Bobby Marks on why Jazz are biggest winners in 1st Rd – Draft Ace Bailey & acquire Walter Clayton Jr

Bobby Marks on why Jazz are biggest winners in 1st Rd – Draft Ace Bailey & acquire Walter Clayton Jr

being just a kid from Maine people would just shoot me down they told me I would never be able to make it to the next level [Music] [Applause] are you serious
this is something I’ve been dreaming about since I was a little kid that dream just stuck in my head and I just got to keep working he spent one season in Durham and Cooper Flag made it count selected number one and during his time at Duke he led the Devils with 19 seven and a half boards four assists becoming the first ACC freshman to lead his team in all three categories since freshman became eligible in 1972 add it up and it means the mantle is full of awards the Wooden Award the nation’s top player in college basketball the fourth freshman to win the award joining Kevin Durant in 07 Anthony Davis in 2012 and fellow member of the Brotherhood Zion Williamson ad and Zion both picked first overall at 18 years 186 days he’s the second youngest player to be selected first overall trailing just LeBron James remember that first game out in Sacramento it was obvious he could do it from the jump the main native reclassified goes to Duke and now he’s the guy we’re joined now by the number one pick in the 2025 NBA draft it’s Cooper flag and Cooper we all knew that this was going to happen but you’re the young man that’s going to hear your name i’m going to ask it from your perspective but I want to I want to move it out a little bit because Khan goes four and then Malawatch is taken to the top 10 what’s this night been like for you your coach John Sh to to to experience it from the brotherhood’s perspective as you all call that Duke family what’s this night been like for all of you um I mean speaking for myself personally it’s been incredible um this is a dream come true things I’ve been dreaming about since I was a little kid so to to share this moment with people like that my family first of all and then coach SH um you know it’s incredible there’s no there’s no words I can use to describe it in terms of your game this year Jay Bilis and I were talking last night about it i felt like from where you were in October to where you got in March it you you took giant steps forward i’m interested in your perspective Cooper of where you felt your game grew the most during your time in Durham absolutely um I mean I think the numbers speak for itself um you know I started the year I didn’t shoot my best ball um I don’t remember what percent it was but I think just getting more comfortable throughout the year um you know shooting the ball at a steady rate off the dribble catch and shoot as well i think that was my biggest strides and um I think that was the biggest thing for me there’s plenty of time for you to figure it out at the next level but you’re going to be expected to to provide something right off the jump because you’re the number one pick and I think you can what do you think is going to translate most quickly from now to the league that you’re going to bring with you readymade yeah I think just being an impact player um just being able to impact the game in a ton of different ways you know whether it’s with the ball whether it’s not um defensively being able to impact the game i think that’s what’s uh can translate right away is just being a really good impact player um and all-around guy there’s going to be a moment when you’re guarding somebody or somebody’s guarding you that might have been a poster on your wall when you were a kid might have been your favorite player like who’s the guy Cooper that you imagine when it hits you at some point next season oh my gosh this is my life this is me who’s that person uh that’s a good question um maybe Jason Tatum you know that’s somebody that I watched a lot at Duke and then watched a lot again at um as he’s gone on to the Celtics and um had an incredible career so far
we look forward to Tatum being healthy enough to get out there on the floor and share it with you cooper congratulations on the night all the best as your NBA career begins in Dallas just shy of midnight Steve in the East Eastern time zones with you for another half hour back to the top of the NBA draft as we revisit some of the memorable moments for the top picks cooper Flag this was against Pit and heavens to Betsy Flag he really did I think grow by leaps and bounds he was obviously really good to start but you just saw the guy become so much more confident in the steps he was taking as the year progressed dylan Harper in a tie game harper’s just so smooth to get to the spot that he wants to do his thing that lefty Jay won the battle of New Jersey i think it’s there were some injuries yes but it’s still kind of hard to fathom out two top five picks and Ruckers had the season it did bj Edgecom this is a game by the way G i If I get the block I make Sports Center and if I get dunked on I make Sports Center um that was Joe that’s also BJ Edgecom he went three in terms of best available players how about your guy Maxim there Steve balanced player averaged 20 and 10 on the farm last year another guy that could really fill it in an elite shooter of the basketball Chaz Laneir who was excellent in his one season in Knoxville bobby Marks joins us now and Bobby following uh your social media feed I know you really liked what Utah did what specifically did they do in terms of who they accumulated that you think you know what I like this it adds up yeah I like you certainly Ace Bailey right the big question was would a team take Ace Bailey that didn’t visit and Utah said you know what we’re going to take the best available player we don’t care if you didn’t want to come visit and we’re going to draft you and then Walter Clayton Jr certainly from Florida a shot maker big- time player we saw him during the national championship with Florida U last year two quality players that can help a Utah team that let’s face it Scott the the Western Conference is certainly as good as it’s ever been and they need as much talent as they can yeah but he’s up there in a Washington hat you know people with the league Bobby can we fix the hat thing i swear to God if I Scott
what fix it
scott I got a recommendation but we I got a recommendation but we might have to push everyone’s summer back a couple weeks i’m I’m willing to do free agency first and then let’s do the draft second and then summer league third here and that would fix everyone’s problem as far as with the hats and I am with you we need to fix that
okay see I’m not because I’m going on vacation as of Thursday so the hell with you and your idea i can deal with the hats moving on uh the East is wide open and there’s some injuries unfortunately that are that are part of the cause for that with some real questions with Boston and Indiana atlanta’s moving a whole lot around and I I got the sense from what you’re saying maybe they’re not done in terms of adding salaries creating space what do you think they’re doing they’re not done and they added Kristoff Sporzing and Asa Newal I am really high on here’s the bit the best thing from Atlanta they get potentially the pick a first round pick in 26 from New Orleans or Milwaukee and that pick could be pretty juicy but here’s what to keep an eye on for Atlanta this off seasonason they’ve got a big $25 million trade exception that expires on July 7th look for them to add depth to their back court in the in the offseason here this Atlanta team is a little bit of a wild card for me going into next year all right Bobby i appreciate your time i Your suggestion makes a ton of sense i just if it happens I’m I’m not going to be the one doing the draft i’m sure people at home are like “That’s fine we’ll be good.”
My my wife’s not won’t be happy with that either Scott trust me
well that’s a far bigger issue to sort out i’ll let you deal with that bobby thanks as always for your time all right there are many factors that explain why this year’s NBA draft was a whole lot more interesting than last the class of 25 on paper is miles more impactful looking back at last year again today and you’re just like whoa not only are there better players available this year we’re just so much more familiar with them going back even to their high school days compared to players at the top last year who most had never seen or heard of but the bigger magnifier of the interest and importance I believe to be recency bias couple of smaller market teams who were new to the stage battled for seven games in the NBA finals and it screams this is the new NBA super teams fueled by gluttonous spending not only don’t ensure a spot at the table but that second apron has teams scrambling to get out from under the burden of it meanwhile many fans are asking what the hell is a second apron well the cliffnotes are it’s the penalty you pay for surpassing a salary threshold which drastically limits the organization’s flexibility it’s real but it’s not as sexy as the other undeniable element in play which is the two stars who were the engines of their respective teams in the finals Shay Gildis Alexander and Tyrese Hallebertton went 11th and 12th overall jaylen Williams he went 12th as well now I could keep going it’s just a whole lot more efficient to simply say nine of the 10 starters for Indian Oklahoma City were selected outside the top 10 which might lead one to the conclusion that any team could follow that blueprint but I’ll do you the favor here and stop you from wasting your time looking outside the top 10 for all the many examples of stars who are hiding in plain sight because buddy there are a bunch of guys whose whereabouts are a mystery so much worse than inside the NBA’s who he play for it’s who the hell is he or was he so the credit here really belongs to Sam Prey with the Thunder Kevin Pritchard and Chad Buchanan for Indiana who have valued culture and continuity and managed to thread the needle and create the teams that they have it is wild to connect the dots to Paul George who played for both organizations and how SGA and Halley are where they are by virtue of moving George in both cases george has been a key cog in a number of supposed super team wheels most recently in Philadelphia none have come together and it only figures to get harder now so maybe drafts will be prioritized more moving forward i just believe interest in this one benefits from a class which has talent and the finals we just saw i certainly didn’t know those guys outside the top 10 would become this and you didn’t either we’ll know soon enough who’s going to be next and who’s not but we continue you swingers are the nicest people houston running back kind of a carbon copy of an earlier win this week that’s on the way as we wrap things up in the district with you to the bottom of the hour hello hello [Music] fore speech foreign speech foreign speech foreign speech foreign speech foreign speech foreign speech foreign speech foreign speech foreign speech [Music] wait a second there we go i’ll get I’ll get Foreign speech foreign speech foreign speech [Applause] come on don’t know what happened hello right come on i think Come on i need your help away oh no [Music] we got one where do you go [Music] how do you [Music] That’s your name they do [Music] [Music] good boy good boy yay are you good

ESPN SC | Bobby Marks on why Utah Jazz were biggest winners in 1st round – Draft Ace Bailey & acquire Walter Clayton Jr.