Hour 3: David Locke Talks Utah Jazz & NBA Draft | Ranking Utah Jazz Prospects | SEC Hubris Has An…
DJ and PK proudly presented by our title sponsor, Black Desert Resort, Utah’s premier golf resort. We are joined now by David Lock, radio voice of the Utah Jazz. David, good morning. I have so many comments about that opening music that you just brought me in with. Like, you guys have become so hip and so in and so like on it now. Like, it’s impressive. And if PK tries to sing that, I’m getting off. I’ll leave that line alone. Okay. David James, Patrick Kennahan, a Friday morning. Oh my gosh, my life is complete. I am happy I get to talk to two of the greats of the business. You know, I was talking with my young locked on host this week, trying to help them develop into greatness co-hosted shows. And you know, I used two great reference points. I used a little why I used a little Dr. Drew and Adam Corolla if you really want the truth. And I used DJ and TK as models of brilliance, of greatness. of how one should do a twoerson show. In that uh example and parable, am I Dr. Drew or Adam Corolla? And I’ve been asked in a long time. There’s no question you are Adam Corolla. Yep. There it is. That was not difficult. That’s the layup right there. Yes, that might be the best. Old Lovel lines might be the best twoperson radio show ever done. Why Why did it go away if it’s that good making money? Well, probably because Adam Corolla went and made a bunch of money doing podcasts, which some people have done in their lifetime. Um I think he’s coming to town here soon. Oh, is he? He’s still He’s still rolling around doing that. That’ll be fun. Yeah. O’Keefe does amazing job with Y, guys. That’s awesome. Um, I have a basketball question whenever you come up for air. Um, what’s the best single person show of all time? Howard Stern, except he’s got a whole team of people that Okay, it’s probably a good answer. Do you remember Russ? Do you remember Russ? Yeah. Yeah, Russ was brilliant. Um, you know, I drove across country in 19 92, I think it was, looking for a job um in radio and you know, like literally was going to pay phones um along the way to like call the next interview I was doing to try to get a job. So I think I it’s like probably third 25 30 days around all the western United States and there’s no cell phones. I was sleeping in super eight motels listening to Rush Limba every day and like literally learned I think how to do talk radio. I mean I think he might be the greatest talk radio host of all time um from Rush Limba and how he did everything during that span trying to start my career. The only other one I would go with on this, this is not what you intended to talk about today. Really was. Does anybody reme does anybody remember Phil Henry? Yes. Yeah. Do a bunch of characters himself. Yeah, that was different. There’s a photographer I worked with who was uh whenever I was with him, that show was always on. I didn’t know who he was. Photographer had to explain to me what was going on. He was on in LA at night when I again like how do you learn the business? Not that this is supposed to be a David Lock retrospective. Um, but so in the 90s I used to flip between at night listening to Jim Rome on 690 I think it was at the time out of out of Mexico and Phil Henry on like KFI when I was in my college life was pretty exciting. That’s what I was doing at night. Um, yeah, listening to those two guys. So anyway, all right. David James, Patrick Kennahan, as I started, two of one of the great pairs of all time, your everybody’s buddy. No, stop. David James, the annoyance, the opinionated, the costic, the wellressearched, the groundbreaking, the news breaking Patrick Hahan. What an honor to be on with the two of you. We are both watching the NBA playoffs. David Lockach with one eye on the Utah Jazz. How do you build something? What does it take to win in this era? These rules, this style of play, these CBA rules. And we’ve been talking about Oklahoma City, you know, with their starters between the ages of 23 and 27 with the most important guy, 26 years old. They are set up to win for another five, six years in basketball terms. But you do have the money out there. And I was looking at the Thunder salaries and thought, well, they’re absolutely set up for next year without a doubt, right? They could win this year. Could they repeat next year? They’ll have they they’ll have the gang together if they choose and if they have health. Now, year three, there’s some players on options. Guys start to become eligible for bigger money and they can probably handle that. But if they were to try to win four in a row, which is outrageous and and I haven’t seen it done in my lifetime, it’d be great to to see someone chase that. Well, everybody’s I mean, everybody’s up for new money in year four. I don’t see how they can keep the group together. Am I number one, am I right about that? And number two, is that just the way the CBA is written and that’s what everybody’s dealing with? And maybe with their young draft picks, they can find a way, but this team’s going to look different uh three years from now. What do you think? I yeah I mean I think I don’t think you can have long runs because you’ve got good enough player in this circumstance got good enough players and if there’s a message from this playoff that I think will be taken into the off season and impact roster movement it is going to be that the top two players on Indiana, New York and Minnesota all make about 60% of the cap or $85 million. Oklahoma City’s even lower just because where they are in their in their timetable. They’re at 60 million. The the idea that you used to put two or three team players together that are all making, you know, 50 million and a 100 million of the cap is coming out of the first two players and 130 million is coming out of the top three, that’s over. If that if there’s a message to this playoffs that you’re going to take, that’s the message. That that is over. those teams, Phoenix, Philadelphia, Milwaukee, Denver, it didn’t work and it’s not working anymore. You have to have better depth, more players. The league has created an environment where that’s that’s what they’ve built. And the game’s changed a little bit. Ironically enough, for all the complaining about the game, I think the game means you have to have more talent on the floor and you can’t just be onedimensional with one player. And so I think we’re we’re at a different stage of roster building. And so yes, at some point this becomes very difficult, but I mean that’s the Baltimore or the NBA are going to be fine. Okay. So don’t have a big Maybe you can have a big three, but you can’t have an expensive three. That’s the lesson that you got to spread the money around to guys three, four, five, six. It’s tricky. I mean like Golden State’s in real trouble. Like they got hundred million dollars out of their top two guys now. like you really need Jimmy Butler to come in at 20 million in the backstage career, not 45, not 50. So, I don’t know how this I don’t I don’t know how how it’s going to all play out over time. Um, I wonder if we’re in an era I was actually going to kind of do a show next week on Locked on Jazz where I tried to like walk this through like kind of almost doing a if you would think about it like an improv or like a a workout session like I’m trying to work this out in my head and I can’t do it and I was kind of figuring that that would be the way I would do it. I almost think there’s something here which accelerates the timetable of a rebuild now because the way almost in the NFL if you can get the quarterback who’s cheap before you pay him and you can play all your other positions then if you can go get a few guys before they get fully paid to be good enough then you can you can do like Isaiah Harkinstein like the Isaiah Harkinstein contract’s super interesting. He’s the second highest paid player, if not the highest paid player in Oklahoma City at 30 million for two years. It was probably an overpay, but it was perfect because they knew that in the next two years they were fine because they could overpay because none of their other guys were coming up yet, right? And I think there’s going to be some of that going on where you get one or two young players that are ready and then you add some veterans around them for a lot of money but on very short contracts. And then when your youngsters get paid all the way, you’re going to have to rebuild your roster next time. The things that presses me about OKC, obviously the stars up front and the high pick with a homegr all that, but they were able to get a Williams kid at 12 and he’s developing himself into an all-star. It’s amazing to watch him develop. So they had good drafting, but then also too to be able to get guys like Aloo Dort who’s a free agent. And I believe that there’s the quality of play in terms of volume is probably as good as it’s ever been. And with that in mind, that puts an extra what would say uh spotlight emphasis uh requirement on your scouting department to make sure you find these guys to be able to flush out your roster and have them be role players who are limited, but what you’re asking them to do, they’re pretty good at it and they augment and supplement the stars. So, with that in mind, how important is it to be able to scout players to get these types of guys on your roster that can help win you ball games in terms of supporting the stars? So, 100% there’s five of them on their roster. That’s as big a key as any. And then because they were ahead of the game, they’re able to assign them to all reasonable contracts which allow them to have this depth. So there’s Lou Dorton who was 6’4, 245 lb, no position, a pack 12 freshman of the year, clearly skilled and nobody in the league was willing to draft him and they pick him up as a free agent have turned him into like pretty and then he couldn’t shoot. He shot like 24% at Arizona State and as you probably well know and then now he’s shooting 354%. They do have Chip England who’s one of the great shot creators coaches on in the business on their staff. Aaron Wiggins is the other one. Aaron Wiggins was the second to last pick of the second round out of Maryland, three years at Maryland. Solid player. They saw something. They’ve turned him into a viable NBA play rotation player and they’ve signed him for three or four years at 10 million. Kendrick Williams has been on that team the whole time through the two years of losing and is just a hard energy player that they found a spot for that bounced around the league a little bit. Isaiah Joe was cut off the scrap heat by Philadelphia. He was a interesting prospect at Arkansas. He was taking nine to 10 threes a game in college before anyone ever did that. And there was clearly something there and Philadelphia let it go and Oklahoma City grabbed it and turned him into a again a viable rotation player. And then they drafted Jaylen the other Jaylen Williams late in the sec early in the second round out of Arkansas and he’s got his role and they all have roles. They’re none of them are perfect but they’re all able to play and give you minutes. And I think the the key as I’ve talked about a lot is you’re going to have to have 240 minutes on your roster. you you still have to have great players at the top, but you’re going to have to have a complete roster. Denver had a 200 about 200 minutes on their roster. They were just hiding 40% 40 minutes a night on non-NBA player non-NBA rotation players. That’s 20% of your minutes almost. Well, it doesn’t work. Milwaukee was it when I did it to start the year was like at 185. That’s 30% of your minutes. Phoenix was a joke. They I mean they just said non NBA players playing all over the place and and and you can’t do that anymore and that’s always been a huge premise of mine is the first thing you have to be to be a title commander is have 240 minutes of viable a viable NBA rotation minutes on your roster and now it’s harder to do with the first and second apron and so you really have to manage this correctly and that’s why everyone thinks this is going to be such a wild off season of movement is because every team is reshuffling how they’re building their rosters So, as much as we 100% PK right on it, very Dr. Drewesque analysis. Nice. Nice. So, as much as we want to sit here and talk about these moves and trades and who you draft and all that, did the Timberwolves make an excellent decision? And did Go and his agent make an excellent decision because isn’t he opting out? I think he was at like 43 million next year. No, 46 million next year and he opted out but he got three years at 35, 36 and 38. With the cap going up by 10% and him going up by 10 down by 10 million that makes it easier for them to negotiate everything building out a complete roster, doesn’t it? Yes. And Minnesota also got Mike Connley to take a lower number. And then maybe most importantly um they the other one that they did in that is that they um they did a really good job on I thought the key to Carl Anthony Towns trade which is a little different than people expected was not that you know whether Julius Randall is better than Carl Anthony Towns but is that the J that they went to I’m trying to do the math in my head and it hurts. You know, Denzo’s probably giving him 28 minutes, Randle’s giving him 32. So, they got 60. They went from 32 minutes to 60 minutes for the in that money allocation. And if they, you know, Towns is a $50 million a year player, I think. So, if they had Towns and Ant, then they would have been upwards of a hundred million in their top two players, but instead they’re at 85. I mean, the key to New York is that Brunson’s their third highest paid player. you reviewing the draft and guys as far as your assessment of them. Uh, and I’m wondering how deep you are as far as that to be able to speak of the possibilities whether you think they’ll be three to four to five guys, maybe only one or two with the Jazz drafting. What where are you on that stage in terms of your assessments of those guys? I’m not sure I totally understand the question. And I’ve watched all the guys around five. A good portion of guys around 21. So you’re comfortable this No, this is the fifth pick. You’re you’re comfortable to speak on three or four or five guys is I guess Yeah. The only guy I haven’t watched probably enough though I get who he is is the center out of Duke. Yeah. Yeah. Malawatch. I’m not sure we I’m not sure we’re drafting that five anyway. Right. Yeah. I don’t think that’s a possibility. I would be shocked if that if they did that. That would be A throwing everybody a curveball. Yeah. But I mean, but Ames wanted Zach Edi supposedly. Yeah, but I think that they didn’t necessarily know the level of Kesler’s improvement at that time. Sure. Yeah, I think that I think that’s probably true. And I think um Right. And you know what, Zach Edy at 10 probably would have been the right pick for that draft, the uniqueness of that draft. Right. So, who’s your leading candidate of the guys that you’ve researched at five? So, I still think that I would take Ace Bailey if he slid at to five. He’s a little shorter than everyone thought, right? He’s got some little issues. There’s some actually some reasons why Utah might not be the right like he’s probably for his career better off. I was listening to locked on NBA big board um and they did a really interesting thing about how Ace Bailey’s weaknesses all get highlighted if he ends up in Charlotte and Utah. Whereas if he has to fold underneath Paul George, Tyrese Maxi, and Joel Embiid, he probably has a better developmental path because he’s takes some bad shots and he’s a little, you know, makes some bad decisions. And if he has kind of cart blanch is the best player on the floor at 20 years old, then he’s probably going to make more mistakes. Um, so I thought that was interesting. I really like Trey Johnson. I think he scores 20 points a game in the NBA easily. Um, I know I’ve read all the criticisms about him and then I watch him and I don’t see any of them match. I know he doesn’t come out great on Kevin Pelton and John Hollinger’s numbers. That worries me a little bit. Um, he is high volume and doesn’t do a lot of other things, but I just don’t I’m not too watching it. It doesn’t bother me. Um, I think you guys probably know VJ VJ Edge VJ Edgecom better than I do from watching college all year, but I’ve watched a few of his games. The last one I watched was most interesting to me. It was against Arizona and he was so quiet. I mean, so quiet. And I was really like just kind of like, “Oh gosh, come on.” And then all of a sudden with about seven minutes left in the game, he just asserted himself on the game and in a manner that was like he went to the line I think eight times or four four times and about eight possessions and hit a few shots and just open floor plays and you’re like, “Okay, there it is.” Um and so there, you know, you probably can’t do that all night. I would have liked him to do it before they were down nine um with seven, eight minutes left, but you could see it. Um Jeremiah Fears is interesting. I’m for whatever reason in my initial watch, the other guys all jumped out to me a lot more than Jeremiah Fears. Um I watched the Texas Oklahoma game. He wasn’t very good. Um but he’s in complete control of the game. He’s a point pure point guard. Dribbles an awful lot. Um but is in complete control of the game. His shooting numbers are are on par with everyone else. Maybe a little off, but not a lot. the only one I think VJ Edge comes off the bounce shootings really much less than everybody else is. Um I think those are the four primary guys. I haven’t bought into the coniple at five game entirely. I’d have to I need to go watch his ACC games without the play of um without Cooper flag and see if there’s something else there that I’ve seen. But just I’m I I don’t I’m nerv you know I do watch these guys very critically. I would say that like my instinct watching them is why is it not going to work? That’s that’s the eye that I watch with. Um because the fact of the matter is two of the top 10 picks aren’t going to work and of the 10 of the next 20 picks aren’t going to work. But I think they don’t but they don’t work because and I think this is a huge blind spot even though I want to watch as much video as everybody else. You don’t know how hard and how driven guys are going to be to improve their game. And nobody’s good enough coming in. Most guys aren’t close to good enough coming in. You need a hint of what they’re good at to build on. I get that. But David, how do you measure that willingness to be all in to improve when you’ve got so much money you’re set for life? And that can take a lot of the drive out of people. No. And that’s right. It’s very And also, how do you know how they’re going to react when they’re not the best player on the floor anymore? They’ve been the like I mean, Keont has been the best player on the floor in every game he ever played until he played his first game for the Utah Jazz. And I would say he’s really struggled with that concept. Like that I think is his hurdle is that he doesn’t entirely he hasn’t entirely figured out yet like what it’s going to take to over and that you know what it’s going to take for him to be successful is is not always 24 points a game but that’s a hard I mean he also can probably score 20 points a game so it’s a hard lure to take that away from him. David we appreciate the time as always and today the radio history. Thank you. Thank you. I’ll talk to you later. Okay. David Lock, radio voice of the Utah Jazz. Join us every week here on the zone. DJ and PK. It’s 975 the zone coming up 9:00 hour. Yock. Are we pivoting? Yeah, we’re pivoting. Pivoting. New plan. Brett. Brett. Big 12 commissioner is going to address the media. There are a lot of topics. So, we’re going to let him cover them at about 9:15. So whether you’re a youth or Cougar fan, uh your commissioner addressing the upcoming changes in college sports, that’s at 9:15. We’ll carry live right here on the zone. This is Jake Scott and Ben Anderson. Five and Lowry for three and Paul George is a basketball move. That’s the only way you could explain that away that that would be a basketball. But that’s what I’m saying. I think it you’d have to have additional value if Lowry Markin doesn’t fit into the window. Paul George certainly doesn’t fit into the window. He is on the downside of his career. The value in that deal for the Jazz is you’re eating that thing and you need more than moving up two spots in the draft. The idea to swap five for three, it’s like no. Absolutely not. You wouldn’t do that for two spots to eat Paul George’s contract. That’s crazy. There’s no way. Cuz there’s no basketball argument period. There’s not. If you were dead set on you had to get Ace Bailey, I would do five and 21 for three. But no, I’m not taking back Paul George, right? And three for five. and Lowry. I honestly I don’t think that’s valuable enough for where Paul George is right now. Here, Jake Scott and Ben Anderson every day from 10 to noon on 97Y the KSL Sports Zone. Nominate the youth sports volunteer that you know for the Hercules here of the week. Submit your nomination at kslports.com/contest and then listen every Thursday afternoon to JJ and Alex for the winner. Help us celebrate the efforts of those volunteers making an impact with the Hercules Hero of the Week sponsored by Hercules First Federal Credit Union and Beehive Meals. DJPK, we were just talking NBA team building with David Lockach. The draft you asked about a couple specific players. Have you started to order them in your mind? Uh, roughly. I think they have to trade up to get VJ Edgecom is my guess. I don’t think he’s going to be there at five. See, it depends on what happens with Ace Bailey though. It does. If Bailey goes at three like clockwork, despite whatever reservations people have about him and his size and all that, and it seems like they’re growing by the day, if if Charlotte’s at four, if they for whatever reason don’t like VJ, he does fault you. So, I can’t guarantee you won’t be there, but it just feels like people like him and his value and whether it’s somebody trading up to get him or Bailey’s created room for him, just feels to me like more likely than not, he’s gone. I don’t And there’s a month for everything to change and interviews and you know, who knows? I don’t think the Jazz are that hot on Ace Bailey, right? You’ve said that. So, but here’s the thing. That’s a different story. If he falls to him, though, do you think that they are alone with that or do you think people are just generally cooling on Ace Bailey? Certainly the deal with him going to the combine and measuring like he’s like three inches shorter than advertised. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Oh, my guess is, and I don’t know this, but my guess is that other folks are thinking the same. The scouts are already on to it, right? They’re at so many games. He’s so well scouted. A bunch of them are thinking there’s no way he’s 610. Now, there was probably debate about whether he was 68 and a half or 67 and 3/4 or whatever. You know, when they get that combine number, I don’t think the people who are really wired in were buying 610, but I don’t think they knew exactly what they were buying either. No, I agree with that. And I think that if he’s is 67 and a half, what level of effectiveness is his game at that height? Because that changes the equation versus 610. It really does because there’s so many guys in the NBA in that 67. But that doesn’t mean necessarily that he can’t be effective at that. It just means he would have to play a different level. And the NBA game is night and day compared to the college game. Yes. And and so what you can do at 67 in the college, no, not in the NBA. Probably not. Very few guys can. Uh so how can he adapt in the NBA at his actual height is then becomes the question. And you know, you’re dealing with such young pups that somebody will take him. There’s no doubt in my mind. Obviously, I don’t think he would fall big time, but unless they make a move to move up, who’s available and what can you you can’t control necessarily who’s available obviously and because even if you wanted to move up and somebody says no, uh, you know, I was just reading the other day that there’s people who think that Harper is a literal franchise changer and that caught my eye that they think he’s that good a franchise changer. That’s a heavy statement and those guys don’t come around very often. No, but I think that has been part of the magic of this draft and a lot of it’s been sorted out and people aren’t as hyped up on some of the guys as they were a year ago because they’ve seen him in college for a year. I think that tends to happen. I think it does happen. I think that’s one of the great things about putting people in college because what what happens when you go to the pros and lock always says, you know, the biggest jump is when you go to the pros. Well, there’s multiple reasons for that, but one of the easiest ones to understand is that for the first time in your life, you’re playing against guys who are 8, nine, 10 years older than you. So much experienced, fully grown, developed. I mean, they’ve been working with NBA conditioning people for a decade. Yeah, but so will you after a decade. You will after a decade. But like when you’re a rookie in your second year, they’re veteran knowledge, you know, this whole 10 years of experience, 10 years of building their body. I mean, man, that’s a massive jump. The thing I like about college is for guys who’ve either been playing their age group or one year up, suddenly they have to play up two, three, four years. So, that’s a test in itself. And it’s a test that Cooper Flag passed with flying colors. It didn’t matter what 22 year old was, 23-year-old was on the court against that guy. He was the best player on the court for sure. Right. So, but now, okay, you’re playing up three or four years in college for the first time, and the very next year, if you come out and you only do you’re one and done. Now, you’re playing up 8, 10, 12 years. Okay, but still. So, okay, fine. And that’s why I asked Lock about as much as it’s what I see on video. It’s like, how much are you going to improve? Right. Because you’ll be 27 one day. Yes. And SGA is now 26 and he’s taking names and that’s starting to get in your prime. He couldn’t do it at 21. No, very few can. Which is fine, right? Find another guy who can’t do it at 21, who can at 26, and a fan base will end up thrilled by key here. Yes. And that that’s But this goes back to what you talk about with uh Jerry Sloan to point his heart. Nobody knows what’s in here. And you’re like, my gut instinct, this guy has a chip on his shoulder and really wants it. Something’s going to drive him long after all the money, all the celebrity, all the endorsements, whatever contract, house, car, jewelry you can dream of. But are you still just driven? Because if you’re not and somebody else is on driven, that was impressive. If not, and somebody else is, you know what you look like? You look like the Cavs in game five. I mean, you’re good, but you can’t keep up. They’re driven. The Knicks are driven in a way you are not. At least in game five. And and for two decades, we had that here with the statues, right? And so, yeah. And we we can name the guys who didn’t have it, but they had it clearly for whatever you think of them, they had it. And that’s what propelled them to superstardom. And that’s that’s what these guys that’s that that’s the intrigue of it all because it is isn’t even close to a science. It it might be the first thing you can get in terms of ramifications from science. It is so hard to figure all that stuff out. But A has a knack for doing it and watching the games, you know, N Smith’s an interesting guy. He was a Celtic draft pick. He’s in Indiana now. Um, you know, but what did A see in him? He’s the 14th pick in the draft. Now, he’s a role player, not a star. And when we talk about Harper, we’re talking about, you know, the star possibilities and capabilities, but what is it that N Smith has that he’s 14 middle of the first round? I mean, everybody knows you. Everybody scouted you, but everybody else commits to somebody else and A commits to this guy now. He’s he’s a role guy, but you look and pretty much as he goes the paces, I mean, there’s like think 12 games in a row now. If he’s in double figures, they win. And if he’s not, they lose. Hallebertton went 12th. Yeah. So, and SGA went 11th and all that. So, what do they see? Because you know and these guys are going 11, 12, and 14 and making it, they’ve got something. They keep getting better. Cooper flags already got a lot. It’s obvious. It’s on display. You can watch the video and see it. These other guys have a little bit of it and they have to acquire it. Most do earn it. Most do. Yeah, that’s that’s the whole point. And that’s that’s the essence of what they their assignment. And speaking of the management, that’s their assignment. And Jay-Z talked about that. Their assignment is to find those guys because they’re there and they’re there in varying degrees. I believe they’re there in every draft to varying degrees. Yes. We can look back go back and look at draft. You have to find those young men to figure out who they are. That’s what makes it so intriguing. And but there’s so much at stake. That’s what’s incredible. If you miss you miss badly, right? The Suns and Sacramento missing on Adonsich. That is massive. Jobs were lost. Franchises set back. Minnesota took many years, over a decade to overcome Rubio and Johnny Flynn when Curry was there. And then we know what happened with Golden State. They for all their greatness, they don’t do this without Steph Curry. And they got him at six, I believe it was, because the other guys went four and five. So, the ramifications, good and bad, can be enormous. And the Warriors are good and bad because they hit on Klay Thompson, right? And they hit on Draymond Green and they hit on Steph. Three of their draft picks, got them those titles, but then they make moves and they get high picks later and they have a chance to try to rebuild on the on the fly. And those guys, what are they getting out of those guys? the the best you’re getting is a a a mid-level role player in Kaminga who we’re still waiting. It seems like we’ve been talking about him for three years, man. With Kaminga, Kaminga. Oh, come on, Kaminga. Right. And and you know water, get off the pot here. But what if the answer is, well, he’s really good when Steph’s off the court. Well, that’s some games. That’s great, but he’s not good enough to do that. I know, but you need him to be good when Curry’s on the court. That’s the whole I well I think their their worst was I think it was second or third when they drafted Wiseman. Yes. At least you’re getting something from Kaminga and we can debate but Wiseman Yeah. absolute 100% bust and the second pick or maybe he was the third. Oops. Either way it was awful and that has massive ramifications. We just had Lo telling us that the Warriors are in a deep hole with the Butler thing and the amount of money that they’re going to pay him combined with the money to build a good team around. They’re not. They’re going to be limited to they’re they’re going forward they become the new sons. Yeah. With older guys with huge fat contracts and they’re not massive celebrity, massive name recognition, but they’re not going to have enough good players around them. They’re not going to have money to go get those good players around him. That’s why I have the faith and age. Although my my faith I’m not struggling with my faith. No, I’m not going inactive here. Okay. But what I’m doing is a lot of jazz fans are. But how how long? That’s what I I I wish they could come out and say, but I know they can’t because it would be a bad PR move to say, “Hey, we got two more years of this people. So, get used to it.” I think H told us the truth on that. He spent a lot of time on it. I think he told the truth. He doesn’t know how long. Well, but I think they got an idea. He’s prepared. He does. You don’t know exactly cuz you never know, right? That’s what he said. But okay, but you have an you have a plan in your mind of how long when it’s go time. He has multiple plans in his When is it go time? If that’s what I wish you could say. You know, it’s go time in 2728. All right. If he has a chance to trade for Garnett, it’s go time now. If he drafts Duncan, it’s it’s it’s going to take a little while. Yeah. But they that that’s two different things there. that becomes avail you you can ex No one’s going to say wait you told us 27 28 and now it’s 26 27 how dare you no one’s going to say that it’s just how long do we have to endure all the losing okay so I think that one thing that he can’t answer now but I think that this is something you can put your arms around so it gives you an idea is can they when they talk to San Antonio do they think they can trade up to two Harper doesn’t accelerate things the way Cooper Flag does but he does accelerate thinks and I think the intentional losing ends with Harper possibly the first year but certainly the second the intentional losing now who’s around him and how good are you yeah but if he’s a franchise changer you don’t trade him you don’t trade his the rights to draft him oh and I think and that’s the thing you have to that’s why I started with what happens when they call San Antonio because the Spurs if the Spurs decide this about Harper then they’re moving Fox or Castle I would of course Fox. Yeah, I would think Fox because you go with the age there. Now you got three young dudes that you can really build around and that to me that’s awesome if I’m San Antonio and obviously they’ve got all those titles. So they Yeah, San Antonio fans have no right to complain. Uh and I don’t know if they’re they are or they aren’t. I don’t care. Uh, but I would take that for the Jazz and I would take uh two seasons of development and I would take a first round exit because I know the good times are really coming. It’s just right now I don’t know when the good times are coming. I I can’t I cannot estimate it at all. And I think that’s the frustration that the hardcore have. And I appreciate the hardcore. I don’t bleed with the hardcore, but I love the hardcore. The hardcore are our people, and the hardcore have kept me employed in this dream job for two decades. So, you better believe I love them. And when I get hard when I get on at the gym or wherever and hardcore comes up to me, I try to make time for them because they’re our people. Facts. They’re all facts. You could be BYU, Utah, wherever. I I love the hardcore. Yep. And I wish for the hardcore that they could have a better timeline because then I think they can they can deal with it easier. And I believe and I I still believe this because I believe in Age and I believe in Jay-Z that I think they’ll get this done. I just don’t know when. And I I I can’t even guess when. That’s my thing. I wish I can guess when, but I can’t. But I do believe that they’ll get it done. Well, I think that uh actions speak louder than words and I really don’t think he knows because we told you you do. But if if they trade if they trade Markin, who do they trade him for? And how old is that person? And you know, they’ll have a better idea. Yeah. Okay. So, maybe in a month or two we’ll have a better idea. I think this I think this summer we’ll have a better idea. I think the odds are better than not that he gets traded. And that’s what I wish they could say, but I know they can’t. They can’t. Hey, we had a we have a good chance to really expedite this. Come September 1st, you all have a better idea of where we’re going. I wish they could say that, but they can’t. I get it. They can’t. I just wish they could. Stick around. Listen to a show in July and August. It may suddenly become a lot more obvious to all of us. May very well be. DJPK, it’s 975 the zone. The commission of the Big 12 addressing the media in the 9:00 hour, probably about 9:15. We will carry B your mark right here on the zone when he steps to the microphone in Orlando. Stay with us. Accessing. This is Hance Olsson and Scotty G. Roger Goodell is the most powerful man in sports in America. I think Greg Zeni is number two. Brett Yormark has got to be as aggressive and sly and underhanded as he possibly can be trying to find a way to keep your conference as close to those other two as he possibly can. That is why we’re seeing BYU be so aggressive financially because BYU wants to send a message to your mark to Phillips to Seni saying we want to be in it. We want to win championships. We’ll spin to do it because BYU is a valuable logo. Utah’s become a valuable university. Go into a couple Rose Bowls and their recent success is big. That’s why Utah’s got to get back into it this year because there’s a chance that all except for a few get excluded if you don’t find a way to get your foot in this door and make it a valuable product. Catch Hans and Scotty weekdays from noon to 3 on 975 the KSL Sports Zone. Man, I got great news. This might as well be Christmas day for what I’m about to say. Okay. I want you to follow the way. Yeah. You got a business. I’m going to make you money, man. It’s as simple as that. You got a business that you’re passionate about. Well, who’s the most passionate man you know on radio? That’d be me. Of course it is. PK. So, all you got to do is get me to endorse your product. And I am willing and able. And I love you. And you love me. Yes. So, here’s what you do. You text PK to 57500 and our sales staff, which is awesome, will take care of the rest. Text PK to 57500 and let’s get you rolling in the deep. Sing it, Adele. I now have a new entry. Add it to the collection. Yuck. He told me to. He’s the captain of the ship. We’ve always acknowledged that. Very true. And he says to do something, I got to do it. Our captain. While that was not your best work, that was very good work. I was surprised at the quality of your Adele karaoke. My best work is yet to come. That may well be true. I got another decade at this gig. The SEC has irritated you, PK. They’ve put out a statement. And this is basically the stuff Brett Brett is going to address without saying it specifically. Oh, go after him, Brett. Get out of town. That’d be awesome. That’d be awesome. It never happens. Why not? Because people don’t do that. No, no. We had Kovkov and one and your Mark going. They That was as good as it gets. They and they took snippy shots, but they never really made their case and mock the other league. I don’t know. The SEC puts out this statement, a regular season gauntlet. When looking at the leading metrics that factor in strength of schedule, the conclusion across all of them is clear. No other conference is a regular season as grueling as the SEC’s. Well, if it’s so grueling, then you don’t have to tell me. It stands on its own merit. And they had bad losses last year. Lots of them. Vanderbilt lost to Georgia State right before they beat Alabama. Arkansas lost to 0 and9 Oklahoma State. A team that went 0 and9 in the Big 12 beat Arkansas. Should I go on? LSU lost to a super mediocre USC team. Why? Because they traveled. We always say, “Oh, the SEC never travels.” Did they factor that in? They don’t leave the Deep South. So, they leave the Deep South. They go out to Las Vegas. And what happens? LSU gets beat by USC and then USC turns around loses. They leave the shallow South. Maryland, Minnesota. They’re rolling in the deep south. Go ahead, Adele. This is college football. So, blah blah blah in the SEC. You didn’t. If you’re that good, you would have had a team win the championship. You didn’t. You would have had a team in the title game. You didn’t. You had one team in the semiis and they got there by winning an overtime game in the quarters. You lit literally got one team to scrape into the semis, which is fine. I mean, there plenty of leagues that aren’t in the semis, so that’s great. But don’t tell us you’re the best thing since sliced bread when you had one team scrape into the semis. Well, I think they are the best conference. And this all but this all changed two years ago. And there were lots of people. You were told it. You could go out and read it. You didn’t need to have access to a college football head coach or coordinator or athletic director. the SEC had dominated for years, but now that everybody has NIL, they’re going to pay the money that they weren’t willing to pay before because it was against the rules and that the SEC was willing to pay before and they didn’t care about the rules and the gap was going to close and it was going to close quickly. We read it, we were told it and we saw it play out on the field. So, stop. Yeah, but I think they they feel like they may be losing something. They’re trying to hold on to it. They are and I agree that. But you know, you’re losing it because you’re literally losing. So go out and win. And I think Florida came to Utah and got beat. Come to Utah and win. I think they will. I They’re a fine conference. Well, a lot of stuff is cyclical. So there is the whole Well, you had Nick Sabin also. Sure. But then you don’t somebody else will take their place. They had Urban Meer, right? And then they didn’t, right? And he went to Ohio State. And so that comes and goes. the the thing about the SEC having money is they can go hire, you know, more of those elite coaches. I think for the Big 12 is keep doing the best you can do. Uh get these energetic dudes. I mean, they hit gold with Dillingham. It appears young dude, relatable. Uh get the community jacked about what you’re doing. share best practices on how to excel and do that and try to build everybody invite the media in because you invite the media in, the media is just going to just Yeah. And they’re going to love you and they’re getting their the door slammed on their fingers other places and they got to write something, show something on television, talk about something, stream something. So give access, have them promote your program, which is for free. You got to win. He won. And do the same thing across the board. Let them in. Don’t close them out. Let them in. Well, it’s good that your Mark’s talking here. Exactly. And then you get this at the Big 12 meetings and then you’ll get another dose of this later with the uh media days and you get your name and your brand out there and you tell your story, right? And who knows who’ll take off this year. Maybe it’s ASU again. Maybe it’s Iowa State. Maybe it’s K State. Maybe it’s uh Texas Tech. Maybe it’s one of our local schools. I think the league needs multiple teams because as we expand they’ll get at least two and have what you need is how do you get three conference implication tit conference title implication games in November and when I was over in Colorado they played the 10:00 game right and Then I’m flying out the next morning and then they have ASU at Kansas State. You need big games in November. That that’s the important part when it really highlights it. And and I thought last if they could do what they did last year and continue to have that. I think they’re in a good spot. You know, the Devils lost two conference games, right? Well, one of them Levit didn’t play and is on the road. I get it. Surprise. Yeah. Right. And we’re going to play a road game without our starting quarterback. How do you think that’ll go? Yeah. And so they but they and the other loss was at Texas Tech. So they really didn’t have a bad loss. Don’t have uh uh a loss to Oklahoma State when Oklahoma State’s going through their worst season ever probably. And they didn’t, you know. So do that type of thing and and have Utah I think Utah is still the premier name program in the conference. They got a big game with UCLA. Yeah. Oh yeah. And eyes are going to be on that game. It’s going to be prime time on Fox with uh Nico transferring over there. Yeah. 8:00 at night. Uh it’ll it’ll be actually be will be 11 o’clock back east. That sucks. Yeah. Uh but yeah, go win that game. Yeah, that opening weekend there’s multiple chances for the league to make a mark. Utah’s playing UCLA. The Monday night game is TCU North Carolina with Bellich. Everybody’s going to be watching that, right? Uh what’s Dion going to do at Colorado after sending, you know, two elite guys, the Heisman Trophy winner to the NFL? Well, they got Georgia Tech, which is prime time Friday, and Baylor and Auburn. So, across the board, what is that? Two ACC opponents, an SEC, and a Big 10. And those games, at least right now, I would think are all winnable. Oh, also Cincinnati and Nebraska. So there’s another Big 10 team you can beat. So there’s five games against power teams on the opening weekend. And then I mean, you got to clean up on the other games, but BYU’s got to beat Portland State. Clearly, hey, the last time they they played them, they’ve got to it was the canary and the coal mine. BYU’s got to go three andstead has got to have Wyoming, right? Hillstead’s got to have a big game. I’ll see what you did there. Okay, that’s a topic for next week. Don’t get ahead of yourself. DJ PK, it’s 975 the zone. from the commission coming up in about 12 minutes right here on the zone.
Hour three of DJ & PK for May 30, 2025:
• David Locke, SEG Media
• Who do you want the Utah Jazz to draft?
• Greg Sankey and SEC have angered masses
