now, the NBA of what’s important, what’s not. How rosters are built, what players are better than we think. It’s really interesting to see what’s taking place here. Turnovers are becoming a major. This is becoming one of possession game has become one of the most important things. and to have someone who doesn’t turn it over in ball possession. Oklahoma City lives by winning on the edges on ball position. Mark Dagnel is a genius basketball coach in being able to win 1% here, 2% there, 5% there, and by the end of the night he’s improved their chances by 8% and they win. The other one I would just say watching the playoffs, and this may be not any different, but you got to be tough and you got to be deep. You got to be tough though, right? We’re seeing some guys play who don’t usually play who or we’re seeing some guys who play who then don’t play. Almost universally, it’s coming down to toughness. Nesmith, Nemhard, they can play because they’re tough. Thomas Bryant’s not very tough. Couldn’t play for Indiana. Landry Sham can play because he’s tough, right? Like we’re seeing OG Anobi can play cuz he’s tough. We’re seeing guys that can play because they got a little Terrence Shannon Jr. suddenly playing for Minnesota because he’s an elite athlete and he’s tough. There’s some physically strong something really to that. Like physically strong. I have to admit like Will Riley doesn’t strike me as that watching him at Illinois. Not sure any of these kids do. I I think that might be the trickiest thing about the draft is trying to figure out which of them will actually have the toughness. There aren’t a lot. You don’t watch a lot of these guys and say, “Oh, he’s really tough.” They’ve never had to be tough at 19. That is Lockdown Jazz today. Thanks so much for tuning in. What do we got tomorrow? Thursday show. I’m trying to get a really special week next week looking at the top five picks and doing some fun stuff. We’ll see if I can get that done. It is Locked on Jazz. Thank you very much for tuning in. Follow me on the socials at DL09. Subscribe or follow the show if you haven’t already. Five star reviews are greatly appreciated. You’re the best. Thanks for being a part of the community. It is locked on jazz. We send you the first ever 247 national NBA channel locked on NBA. Plus, check out Locked on NBA big board for draft coverage.

David Locke, radio voice of the Utah Jazz and Jazz NBA Insider, explores fan reactions to a proposed Zion Williamson trade. He challenges the notion that Zion wouldn’t want to play in Utah, arguing that most NBA players don’t choose their destinations. Locke dissects expectations for the fifth overall draft pick, comparing potential outcomes to past selections and NBA stars.

The podcast delves into the 21st pick of the NBA mock draft, highlighting prospects like Colin Murray-Boyles, Jace Richardson, and Will Riley. Locke emphasizes the importance of toughness in playoff performances, citing examples from recent games. He also touches on Tyrese Haliburton’s impressive stat line and the evolving priorities in NBA roster construction, particularly the emphasis on minimizing turnovers and maximizing possessions.

0:00 Jazz fans reject Zion Williamson trade
5:42 Analyzing expectations for 5th draft pick
15:32 Historical look at 5th overall draft picks
19:40 Addressing “players don’t want to be here” narrative
22:14 Mock draft: Potential picks at 21st overall
29:57 Tyrese Haliburton’s impressive playoff performance
30:58 Importance of toughness in playoff basketball

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41 Comments

  1. I expect the 5th pick. It's pretty simple. They decided to ship out one clear HOF player and probably a second when all is said and done just entering their prime. So the game now is they gotta get something better than 2 HOF players right?

    Is that Zion? No.

  2. I don't understand why you're pretending that all top 10-15 players in the NBA are as injury prone as Zion. He's uniquely unavailable for games. Do your draft math for any other top 10-15 players and you'll see the fanbase mostly coming along for the ride.

  3. You're right. Most all 20 something NBA players don't want to be here. But players that are super into the black lives matter stuff REALLY don't want to be here.

    Also, his family has been saying that he needs to be in a major market literally his whole career. Causing issues with the pels because of his spoiled nature.

    I'd rather deal with the Ja Morant drama. At least Ja seems like a person who will put in work and be happy with a fan base that will appreciate him.

    Everything I've seen about Zion screams lazy spoiled brat. If Zion could be healthy, he'd have forced his way out of New Orleans by now. Just like AD.

  4. I think that Zion trade is a no brainer. I also don’t think there’s any reality where New Orleans does it. Lauri would absolutely need to be in the deal.

  5. Thinking about using draft assets and/or young players to acquire expensive, and seriously flawed players, is not the way towards savvy team building. There’s a reason that these players haven’t won. There’s a reason why they are on the market. It’s not just bad luck, and/or context. And with the new CBA rules, taking on big money and/or long contracts is a bigger risk. There are circumstances when taking a swing on one of these guys might make sense. Where Utah currently is on their timeline, is quite far from that. Stay the course. Take the #5 pick.
    As for 21, I don’t think that McNeeley and Sorber will be there. But if they are, that’s who you’re choosing btwn. Fwiw, I do like Riley, just not as much as the above two.

  6. Zion played 30 games last year. However, he could have played >55 games if not because Pelicans held him back due to back-to-back games and tanking in the last two months of the season. This holding him back had occurred in several past years as well. And he played 70 games in 23-24 season. So Zion is not as "unhealthy" as you may realize. I'm a Pelicans fan so take my words as a grain of salt 😏

  7. Top 15 talent doesn't matter if it's only playing 25-30% of the time. I don't think we get better talent at #5, but putting an albatross like Williamson on the roster isn't a great alternative. He's played 70+ games how many times in his career? Hard pass.

  8. I think one reason Jazz fans overestimate draft picks is that all of our best players over the last 40 years have been players we drafted or traded for on draft night: Stockton, Malone, DWill, Gobert, and Mitchell. Some great secondary pieces have been trades or free agents (Hornacek, Boozer, Okur, Conley), but we've never seen one of them pan out to be THE guy.

    Also, if Jace Richardson is available at 21, he's who I'm taking.

  9. No we are not nuts. THIS is the issue with being a stats guy. you miss what is staring right at you. He is never healthy. There is always something wrong with him. And why in the world would he want to play here in Utah if he doesnt want to put the effort for NOLA. Its not a "risk". Even healthy with all the previous injuries and the likelihood that he even plays half a season, he isnt top 15 anymore. Terrible trade dont touch it with a 10 foot pole. #5 should be Tre if available if not ACE.

  10. David I don't think you are framing it right. The fans aren't saying 5th pick >Zion. You are basically asking us to give up on the rebuild for a player That probably doesn't get us to the heights that Donovan and Rudy did. The whole point was to give up on being good so that we can be great. Zion will not make us great.

    Also the reason we think Zion won't like it here is because he pays to move pornstars to live by him so he can openly cheat on his wife with them. He's constantly going to strip clubs and knocking strippers up. He's a POS. That doesn't scream Jazz DNA to me

  11. Zion isn’t “a risk”… he’s THE biggest risk in the whole league. Even if (HUGE IF) he gets healthy… there’s then still a very high chance that his awful defense and no stretch ability don’t make you a contender in the playoffs. The tear down wasn’t so that we’d simply get back to the playoffs… it was so we could find a true title contending superstar in the draft, or keep gathering enough assets that you can go all in for one when available. Why blow up your entire plan to hitch yourself to the biggest risk in the entire NBA??

  12. What I expect from the #5 pick in this draft is higher potential than the #1 in the last draft. I believe that both VJ and Trey have the potential to be third team all NBA for more than one season. (Oladipo would have been for more than one without injury.) I also Expect a salary 1/3 of Zion's for the next 3 plus seasons.

  13. Also if Zion plays this year, next years pick is given to OKC which just widens the gap between us and them. One more season of prudence then we can play the "what about a trade for this guy" game. I appreciate that you needed something to draw interest in this little dead period David, but I think this conversation will have a lot more weight to it next summer.

  14. I expect to be a good piece to continue to build but still be bad for next year for a better draft. After that I want the tanking to be over.

  15. If the jazz did trade for Zion I wouldn’t be upset…but I’m not doing it based on the current state the Jazz are in. I don’t think we have a good enough team built around him to do anything…if we’re trading away our 5th pick and some vets for him who do we have supporting him aside from Lauri? I love Lauri but those two aren’t winning a championship…if we need another guy like a Trae young would we have enough left over in a deal with Atlanta to have a sustainable team? Sure we’d have a solid 3 but who’s supporting them? I’d rather take Zion if we knew we had a young guy that was on the rise, like Shai was for OKC or even a Tyrese Maxey on Philly, that way if Zion doesn’t work out the young guy can be built up to take over and keep us in the conversation of winning a title, and I don’t think we have that caliber of a young guy. You’ve said yourself Keyonte and collier haven’t shown enough and Trae Johnson would be the best young talent on the team which speaks to the state that we’re in. Acquiring the Milwaukee pick is only great if Giannis ends up getting traded and we still don’t know if that’ll even happen. Ultimately any move we make has risk which is why I wouldn’t be upset at the Jazz for taking Zion if that actually happened.

  16. My issue with the trade is the path to contention and window of contention that it creates. IF he's healthy we probably have 3 years to be in contention. Now how do we get there in those 3 years? How do we get another top 20 player and build the depth required to make it into the top 4? If we're not in the top 4 by the end of his contract he's going to be ready to get out of Utah. That's the nature and history of top 10 talents in the last 20 years. I'd rather take the OKC rebuild approach.

  17. I’m 100% in on the Zion trade, the average Jazz fan doesn’t realize that cooper flag may never be as good as Zion, and we have a possibility to acquire that talent?

    I am on the “pelicans was the worst possible org for Zion” train and think he could do great here

  18. No way Dave, ppl called him Zion Wendyson for a reason, he just couldn’t quit Wendy’s, as a professional athlete, can’t even get his conditioning right with max contract salary.

  19. Cody Williams needs to make huge strides this season or he was a bust. Isaiah is good but cant shoot the 3, KG3 hasnt shown any consistency. Anyone we get at 5 will be an improvement over most of our current young talent especially at the guard line.

  20. The problem I have with your argument that no one wanting to be here like many cities has an issue I am still upset about. Jazz traded Mitchell bc he didnt want to be here. I said then and say now I dont care I am not trading him and he is playing out his contract where the Jazz could have given him the super max. Maybe Jazz success would have had him change his mind. Now you are trying to tank to try and get someone like Mitchell. Ainge and the Jazz blew it!!! You never ever trade guys like Mitchell. Angels got bad rep for letting Otani leaving for nothing but what if he decided to stay. In the NBA super max option and cap issues made it even easier on the Jazz than the Angels to keep their star but Ainge blew it!

  21. You have to call a spade a spade. Way back 30 years ago, a couple of players stated publicly they weren’t going to Utah (I believe one was Derek Harper, then of Dallas; and Rony Seikaly, who refused to show up when he was traded). Over the past 200 years, the predominant cultural tradition, which eventually settled in Utah, prided themselves on the idea the whole world was out to get them. And the persecution complex runs deep in these valleys. Somehow this equates to them believing they are the “righteous” and “chosen people”. Therefore, the tradition must persist, that they are to be forever persecuted. Otherwise they lose one of their reasons to maintain their tribal identity. “If the rest of the world doesn’t hate us, that means we’re just like them, and no longer special.” So you see, persecution must remain, in their minds, so they can continue to believe they are special.

  22. None of the players we could draft at 5 have the ceiling of Zion. But, the best ability is availability.

  23. if you need a person warming the bench and never play, Zion is your guy, look fact is if Zion was playing night in night out like Karl Malon there would be no trade talk of Zion, you got to ask yourself why is the Pels trying to get rid of him?

  24. I was one of the NO to Zion Group…. My reasoning it's than I don't want to be locked in a Zion / Lauri Core…. And miss out on next year's draft….. I think it's not worth it, sacrifice that much AND NEXT Year's Draft…. For the biggest what if on the league

  25. I get your point on VJ Edgecombe and I agree with the comp he is Victor esc. But to be fair if Oladipo wasn't injured early on he would have more all star selections he had all the talent to keep improving.

  26. The Jazz are not in position to try and win immediately – Zion doesn't move the needle far enough to get off the current trajectory we are on Zion puts us in the play in/#6 at best – Are we also trying to get Trae Young if we go after Zion? With #5 this year we would be drafting our best young player – and tanking again next year in an even better draft, 5th pick next year easily on par with Harper from this draft – maybe we luck into #1 and get AJ – so we have a solid 1-2 punch with AJ/Boozer and Tre Johnson (20 point per game SG). Taking a player at #5 better long term outlook, I wish we were closer to contention with Zion, but I personally think it just puts us back to where we were with Mitchell and Gobert good, but not good enough to win it all.

  27. Think of the ceilings put on jokic, haliburton, brunson, hero, butler, mitchell, millsap, sga etc etc of players who blew out the ceilings off player comps. Keep taking swings. Find that person through the draft. Betting on a guy elite on 2 pt scoring, injured constantly, out of shape, not a 3 point threat and a terrible player on D. at best 25 to 30 games a year. I'll pass. I question top 15. Top 15 potential but currently a top 15 I disagree.

  28. Tre Johnson ceiling: longer, more athletic Stephen Curry! What in the world are you basing your ceilings off of??? No one knows what the ceiling of any of these players is!!! A huge portion of their potential is based on how much work they will put in going forward. Did you see SGA, Giannis, or Jokic being a top 5 player when they were drafted? What ceiling did you have on them before they were drafted? Michael Jordan could have been Andrew Wiggins, and Lebron could have been Chuck, or Zion if they hadn't been some of the hardest workers.

    This is what we do know: if you don't draft someone who turns into a top 5 player in the league, you're not going to be able to trade for one! And if you somehow manage to, you'll give up so much you won't be able to put a championship team around him!!

  29. at 21 BPA – give me another 5 star athlete with upside for sure – Riley/McNeely for us would be awesome – with Johnson/VJ that would be 2 of the top 20 players from the previous class – Ideally trade up for Egor if possible – but I think he ends up going top 10 which will make him out of reach

  30. Reasons to do the Zion Trade:
    – Higher ceiling than anyone you'll draft at 5
    – The combination of him and Lauri would be deadly offensively, then rotate in Taylor Hendricks for defense
    – We would be a playoff team
    – If he gets hurt, then we can still get our draft pick next year.
    – Having him and Lauri could sway another top 15-25 player to play here.

    Reasons not to do it:
    – Health concerns
    – Defensive liability (especially with Lauri and him on the floor)
    – He most likely won't stay here long term
    – If he plays all year next year, we will lose our draft pick, so it better be worth it.
    – He doesn't make us a championship team.

  31. I wouldn’t mind Zion, but I think we’re a year early. With the 2026 picks being top 8 protected or it goes to OKC, I think another 17 win season is necessary to try and get AJ or Cam Boozer or someone else really good. Then we can look to truly build the team.

  32. The problem on Zion is that you're suggesting giving up a no.5 pick for him. I don't think anyone is trading a lottery pick for Zion and IMO, that means you don't need to trade that lottery pick. All you need to do is give the best offer. Trade two of the late first round picks plus players. The lottery pick is too valuable.

  33. Zion is not a winning player and he’s hurt all the time. He wants to be in a big market too and Utah is not that.

  34. I'm really tired of people saying no one wants to come here. Locke makes a good point. The vast majority of teams in the NBA aren't high demand places. No one wants to go to OKC or Indiana, but players learn to love where they go. Most players who come here love it once they get here.Clarkson and Sexton sure seem to like it!

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