EXCLUSIVE: Jazz’s Draft Day GAMBLE | 21st Pick or Ainge’s Trade-Up MASTERPLAN?

EXCLUSIVE: Jazz’s Draft Day GAMBLE | 21st Pick or Ainge’s Trade-Up MASTERPLAN?

what should the Jazz do with pick 21 and who is worth moving up to go get find out next on Locked on Jazz you are Locked on Jazz your daily podcast on the Utah Jazz part of the Locked On Network your team every day hello and welcome into Locked on Jazz my name is Leaf Tulene i’m excited and honored to have the opportunity to fill in for David Lock on Locked on Jazz it’s so fun to be back with you guys during my favorite part of the year for the NBA draft season talking about my favorite team the Utah Jazz as you guys may know by now I’m a lifelong Jazz fan as credentialed NBA draft analyst for a locked on NBA big board attendee of the 2023 and 2024 NBA combine jazz broadcast assistant statistitian the past four seasons and a lifetime lover of college basketball so don’t expect all the geeky numbers you’re accustomed to to be gone but I’ll bring a unique perspective as a diehard college hoops fan who’s seen all these guys play tons NBA draft analyst and a Jazz employee and a diehard fan to make you as knowledgeable as possible about your Utah Jazz thanks for making Locked on Jazz your first listen each and every day remember Locked on Jazz is free and available on all platforms including YouTube at Locked OnJazz where the best way to help us grow is to comment anything below and today’s question is who do you prefer the Jazz Select at 21 and if the Jazz were to move up who do you want that to be so engage with me i love all the comments i read them all today i’ve been engaging with a lot of you guys on Twitter and I really appreciate the support there uh by the way this episode’s brought to you by Monarch Money so take control of your finances with Monarch Money use code locked on NBA at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year today on the show I’m going to tell you about the names and the names of the guys I see as the top options for pick 21 i’ll rank upside versus safety of each player and also list out who I would trade up for and how high in the draft I would think that you have to trade up for each player so I’ve got three players that the Jazz may trade up for and I got four players I’m going to talk about the upside versus their their safety as a pick so let’s dive right in the guys we’re going to discuss today are all wings because this is a spot one that I think the Jazz need and the NBA in general needs i think you need wings to win but also at 21 or thereabout in the draft there are going to be a lot of wings selected just because I think that’s how the board falls so the guys we’re going to discuss today are the following will Riley Liam McNeely Nick Clifford Drake Powell Rashier Fleming Cedric Coward Carter Bryant and Noah Asen so I guess there’s four guys that I think we’ll have to trade up for uh we’ll give you the pitch there so some of those guys will not be their 21 i think there’s four of them that will not i’ll talk about those and that’s where we’ll get to the evaluation of how good are some of these guys and how high will the Jazz need to move to get any of them and how feasible is that so let’s start with the guys I think have a fairly high upside that will be there at 21 and I feel confident can be there at 21 so the first one I’m gonna talk about is a guy that I haven’t seen too much buzz around from Jazz Twitter but I’ve seen some people in the draft community I respect and also this is a guy that I I like so I’ll start with him drake Powell drake Powell gets lost in the the shuffle because it was an ugly season uncc was bad they had too many guards and not enough shooters and he was a tremendous athlete but it didn’t touch the ball very often and for a five-star that was not particularly good however I liked him a ton more than his teammate who had more uh collegiate success than Ian Jackson uh the Jazz the pitch for him is simple he’s the best athlete in the draft the Jazz need athleticism and he’s 6’5 with a 7 foot wingspan 200 lb of springy muscle and he just moves differently than everyone else he floats it It’s kind of strange the way he moves he He just seems to be floating and light on his feet and powerful all at the same time and my favorite part is basketball intelligence uh let’s let’s talk about what he’s lacking because I think that’s going to be a point in the comments they’re going to say “Wait a minute he didn’t do that much.” Leaf I’m aware but on the occasions when the ball did find him on a team that had numerous guards RJ Davis a returning first team all-American a guy who handled the ball a ton Elliot Cadau a non-shooting point guard who handled the ball uh Seth Trimble a slasher who was also in charge of back door stuff ian Jackson who is a five-star who put they put the ball in the hands of on the occasions when the ball did actually find him he shot it pretty well even on guarded catch and shoots and here’s a number for you guys he shot 44% on guarded catch and shoots he was a good cutter especially from the cutters uh from the corners when he cut it cut from the corners he was able to show timing and timing is really important that told me a lot about his basketball intelligence and versatility because most of these guys who are five stars are the best player that they’ve ever played with they’re they’re the best player that they’ll ever play with and then they go play with a guy who’s better than them and five years older and don’t know how to play but there’s stuff that needs to be fixed but I am impressed by his versatility and ability to impact the game on both sides of the basketball despite not touching the ball a ton and didn’t pout uh I think he will need to develop those offensive flashes to to uh be able to apply his intriguing defensive tools because you need to be able to play on both sides shooting’s becoming more and more valuable i I think the reason that I’m enamored by the idea of Drake Powell is I watch his film and though the athleticism uh is different I think it’s functional in the same way that Christian Browns is christian Brown doesn’t get the a claim for being as good of an athlete as he is because of how he looks drake Powell doesn’t face that uh point but I think Christian Brown when you watch him at Kansas granted he was a junior when he came out won every 5050 ball elevated for rebounds shot open threes attacked the rim aggressively and now he’s in the NBA and and there’s a real world where the Nuggets are going to choose Christian Brown over Michael Porter Jr because of his two-way defensive upside when I watch Drake Powell and I think back to prospects I’ve evaluated the last couple years Christian Brown was the name that popped into my head that is the high side this is why I’m saying this is a high upside guy he’s one of the high ceiling guys that I think the Jazz should take a gander at at 21 because he has a 44 inch vertical because this guy can defend multiple positions he can hound point guard and play big and bump against 69 wings he’s got a seven foot wingspan and knows how to play the game of basketball he reminds me of Christian Brown and that’s a fantastic outcome at 21 his floor might be slightly limited due to shooting concerns that’s why I say he’s a high upside guy little bit of a high-risisk high reward so he’s one guy I’d be interested the other guy that I want to say is a high upside guy but I think his floor is different and maybe makes him a little bit more alluring than say Drake Powell even if I think Drake Powell’s ceiling is higher is Will Riley will Riley measured in at taller than Ace Bailey at the combine so he’s a very slender uh wing he went to Illinois uh Will Riley if for the everyday David Lock talked about a little bit and I think Will Raphael Barlo touched on him a little bit but basically he ran a ton of pick and rolls this is why you draft him he ran a ton of pick and rolls on a team that had two ball handlers one of which Casper Yakonis was uh one of the highest pick and roll operators and yet he still ran a ton of pick and roll speaking of Will Riley and he was 90th percentile in isolation which is something that’s interesting because he’s not the most twitchy quick twitch guy but demonstrates impressive skill guile confidence especially for someone who is 19 and played most of last season at 18 years old on a Big 10 team that had high aspirations was a six seed in March Madness won a game in the tournament he didn’t shoot it particularly well but that actually encourage encourages me because he kept shooting the volume is is the thing that I think matters the most about shooting everyone says “Oh free throw percentage is the true indicator.” And if you can’t shoot you can’t shoot but you look at the guys who are the best shooters that come out of these drafts it’s because they shoot a ton and their team trusts them to take these shots uh I think it demonstrates impressive skill and confidence for someone at 18 years old to be trusted to take that many shots and have that unabashed confidence throughout the season be a 90th percentile isolation guy who didn’t shoot particularly well but yet is still trusted to shoot that ball and then he can put the ball on the deck and score for himself and run over a 100red pick and rolls that’s really really impressive especially on a team that had two backcourt players that were primary ball handlers and he scored 31 points in his debut and there’s just not many people that have the self-belief that they can step into a basketball game and score 31 points at the collegiate level as an 18-year-old and he did that his percentages like I said at the NCAA level aren’t super impressive but he was a 40% three-point shooter in high school and many of those were self-created which leads me to believe there’s more versatility and that leads me to my final contention right skilled 6’8 6’9 wings that are barefoot at 6’8 and a half with the ability to confidently pull up from 28 feet and throw live dribble passes with either hand capably uh relocate off the ball navigate pick and rolls and find the right player to pass to or elevate and score on the interior or get all the way to the rim they just aren’t common and so that is why that Will Riley skill set allure is an alluring skill set and is one that intrigues me and if the Jazz have him on the board at 21 he would be among my favorite candidates riley’s size grants some angles and vantage points that make him more different than many wings because I think he’s got a guard skill set and a wings body uh the big thing about him that does give me pause and why I say he’s a high ceiling rather than high floor is he must must must must get stronger so I think his floor suffers a bit because we don’t know what happens i if if he doesn’t get stronger then I don’t think he’s playable on defense but his skill really intrigues me if he gets stronger and continues to shoot better I think he could be somewhat similar to Keshan George he really impressed except he’s three years younger when being drafted keshan George was really good his rookie year with the Wizards the concern with him out of Miami was oh he didn’t shoot that well and he’s versatile but like he wasn’t that good of a shooter and he’s slow footed will Riley is a little bit more athletic than him and has some of that secondary uh facilitation ability as well as I think better shooting than Keshan George and Khan George I think has been a steal for the Wizards that was picked in the mid20s last year uh another player that reminds me of he reminds me of a little bit in terms of how he played in college is he’s a more athletic version of Jet Howard and Jet went 11th a few years ago so younger better ball skills better finishing better isolation skills so on one hand that encouraged me but the concern is there in terms of lacking defensive upside and not being the twitchiest person uh so that scares me a little bit and that’s why I have him as a high ceiling relatively low floor guy i have him at 20th on my board and if he’s there at 21 like I said the Jazz should take a long look at Will Riley because his skill set is rather rare for someone being available at 20 or 21 so coming up next we’re going to talk about two guys that I have above the two I just mentioned but I see as having higher floors and being more immediately ready for NBA action and we’re also going to talk about why the floor versus ceiling matters for a team like the Jazz who you know were not going to be very good the way the roster is constructed right now so we’ll talk about that and much much more all ahead on Locked on Jazz nba fans you know what time it is playoff season means big performances and even bigger awards door Dash is bringing the heat with a slam dunk deal for Dash Pass members during the 2025 NBA playoffs it’s called They Swish You Score anytime a player drops 50 points or more in a playoff game Dash Pass members score a free threepiece crispy tenders combo from Wingstop the very next day so 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give you a very serious testimonial about how great they were and I’m sure the people at Lyndon and Logan are just as great so make sure to tell them that we sent you in from Locked on Jazz and they’ll take great care of you all right welcome back to Locked On Jazz leaf Chain with you here and we’re going through picks uh that I think will be around pick 21 so players that have high ceilings were what we discussed the previous segment now let’s talk about some guys with high floors that doesn’t necessarily mean we’re going to talk about older players because today I talked about the CBA uh and and David’s been talking about this how the CBA changes you want more players on cheaper contracts to build depth and so there will be some more uh players that are older that are more alluring one is a senior here that I’m going to talk about that’s Nate Clifford the other one is a freshman named Liam McNeely so let’s talk about Nate Clifford first nick Clifford is rising up boards and it’s an interesting one because I I’ve liked Nick Clifford for about three draft cycles i mentioned I went to the combine the last two years nate Clifford was there and Nate Clifford was at Colorado prior to Cody Williams’s uh stint in Colorado and honestly the reason that Nick Clifford is as alluring as a draft prospect as he is right now is because Cody Williams went to Colorado and that ousted Nick Clifford to go to Colorado State and become a star he followed the route of Brandon Pajki who went from Illinois to Santa CL in order to become a star and Nate Clifford did the same so the reason that this has intrigue is when I watched Nate Clifford I said “Man this guy really rebounds the ball.” Like he rebounds the ball and he makes open shots and he makes the right cuts and I’d seen him because I was in Pack 12 country i saw Colorado play numerous times and they had good players on their team they had Tristan Dilva was the 18th pick and they you know this is this is a team that I saw plenty and I always thought “Wow this guy’s pretty good.” But at Colorado State he did what I thought was going to be impossible for him and was fantastic as not only a good rebounder a good defender but an excellent scoreer and excellent shooter he was a tremendous rebounder 19 points per game 9.6 rebounds 38% from three and that’s plugandplay no he was able to excel as a star he was able to excel as a defensively oriented 3 and D guy he can pass the rock he does a ton i have him number 18 on my board uh it he’s 23 years old though and he’s been 23 for a little bit so that’s why I have him just slightly above Will Riley despite significantly more production he has these high steel and block percentages that are very rare and he’s not super big he’s 6’6 right 66 and a half and that shows his positional savvy and intelligence he rebounds his position extremely well allah Josh Hart that’s a comparison you’ll hear plenty of i’ve got another one that I think isn’t as common as Josh Hart but I think is a similar vein and and he finds ways to create opportunities to create turnovers sometimes it’s his deflection that gets it for someone else sometimes he grabs the ball blocks a shot and keeps it in uh he gets a fingertip on people’s shots uh he is able to dig at the post and dislodge the ball i think no matter the team scheme he’s going to be able to play and that really matters in today’s NBA that you can play effectively as a player on offense and defense now when it comes to offense this is where he really stood out in his fifth season clifford got the opportunity to experiment with the ball in his hands after the year prior they had a point guard by the name of Isaiah Stevens who’s now on the Miami Heat G-League team and is an excellent pick and roll guy this year the ball’s in the hands of Nate Clifford and he’s always been a willing passer but now he was the guy and he was making V reads his pick and roll reps were were astronomically higher and interestingly he shot the ball significantly better in those actions than in any other situation so off the dribble he was able to score with decent volume both shooting and driving and he created his own offense in isolation more than ever as opposed to being the beneficiary of an offensive soant at the Mountain West level Isaiah Stevens and he even took reps in the post and dominated down there just physically overwhelming players uh I think Nate Clifford goes to the NBA and is able to instantly step in and say “You know what i can play this role and play defense shoot open threes run the floor play with energy and be a winning basketball player.” The Jazz don’t have that many guys that I feel confident even at that have been in the NBA for a while that I feel confident can be as solid at so many things as Nick Clifford is nick Clifford is rising up the board my other comparison for him is Pat Coneton so Josh Hart’s better than Pat Coneton don’t get me wrong josh Hart just has this like superhuman ability to go get the basketball i think Nate Clifford’s got it to some degree but Josh Hart was doing that at Villanova as the Big East player of the year when he was younger than Nick Clifford was as the Mountain West guy like that that does matter and Josh Josh Hart in the NBA at 6’4 averages 10 boards per game in playoff series like he he has a tenacious motor that I think is hard to give someone else pat Coneton when he was at Notre Dame was an excellent rebounder and scorer and he played alongside very good players and he was uh on elite eight teams that pushed the Kentucky team that was 38 and0 before they lost to Wisconsin i I think Pat Coneton is a is a good realistic outcome for Nick Clifford i think it’s likely that Nick Clifford is a more consistent shooter and on ball defender conan was a good on ball defender for a little bit and then faded i I think he’s somewhere in between Josh Hart and Pat Coneton that’s a guy if you were to take him at 21 you should feel ecstatic i always like players that have been a star in their role or someone who has been the star of a team i think that versatility really is important i I talked about Muel Bridges plenty about how at Villanova he was a role player played his role to perfection for the Phoenix Suns became the best 3 and D in the NBA then went to Brooklyn and was a 20-point score and they said “I didn’t know he had that.” That’s what Nee Clifford did in college i think he’ll be a role player in the NBA for a long time and that’s why I think his floor is tremendously high uh I do think for the Jazz what he would do best is he adds positional understanding of what his role is and ability to execute at all things the next guy that’s early in the season was seen as high as top 10 uh because he was on a team that most people thought was going to be a top 10 a top five team and his role would be solid uh and it would be what he’d do in the NBA was Liam McNeely but instead he fell and he’s now somewhere between 15 and 25 because I think he’s being evaluated unfairly he was perpetuated into a role that very few freshmen have to take that was a two-time defending national champions and he was supposed to be the second or third best player instead he was the best player and asked to create as their primary advantage creator uh and he was able to go downhill and score and do things like that but what he should have been doing is shooting standstill threes and if he was shooting standstill threes I dug up the numbers stand still so these are not just catch and shoots these are ones where he is uh the spot up guy and he was 43% from three everyone talks about oh his shooting dipped like he was not a good shooter he shot 31% from three yeah I agree that’s not particularly good but when he was doing what the job that he would be doing in the NBA was he shot 43% from three and this Yukon team took a major dip in terms of unguarded catch and shoot looks as compared to other Dan Hurley teams because they just didn’t have the dominant forces they had the best rookie last year Stefon Castle who I had at number one on my board and they had him play as the fourth option now this this freshman comes into the board and it’s Liam McNeely the best player on the team not just the fourth option not just the best NBA prospect he was the top option and at times he did really well he he joined the likes of Kevin Durant and Michael Beasley as the only freshman to go on the road and score 35 points and 10 rebounds he did that against Kraton he scored 38 and 10 and won against a good Kraton team and he carried teams at time but his efficiency dipped and that’s what all the analytic nerds are telling you about mcneely to me handles the ball pretty well especially for someone that you would say “Oh he’s a spot-up shooter.” Like I think he’s a pretty good dribbler of the basketball he’s not super fast but he’s strong he’s rugged and I think he makes winning plays like in those games where Yukon was trying to find their identity and figure out what they were as opposed to saying “Oh we were the national champions.” They were figuring it out and they gave it to Liam McNeely and he went downhill attacked off movement got to the basket wasn’t a fantastic finisher but how many freshmen are how many freshmen are fantastic finishers not that many and last I checked 15-6 as the best player on a tournament team that took the eventual national champion Florida Gator to the wire the absolute wire and shot 86% from the free throw line that’s a solid basketball player for those reasons I have number 15 on my board and I think similar to Nick Clifford he slots in as a productive basketball player but I don’t see star in his future in the NBA but there’s so many teams that could use productive basketball player somewhere between their three through eight on a in terms of a hierarchy of best player to worst player uh he reminds me a little bit of a soup down Bon Bdanovich not as skilled of a scorer but somewhere uh of the ilk of Bon in the sense that he’s a hard-nosed scorer he’s someone who doesn’t overplay and he he’ll battle defensively give you his all and he’s a really good positional rebounder for the small forward position he’s able to crash the glass and and find boards out of nowhere he knows where to be on the basketball court he plays with high intelligence he also played at Mont Verd next to Cooper Flag and Derrick Queen and he’s plenty fine at all levels of life being a third option fourth option and tried hard to figure out how to be the top option on a team that expected to win a national championship with not a very good team that was the expectation and I think it was hard for him and people I think are missing the context on watching him i think if he’s there at 21 the Jazz would end up with a very smart pick there may not be the flashiest pick but that’s why I think he is a high floor as opposed to the highest upside so coming your way next are the players I prefer in the wing position i have over all the guys I’ve mentioned already but I don’t think the Jazz can get at pick number 21 so how high do they have to reach to get these guys and why are they appealing so much so that I think it’s worthwhile to move up all that and more ahead on Locked on Jazz ever check your bank account and wonder where did all my money go between dining out online shopping entertainment it’s easy to lose track of time that’s where Monarch Money comes in your personal CFO giving you full visibility and control over your finances monarch Money isn’t just a budgeting app it’s complete financial command center you can track all your accounts investments and spending in one place so you stop just managing your money and start building wealth instead of juggling multiple apps you can use Monitor to check your finances track the spending and even plan long-term goals managing money with your partner is smoother than ever and you can track shared and personal accounts set goals and stay on the same page without the stress so take control of your finances with Monarch Money and use code locked on NBA at MonarchMoney for 50% off your first year that’s monarchmoney.com and the code locked on NBA for half off your first year welcome back to Locked on Jazz leaf Tan with you here we’re talking the 21st pick but not so fast maybe there are some guys that if they fall to a certain point in the draft are too much of a oh I like this guy we better go get him so I’m going to tell you about those guys for me because I’ve been evaluating this draft not just recently but for the entire year and these are the guys that I’ve said I really want the Jazz to take it 21 and then I realized oh they’re too good for 21 and everyone is starting to know it so the first one I’ve even told you guys about on locked on Jazz for the Every Dares with a fantastic memory i I talked about him in February uh this is Carter Bryant i love Carter Bryant talked about him on Locked on Jazz in February and on NBA big board i was asked numerous times by scouts but also by Raphael Barlo and we talked about this who’s your favorite prospect that’s outside the lottery who’s your favorite prospect that’s outside the first round i said Carter Bryant every single time carter Bryant in November was projected 43rd on Tankathon i had him 13 uh the point is not to brag there but the reason is everyone’s seeing what I saw initially carter Bryant isn’t everyone’s lottery and will be hard to trade up for but here’s why the Jazz should trade up for Carter Bryant if he’s available 10 through 12 he finds his way outside the top 10 it’s more likely teams outside of the top 10 are willing to make a deal because only 50% of players become role players after two or three years that are drafted 11 through 30 so if he falls outside the top 10 teams are going to say you know what if we can get an actual established NBA player for this draft pick maybe we should and that’s why where he has to fall in order to make it but I don’t think he falls beyond there so Carter Bryant why do I love him so much while he has one of the u lowest usage ratings of any player to go in the top 30 scoring just six and a half per game Bryant’s an unbelievable defender like I I see true true upside as a a locked down defensive player he he is someone that made me fall in love with his game because you watch him move and he slides his feet like a point guard for someone with a big body and his body was NBA ready and then some as a true freshman he could grow and it would be wow oh my goodness what what is this superhuman freak doing here and he was already that fleet of foot that graceful moving on the perimeter tracking both guards and banging with bigger bodies as a true freshman this is also someone who was a McDonald’s all-American and I know had more skills to demonstrate for Arizona but Arizona like I mentioned uh context is a big deal this is a team that had a guy who was the Rainy Pack 12 player of the year and Caleb Love this is a guy in Caleb Love who shoots the ball often jaden Bradley is not a passer point guard this is a team in Arizona that had three bigs and only only made headway into getting better because their starting center got hurt mo Kos gets hurt and it allows for Vasar and Awaka to be this one’s skillful one’s a bruiser so where does Carter Bryant play as a three or a four when he’s next to these guys and wait a minute we need a shooter because we have two bruisers on the interior we need a shooter and we already have two guards that are ball in hand so where does Carter Bryant figure figure in the answer was he could do whatever he wanted and he still found a way onto the court probably should have gotten more playing time and more usage but he knocked down 38% of threes has processing speed that’s rare for someone that’s not got the ball in his hands often to make those decisions he’s a very adept passer i buy the shot because I think he can knock it down both off the dribble and knock down threes he just didn’t do it very often because that’s not what was asked of him uh he knocked down big shots in big games played well against the primary uh o opposition he would guard the best player he guarded Cooper Flag and I thought athletically he looked in the same realm as Cooper Flag flag just looked more confident with his game and that’s the number one pick in this class and the guy that I think would be the number one next year uh you know who he reminds me of and I I’ve said this before this might actually uh be something I said the previous time i don’t remember but he reminds me a little bit of Denver Jeremy Grant in the sense that Denver Jeremy Grant started to believe in his abilities and for his size and athletic ability he moved his feet alarmingly well but he has more tools that were yet to be discovered and then when he went to Detroit he said “Hey I can do all this.” And he explored Detroit as a 20 point per game NBA scoreer albeit not the most effective one but he said “I can do it.” And I can see that with Carter Bryant i think he can be a scoreer but where he’s going to hang his hat is be a defensive guy and it looks like he’s got the buyin to do so never complained played six man’s minutes i probably if he’d gone back to school I would imagine he would have transferred and gotten a chance to shine but there’s a reason that everyone’s got him in the top 10 top 15 and I have number 10 or 11 on my board and if I were the Jazz I would try to get go up and get him like that’s number one of these guys for for me to go up and get like that i I think if he gets to 10 or 12 you go up and and ring the bell and say “We’re going to give you 21 in the future we really like Carter Bryant.” I I I think that’s a possibility now another guy who’s a bit of a draft nerd darling for much of the season but now is a common name is Cedric Coward he shot up boards at the combine because he has crazy long arms shot the ball well at Wazu uh he’s got a weird circuitous story he was playing junior college then went to Willam College which is a D3 in the Pacific Northwest then went to Washington State and just played six games so why is this guy top 15 worthy on offense he can play playmate fairly well and shoot 38% from three that’s appealing he’s a confident spot-up shooter knows how to use his length pretty well to get to the rim score over smaller defenders in the post and plays with efficient offensive approach he doesn’t force too much and he had a lot of 30-point games against inferior competition the one game he didn’t play particularly well on offense I watched Olive he played Iowa and you still felt like oh that guy’s the best player on the floor because he took away Iowa’s best player face guarded him and so much so this guy Pton Sanford is a fantastic shooter and tested the NBA combine last year did not score at all when uh Coward was guarding him uh his activity and length and on the defensive end is intriguing to me as a multi-positional stopper because he’s got 7 foot three wingspan at 6’6 i also think there’s a world in which he thinks he’s a point guard i don’t think that’s what he has in the NBA but it does lead me to believe that he’s got some playmaking capacity at the NBA level i have a number 14 on my board right now and I would trade up for him because due to the ne necessity that the NBA has put on having athletic guys who can be able to create like you just can’t have too many of those type of guys and the Jazz don’t have that many if he’s there at 12 through 16 probably on the 14 to 16 side of things and the staff really believes in the vision of hey this is what we’re going to outline for his role to be I would go for that trade i’m a little less bullish on him than I am Carter Bryant in terms of the defensive upside i think he’s going to be good but Carter Bryant I think has a chance to be excellent defensively uh I would still make that trade i think he’s going to be drafted somewhere between 12 through 16 so if the Jazz like him that’s the trade how much do you put on that trade as opposed to getting up to 10 and I think as the further you get down in the teens the less you got to give lastly Rashir Fleming is drawing rave reviews and many Jazz fans seem to be infatuated with with him and I get it but I have some paws here and this is the one that I don’t know if I trade up for fleming is big he’s a big dude 69 75 wingspan and shot 39% three i get it don’t get me wrong like that’s fantastic that’s impressive and it was decently high volume and I’m not trying to nitpick but he improved a ton in yeartoear but he dominated athletically versus inferior competition in the A10 and to boost his stock he did so as a junior and he wasn’t the top option on their offense and this is a team that wasn’t particularly good either so you don’t necessarily say oh that’s a winning player he did have a really good game against Texas against Trey Johnson he did have a good game against Texas Tech who made the Elite 8 so athletically he belongs no doubt about it but I wonder of his game offensively as is as pretty as the numbers say versus what my eyes watched and everyone’s saying “Well he shot 39% from three and he’s huge therefore he’s going to be good.” Now that said I’ve loved even the draft misses that have his physical makeup like Patrick Williams I loved because he’s got a super long arm big hands shot 80% from the free throw line at Florida State as a freshman tar East had high on the boards as well and I think he’s outperformed his draft stock but you wouldn’t say “Wow Tari E’s the best player in the world.” Kawhi Leonard’s obviously the leader of the clubhouse in this and I’m not comparing them at all but he’s just long arms big hands rashier Fleming averaged 14.7 8.5 rebounds 1.5 blocks 1.4 steals while shooting 39% from three on four and a half attempts like if you told me that I say okay that’s top 15 pick but I do wonder is this guy a power forward that everyone’s saying can be a small forward even though his skill set is absolutely power forward related he’s a lob threat more than I think he’s a true NBA sharpshooter because he shot 29% from three as a freshman and his touch his touch is solid but I kind of you know what I see I see an older version of Taylor Hendricks and Taylor Hendricks I think the reason that he went in the top 10 was look this guy shot 39% from three and he’s a freshman everyone thinks he’s a he’s uh we’re going to build him out and that he’s raw he’s moldable this is a guy who’s a junior who did it at a smaller school than UCF was and as Taylor Hendricks came into the NBA I watched it firsthand his shot wasn’t as good as the 39% said he he struggled tremendously uh when he was playing NBA minutes as a as a firstear player in the NBA then his final two months he improved but I also think the defense didn’t care if he shot for a little while defensively Taylor Hendricks I think is more uh rangy than Fleming fleming is more of a shot blocker as a weak side guy I think Hendrickx the appeal is that he can slide his feet but he’s two years younger than Fleming and Hendrickx has some room to grow obviously I’m optimistic about Taylor Hendricks watch him athletically develop but I don’t think Fleming’s got that athletic jump that we we can see with Taylor Hendricks because he’s two years older and he played he did so as a secondary option maybe even tertiary on offense if you really want to get into the weeds on St joe’s offense uh he was a secondary or tertiary option and his shooting I think is a little better so I have him 22nd on my board i’m lower than most on him so trading up is a little less appealing to me but I do think he has unique traits and I won’t complain about going up and getting a guy with unique traits because traits matter in the NBA and I won’t be bothered if we see his traits is too unique to pass up and move upon so my draft buzz is telling me he goes somewhere between 16 and 20 so it’s a narrow trade up i don’t think you have to give as much up and like I said for those of you who like comparisons my comparison is Taylor Hendris uh I’ve got one more guy this guy I don’t think the Jazz are going to be able to get it’s Noah Sen noah Sen I think is gonna go in the top 10 he’s playing productive basketball for France right now i think the Jazz would really have to package up and say “Oh he’s at 10 let’s go let’s make the the home run pitch.” And you say “Well he’s big he’s long he’s shooting better than than we thought he could uh he gets to the free throw line more frequently than collegiate version of Julius Randall.” Like that’s the big appeal it’s not just a baby giraffe like Tan Salon or a baby giraffe that came in and you didn’t know what he was getting i think he’s more of the ilk of Bal Koulabali where his actual impact on the and the French basketball league is substantial and you just didn’t know it because it’s not Victor Wenbyama like that was Bal Kulabali bet you’re like oh this guy’s really good it’s just like we didn’t notice it because he’s next to Victor and now I think you watch as can score the basketball defensively has all the traits he’s long he’s strong he’s he’s authoritative on offense as opposed to a wallflower I I think he’s going to go in the top 10 that’s just what my my gut is telling me i think the Jazz would have to make a pitch that’s even more of a uh wealthy pitch than what it would be for Carter Bryant i think Carter Bryant and Noah Sen on the same level for me i have Carter right now 11 i think I have a Senate 12 so right now those guys are top 10ish picks i think as Senate goes higher than Bryant if I had to bet so I don’t think the Jazz can get him but I just wanted to be uh inclusive in case some of you guys are like “What about Asen what about Asen?” And you’re right he’s an appealing pitch so let me know what you guys think what guy is the number one option for you guys at 21 what guy do you covet the most to trade up for and what do you think of the evaluations the comparisons please let me know what you guys think and make sure to tune in to other shows as well like Locked on NBA Big Board thank you guys for making Locked on Jazz your first listen day for your second check out Locked on NBA Big Board draft expert Raphael Barlo reacts to every workout interview and rumor leading up to the NBA draft find Locked on NBA Big Board on YouTube or wherever you listen to your podcast and we’ll keep talking about the draft we’ll also talk about some trade opportunities coming up soon i’m scheduling with Tony Jones and I have another special guest who really knows the NBA draft as well so we’re going to get you covered very well heading into a critical juncture for the Jazz thank you as always for listening and I’ll be seeing you tomorrow

The Utah Jazz face a pivotal decision with the 21st pick in the upcoming NBA draft. Will they opt for high-upside prospects or safer, more NBA-ready players? Leif Thulin, filling in for David Locke, breaks down potential targets including Drake Powell, Will Riley, and Nique Clifford. He analyzes their fit with the Jazz roster and compares their games to current NBA players. Thulin also explores intriguing trade-up scenarios, discussing whether the Jazz should make a move for falling talents like Carter Bryant or Cedric Coward. Get an insider’s perspective on how Utah might approach this crucial draft to complement star Lauri Markkanen. Tune in for expert analysis that will make you the most knowledgeable Jazz fan heading into draft night.

0:00 Jazz’s options with pick 21

5:07 Drake Powell: High upside wing prospect

10:13 Will Riley: Skilled wing with guard abilities

15:14 Nique Clifford: High-floor prospect comparison

20:23 Liam McNeeley: Underrated shooter and rebounder

25:27 Carter Bryant: Potential trade-up target

30:32 Cedric Coward: Athletic wing with defensive upside

32:07 Rasheer Fleming: Athletic Freak with a shot

35:07 Noah Essengue: Top-10 prospect likely out of reach

Utah Jazz draft, NBA draft analysis, pick 21, Will Riley, Liam McNeely, Nick Clifford, Drake Powell, Rasheer Fleming, Cedric Coward, Carter Bryant, Noah Essengue, trade up scenarios, wing prospects, defensive upside, shooting potential, NBA combine, college basketball performance, David Locke, Locked On Jazz, Utah Jazz podcast, Utah Jazz news, draft strategy, player comparisons, positional versatility, athletic potential, NBA-ready prospects, draft sleepers

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