Hour 1: Indpendence Day Hijinks & Utah Jazz Moves | Top 3 Stories | Jordan Clarkson Buyout Detail…
Jacob Ben 975 the KSL Sports Zone. Jake Scott Ben Anderson, thank you for making us a part of your uh whatever today is Wednesday.
What you got Wednesday? Best way to lose a finger.
Oh, I talked about uh
number one fireworks.
I I talked about how I tamper my kids enthusiasm for fireworks yesterday on the on I was on with Sly and Alex.
Uh and I show him pictures of Jason Pierre Paul’s hand. I say this is
like the immediate aftermath or the healed.
Oh, whatever one’s most convenient on the internet, you know, just like look at look at this. This guy went from Super Bowl champ to Cororin halfhand.
Yeah, he’s got a turtle hand over one holiday weekend. So, yeah, that’s why that’s why we’re not going to the store to buy fireworks. Kids,
do you ever have any incidents with fireworks? Personally,
personally, no, not really. But I’ve never really been like
I It’s just a brand of of person that is out there that is super passionate about fireworks. I’ve I had those friends growing up. I I Yeah, I I get it that people like that exist.
It was never me. I melted my hair. I used to have long hair. I melted my hair and burnt up my neck pretty good. One time my friends and I were being the stupidest people on the planet and throwing fireworks at each other. just like the poppers, you know, not the poppers, but like the the little like things that jump out and then they all pop. The little green ones with the little fuse coming off it. I can’t remember what they’re called, but we were uh throwing them at each other and I just held on to one for too long and it’s on camera and it blew up in my face and it melted my hair and it burned up my neck pretty good. It wasn’t a disaster, but it what didn’t feel good and
yikes.
Yeah. You can get those at, you know, Smiths or Harmons or wherever you get your groceries. That’s not whatever Jason Pierre Paul was having imported. Yeah, it was not. It’s just not good.
And it still is not good. Like, let me tell you about my my buddy. I guess I’ll I’ll leave his name out of it, but uh real um environmentalist type. I mean, very serious about it. Like, I could tell you multiple stories about how serious uh that he is about environmentalis uh environmentalism. But he’s also been a fireworks guy.
Okay. So, we were camping near Jackson Hole and like he’s just firing bottle rockets into the wilderness.
Oh, yeah. That brings up another story. Okay.
You know what I mean? Like not even going to find the garbage that he’s leaving behind. Not even considering the environmental damage of a forest fire.
Correct.
Not none of that. Just having the time of his life launching bottle rockets into the wilderness. And I was like, do you not see the conflict of your ideologies here with the But the fireworks one is what surprised me.
It overwhelmed.
It overwhelmed like environmentalism is like this guy’s identity,
but it takes a backseat to Roman candles.
Takes a backseat to fireworks. I was shocked. I was like, I I can’t believe the the fundamental passion for fireworks. So, I get it. I’ve seen it in the wild. I know. friend who lived in Rock Springs, which was still kind of a developing area when he was up there. We were 16 or 17 when I was up there. And of course, it was Wyoming, so you could buy better fireworks than what we had in Salt Lake and aerials and stuff at the time. And he kind of lived on this culde-sac type of thing. But the end of the culde-sac, the actual loop, houses hadn’t been developed yet. It was still just brush. And it’s the middle of July. And I fired a Roman candle and it went right into a bush like sage brush and caught immediately.
Yeah. And it was just sage brush everywhere. And honestly, luckily, I had like a can of Sprite
of maybe a bottle of Sprite.
And I doused it immediately. And that’s one of those moments in my life where like 2:00 in the morning, I wake back up, I can’t fall back asleep, and your mind is racing and you’re thinking of like every mistake you almost made in your life. That one comes up a lot and my
about that one
heart drops. I’m just like, I could have been
that guy who burned down an entire city. I’m so thankful it didn’t happen. Just moronic moronic decisions.
So many fires start because of fireworks.
Oh, absolutely.
And uh foolish youngsters.
The loop at I80 uh right on 13th East burned down a couple years ago because people were playing with fireworks on Fourth of July. It’s just you know
I remember that one.
Yeah. So be careful out there.
Please be careful.
You have plans. You know what you’re doing?
Lighting something on fire.
Yeah. See now Ben Ben is secret fireworks guy. He’s going to have a driveway full of uh explosives.
I do have a lot of bottle rockets at my house that I bought when I’ve stopped on my way to Park or to uh Bear Lake. And I still have a bunch of them and they are not particularly good. They don’t go very high, which I think is even more dangerous cuz then they just kind of go into the bushes.
Well, the problem with that is they might go into the bushes and then finally explode.
Yeah. And then they explode, right? Yeah.
Wow. You know what? That is a really interesting like uh vice test, I guess. Where do you stop on your way? Like when you’re driving through Evston on the way to Bear Lake. Sure.
There’s a number of different vices in Evston specifically for this commute.
Yes. There are the teenagers trying to get a keg.
Yeah. There’s the liquor store.
There’s the cheaper liquor store.
There’s the the fireworks. I work and we don’t need to talk about the other stores, but like I when I’ve gone to Bear Lake uh a few times in my life
at absent when I was a kid,
you stop at the liquor store.
Ben stops at the fireworks store. And I think that really I think that really
is up there.
And I know for sure Hatch stops at the fireworks store.
You know me.
The the Hatch family isn’t stopping at the liquor store. on the way to uh to bare leg.
Okay. So, you talk about fireworks that don’t go very high. Don’t go buy a gender reveal um firework. This is my brother-in-law did this. Bought one from some knockoff brand. It went about three feet in the air and exploded with the our entire family standing within earshot. I got hit with multiple sparks and my kids are forever scarred as a result of this malfunction. Blinded grandma and grandpa never get to see the baby. um
whatever whatever gender
no actual like major harm was incurred. But yes, make sure your fireworks are actually going to function the way they’re supposed to function.
Hey, one quick uh one quick side thing uh before we we do something functional, I suppose.
Uh armpit is talking about u
get well soon red panda right now. And did you see that she fell?
I did. Um, this tells you what uh a bad person I I am is that for those halftime shows, Daredevil things or whatever. With one exception, I’m rooting for them all to kind of fall.
Like the guy who smacks the chair and gets on top.
Not get hurt. I’m not rooting for anybody to get hurt, but kind of fall. Yeah, I’m I’m kind of rooting for that.
Okay. Except her.
That’s a tall That’s a long fall.
And she’s been doing this forever. And that still is amazing. She seems I’ve never met met her, but she seems in my random kind of around her like a lovely woman.
She’s been doing it so long. The theory is that there has been a replacement at some point. Allah Gallagher, who’s didn’t he sell his act to his brother or something. Um there is some belief that Red Panda changed people in the middle. It’s kind of the theory, but I don’t I don’t believe that. Um but
nor does it matter.
It’s also Yeah. Just one of the craziest skills of all time. If you don’t know, Red Panda rides a seven foot tall unicycle and kicks bowls onto her head and balances them the whole time. It’s truly amazing. This is I I love your like replacement Hussein theory. You know, remember how there were like 12 Sodom Saddam Hussein? Correct. Melania. Yeah, there’s
Was that a thing with Melania?
Theories. People are funny.
But yes, you can sell acts like that.
Yeah,
like that.
Yeah. uh are things that happen,
but she’s built a whole career off of halftime shows.
Anyway, we hope she Yeah. gets better soon. Uh okay, Ben. Uh we’re gonna happen over to practice after the show today. Uh as the Jazz get ready for summer league on Saturday. And I don’t know if there’s been this much focus on a summer league game or a player at Utah summer league since Darren Williams. Yeah,
because Donovan didn’t have the juice yet. No, Donovan captured it quickly but didn’t have the runup juice. I remember I was here in Salt Lake. I remember Donovan Mitchell’s Rocky Mountain Review. It was a big deal.
Uh, it was recent enough that it was not called the Rocky Mountain Review, but yeah, I guess
it was also Salt Lake Summer League at that point,
even in 2005. Really? Okay.
Well, Donovan Mitchell didn’t come into the league. No, I’m talking about Darren.
Oh, Darren Williams. Oh,
you you said Donovan Mitchell. But Darren Williams, Rocky Mountain Review.
I covered his Rocky Mountain Review. Yeah,
cuz that was at Slick and I remember that being a big deal. Yes, Darren’s, excuse me,
was the Rocky Mountain review and I remember the anticipation for that. That was just a big summer that that had been an exciting off seasonason for the Jazz because the year before they had signed Boozer and Memo and absolutely flubbed that first season.
Memo was fat and Boozer was hurt and they sucked for the first time in like 20 years. they get the right lot well they didn’t even get the right lottery pick but they got a lottery pick in a year that was loaded with the exact position they needed you know three guards that were expected to be good Darren Chris Paul Ray Felton and the Jazz made the draft day trade to jump up and it just built up all the excitement not to mention that uh CJ Miles was also in that draft and the Jazz got their one of their first high school players and there was excitement about CJ as well uh do you remember why they needed a point guard Because Carlos Royo got kicked off the team.
He did not get kicked off the team, but Carlos Royo did not work out. Like they put they paid and I can remember this poster they had printed up. They put it in the media room about this transition from Stockton to Malone to a Royota Boozer. And it was Carlos. They paid him. He was the guy.
Four years, 16 million.
And it lasted not even half a season. And it was a huge fail. That was part of the reason they were so bad that year. And then uh Raul Lopez was somebody else that they thought they could uh maybe get some contribution at that position from. And he
he was also constantly hurt his knee. He never had a leg, I think.
Um yes, that was bad. And Carlos Royal went rogue. I was at the game when he went rogue. I remember it. Uh remember it. Excuse me. He went rogue and stopped calling Jerry Sloan’s plays and Jerry benched him and he got Detroit traded to Detroit. I think like the next day. Oh, he ended up in Miami, but I don’t think he got traded to me. Yeah. Yeah. But it it came very very soon.
He came apart quickly.
I’ve told you my take on him, right? Again, not to get too sidetracked.
He’s the most vain player I’ve ever cut.
Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I I’d buy that.
Like every And this was back, you know, uh what Timberlake days, you know, like back when Insync was a thing, you know, the the whatever frosted tips, which apparently are back, but and a lot of hair jailed. like everything had to be exact. Every follicle had to be perfect before he would do a postgame interview. Like double checked how he looked a zillion times before he uh he would go on. He was very proud of his uh handsome appearance.
Yeah.
Kind of like Ben. Very vain.
Very vain. Same thing. Extraordinarily vain. So yeah, and and you’re right, Darren had a ton of juice coming into the NBA, had gone to the national championship game and lost to North Carolina. So there was already the rivalry with Ray Felton, then Darren Williams, and then everyone kind of thought Chris Paul was the best player of the three from his time at Wake Forest. And now, yeah, Ace Bailey doesn’t have that same juice. I’m not sure he has a rivalry, but obviously had a ton of attention on him playing at Rutgers. even PK I think mentioned which was very astute was they just played so early in the day and because a lot of their games are on ESPN there is some familiarity with him there’s people have watched him he’s also just been a huge name he also has a star name and I don’t overlook that when we talk about players that doesn’t mean you’re going to be a star because Chris Paul is not a particularly great star name but it does have the two first name thing Bailey is a great basketball name Arias Bailey is a great basketball name that so is Cooper flag those are things that like draw attention to you and then you have to live up to some of that attention you’ve generated.
I actually think going to Ruckers got him more attention than he would have gotten going to Duke,
Kansas or Kansas or so. Yeah, a big a big name place because it was all of a sudden a huge story. The fact that he and Dylan Harper went to Ruckers made the entire sports world go,
“Wait, what?” And the fact that they sucked was in and of itself a story and you kind of paid attention to it. And so, yeah, he’s he’s got a lot of juice. He he does in a different way than Darren Williams, who was a sophomore at Illinois when he made that run and really fell out of nowhere. That was the big criticism of taking Darren over Chris Paul was that wait a minute, Darren got hot for 10 minutes and you’re taking him over Chris Paul who, you know,
had been the guy
had been the the guy forever. Like the story about Darren and his draft night was actually more about Chris Paul than it was Darren.
In the same way Mario Williams getting picked first before Reggie Bush was more about Reggie Bush than it was Mario Williams, you know. And so this is all Ace Bailey. I mean maybe some of the slide contributed to it, but I mean you’ve talked about it all the time. This guy was considered top two or three in this class
for three or four years.
Forever.
Yeah. And the fact that he went to Ruckers was a huge story because why would this giant recruit go to Ruckers of all places, right? And we know why. I mean, he got paid and good for him. He’s got his money now.
You know what’s interesting, too, is he’s not a shoe guy. Apparently, our our guest we had on from Ruckers, what was it last week? Was it Thursday? Yeah.
Was was telling us that he’s not Most these guys are going to like if you’re a Nike guy, you go to Duke. If you’re an Adidas guy, you go to Kansas. If you’re you know, cuz these shoe companies latch on to these players at like 12. You get linked into them through the AAOU teams you play on because they fund all the AAU basketball and all these teams.
Donov Mitchell was an Adidas guy since he was 17 years old and ended up at Louisville which is one of their Adidas has surprisingly fewer schools than you would think.
There’s only like I don’t know I I bet a far major schools go they’ve got like a dozen.
It’s kind of it’s kind of wild. But the ones they do have are big names like Kansas and Louisville at least in the college basketball world. But yeah, Ace won like a very legitimate high school championship in Georgia. Like he played for his Georgia high school basketball team where they won the title and his AA schools were not the big or his AA league stuff was not the big things you’re seeing AJ Bonsa doing, right? You know, it’s a different type of thing. Or Cooper Flag, who we were talking about on draft night, played with Ace Newell, who was in the draft, and played with Derek Queen, who was in the draft, and you can just go down the list of like everyone they played with in high school got drafted. No,
that’s not what what you saw from uh from Ace. If BYU were not a Nike school, I doubt AJ Debonsa would be going there.
It’s probably a good point.
It it honestly I being an Under Armour school puts Utah at a disadvantage. I know that they would tell you that it doesn’t, but it does. Certainly in the basketball world because there basically are no power basketball school. Under Armour had UCLA for a hot second, right? And then they ditched them.
Yeah. So, I mean that unfortunately this this big recruiting net is all wrapped up in the shoe stuff and it really matters.
Um AJ went to Wasach Academy, right? Or you know you went to Did you go Utah prep? Utah prep.
Utah prep.
Played a prolific prep out in Northern California before that.
Is Utah prep a Nike school?
I’m sure it is.
I would imagine it is. Actually, I’m not sure.
It may not be. Was Academy is
Was Academy is
is a Nike school.
I’m not sure. Interesting. Anyways, worth looking out. Uh, part of the reason that Damen Lillard still reps Adidas to this day is because he went to Weieber State and likely his AAOU team was a Adidas team.
Just had his 10th shoe come out today.
Did he really? Uhhuh.
timing on that. Yeah.
Timing. But whoever is marketing that shoe is like, come on.
It’s coming out for less than $100. That’s his big thing. This one’s gonna be less than 100 bucks.
I like Dame for so many reasons, and that absolutely is one of them. Accessibility to normal kids. It’s I mean I’m not even a shoe person, Ben. You’re more in that world than than I am. Is
Is your son into shoes?
Not in the slightest. And again, I get all my shoes secondhand. So,
but you’re at least aware of you’re aware of the pricing and stuff like that. And it it’s got to be outrageous.
I am so grateful that my son wants to wear Crocs everywhere he goes.
Good news. Utah Prep Nike School. Yeah, that makes sense.
Of course it is.
Uh so, the most we’ll ever spend on shoes is $30. I’ve only specifically bought one basketball shoe from a from a player and it was when I was go had to be like 13.
Uhhuh.
Grant Hills Felas.
Okay.
And I I absolutely love them dearly. What would be the like how much would Grant Hills Felas cost me today? Cuz that was a pretty pricey shoe.
Yeah.
When it came out.
Yep. 150 bucks, right?
Yeah. I was going to say it’s like 150 probably.
Fela’s dive into the basketball world which was unsuccessful.
Did not work well.
Well, nor did Grand Hills dive into the basketball world.
Puma tried to do that a couple years ago where they dive back in. They’re still kind of in it, but they have not made the inroads they thought they were because right now it’s it’s Adidas or Nike really the two dominant forces.
New Balance has Cooper. Yes.
And has Kawaii, but even then like those are not the most marketable players.
Correct.
Yeah. So
Cooper, honestly, that’s a coup for New Balance. New Balance must landed Kawaii when he was going through his own thing with Nike when they told him he wasn’t marketable.
But wasn’t the number for Cooper flag that he made $28 million last year at Duke? And a big chunk of that that he already had a shoe deal. Yeah.
So
I hate I hate it that the shoe companies have so much
It’s the dirty world that nobody talks about.
Filthy. Y that’s really the one of the bigger driving stories in all of basketball that nobody knows about. And I I would be lying if I, you know, pretended to know as much about it as probably goes on.
And honestly, this is why Michael Jordan has done way more for athletes than LeBron James ever has or ever will. This I mean, it’s it’s the most fascinating part of Michael Jordan’s story, honestly. You know, look into it. But they they put it in the they made a movie about it, right?
You know, the relationship between Phil Knight and Michael Jordan and where that started and how he turned into the most marketable thing on the planet.
Yep.
And Nike was at the forefront, you know. It’s wild. Why do you think they gave him his own label, you know, or his own brand?
It’s crazy.
All right, stay tuned. We will get to more coming up next. We’ve got top three stories uh of the day. Want to remind you to nominate the you sports volunteer you know for the Hercules hero of the week. Submit your nomination in kslports.com/contest and listen every Thursday 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. Top three stories next. 975 DKSL Sports Zone. Ladies and gentlemen, may I present
this is JJ and Alex.
That’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to invent a food line that you just invent by putting stuff in your pocket and that’s how it gets heated up. No need. put it under. But have you ever seen those like Indian street food Instagram videos? I go down that rabbit hole sometimes.
What does the algorithm say about us?
I I know there are some there’s some weird stuff that pops up. Mine is all sports and food stuff. That’d be accurate. If I had to guess, that would probably
And I do the thing, too, where I’m like, I like that recipe. I’m going to send it to myself. And then I see myself in the mirror as I walk by something in a building, I go, who are you? What are you? What’s your problem? That’s me. I’ve started to do that. I send myself Instagram recipes that I can try out on the weekend. I’ve become like a segment on Studio 5 breaking it out. And I saw this on Instagram. I wanted you to try it. My goodness. You start your own cooking show.
Oh, I like to cook. I’m one of those guys. Can you Can you do a cooking show on the radio? Catch JJ and Alex. Afternoons from 3 to 6 presented by G2G bars on 975 the KSL Sports Zone.
Jake and Ben. 975 the KSL Sports Zone. Time for the top three stories of the day. KSLports.com. Sponsored by Jbrooks Jewelers. Cheer us your love. Jbrooks Jewelers explore their expertly crafted engagement rings made from the finest materials. Jbrooks Jewelers uh hatch in for Christian as his uh what six month sbatical uh continues on.
Suspension. He was he was spotted fishing yesterday, by the way.
Oh yeah. The heck of a thing to do while you’re suspended. I think Ben might have been making that up. We’ll see.
All right.
See if he comes back. Uh what’s number one, Hatch? Number one, the Utah Mammoth make a number of moves yesterday on the first day of free agency, but no major splashes.
That was kind of the talk a few months ago was that, you know, they were going into the offseason with 20 plus million dollars in free agency money and that’s more than a lot of teams had. Would they go out and make a big splash? And there were a few names that we had talked about and some of them ended up off the board because they got traded and signed at the trade deadline, but they did not go and make the huge splash. They they made the splash with JJ Purka in the trade and then they just kind of filled out the roster with a bunch of three and four million dollar players.
Well, depth is a thing, right?
Yeah, that was something they were missing last year.
Only brought in two guys who just came from the Florida Panthers where they won a Stanley Cup. So,
trying to get some championship DNA. I
whatever that is. But yeah, I get what you’re saying. I I remember when the Jazz brought in Meoker and said the same thing. I was like, I don’t know. But yeah,
I am curious if the Mammoth will be an attraction for free agents ever. Um,
in a way that the Jazz are not.
I think we have evidence that yes, already.
Okay. They they are certainly getting plenty of players. I don’t know if any of these guys are picking you. These aren’t like the highest profile players that are picking Utah over other cities, though. We haven’t seen that signing yet where guys are like, I’m going to take $8 million, which is basically the highest anyone gets paid in hockey, to go play in Utah over playing in Florida or Toronto or LA or with the Rangers or whatever, the Stars. Uh, absolutely. Uh, incorrect. But the trade they just made from Buffalo, Peterka.
Purka. Yeah,
but they traded for him. That’s not a free agent.
You saw the extension, right?
Right. But he you listen Ben,
he wasn’t gonna sign the extension in Buffalo. He didn’t want to be in Buffalo. So that means that his agent
talks to whoever is trying to trade for him and says, “Yes, I will sign a an extension in Utah.” He absolutely picked you. Maybe it’s not a free agent, but you know what I’m talking about. I do. I do. This was at very least I would way rather live in Salt Lake than Buffalo. This is way more I’d rather play for the Mammoth than the Sabres. This is already an example of it. Utah was going to pony up the dough. He agreed through the extension. That is why the trade happened in the first place.
He would have become a restricted free agent had he stayed there and did not want to resign, but could have. So, he asked for a trade, but Buffalo absolutely could have kept him. But if if Buffalo was going to trade him to uh Detroit, they would have said, “Hey, you I and I’m just picking Detroit out of nowhere, by the way.” But uh they said, “Okay, well, will you sign an extension with us because we’re not going to make the trade if you’re not going to sign the extension?” He’s like, “No, then it doesn’t happen. Of course we do. That’s what happens in these scenarios with a player with value.” And that’s especially true in the NHL, I got to imagine, with its restrictive collective bargaining. This is how the players have control. I still am waiting. I understand what you’re saying. I’m still waiting for the true unrestricted free agent to hit the market and say I’m picking Utah. I have my choice of anywhere to go because what Buffalo has the control here and from my understanding reading back on this this purka trade is there was a big market for for him and Buffalo had a lot of offers and they took Utah’s offer. That was the offer they wanted. They wanted Kessle Ring. They wanted Don. So they were able to get something back out of that with some value that other teams were unwilling to give him and Peter was happy to sign in Utah. So that’s a plus. He didn’t fight signing in Utah, but he didn’t single out Utah as a place.
Utah doesn’t make that trade if they don’t have assurance that he’s going to sign then. So there is a difference between that and a guy who says I’m the biggest free agent on I’m martyr and I’m available and I’m going to pick where Conor McDavid is never a free agent. That’s the thing in the NHL. those players you’re talking about, they’re not even free agents anymore in the NBA. They’re never
correct
a free agent. So, what difference does it make? It’s it’s the I mean, it’s it’s part of what I’m beginning to like about the NHL is there are really interesting trades.
But, yeah, if he said no to a contract extension, they’re not Utah’s not making that trade.
I agree. Nobody is turning down Utah. Everyone’s been excited about it. I still haven’t seen the big player want to come play in Utah. Focused as that being the destination. And maybe Purka is an example of that. should ask Cole Bagley about it next time we have him on. But I do wonder if they’re going to be a draw still for these teams over or for these players over these other major towns, these other major cities,
like where like New York, like the Rangers, like the Kings, like the Stars, like the Florida Panthers,
like the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The Kings usually suck. Most those franchises usually suck.
But it’s Los Angeles. It’s Miami.
Right. Right. But what advantage has it given them? Well, Florida just won back-to-back titles and has been in three straight Stanley Cups. But Florida was a dynasty a couple years ago
is not a major market necessarily.
Miami is Miami
and that’s where they’re not playing in Miami. So no but and then there’s the tax haven aspect people in hockey want to get rid of
and Florida is not a traditional hockey place
but Chicago is very good and Chicago is a major city and a lot of people were signing there and they had drafted well but
and they haven’t always been good either
but they won what four and five years for a stretch. I mean they were they had a dominant run as well. I if you want to look at this sort of thing, I think the interesting thing to look at would be given where hockey players generally come from, what is their priority in a market to play in. And if you would tell me that it’s way different than basketball, I absolutely would buy into that or at least the priorities are way different. You know, the guys are different. The guys are way different. You’re right. Josh Don and Michael Kessler were moving to Buffalo together because they got traded there for Purka and the first thing they said is we’re moving. We’re going to live together. Like, you know, Keonte George and Taylor Hendris don’t live together. Well, there is a big difference there. You’re right.
Like, think of it this way. Like, a lot of hockey players come from Minneapolis, and that is where Christian is. He’s in Minnesota. So, we’ve talked off the air about how awful the climate is there. And it is awful. And I can’t believe people actually live there. But if you’re from Minneapolis, your priorities of where you want to live and what you want to experience about the the market you’re in are going to be way different. Then if you’re from like Bailey’s from Ace Bailey from Georgia, he grew up our friend Jamil from Georgia had never experienced snow
right
at all
right until he moved here and I know that a climate was a a adjustment for him. If he were from Minneapolis that wouldn’t be the case. You know what I mean? Like the if you’re coming from Eastern Europe, you’re probably looking for like vapes and techno music. Theoretically, I absolutely agree with you. Utah will be a better fit for NHL players than it has been with NBA players historically. I just want to see it in practice. I I the theory is correct. I just want to see it actually happen. And yes, Purka did sign an extension here and that was a big part of it. He was going to hit restricted free agency and we’ll see if Buffalo would have kept him or what, but he had demanded a trade apparently and wanted out and Utah was a spot he was happy to sign and that’s a major plus. Absolutely. But I want to see the free agent that gets $8 million a year, who’s the top available player choose Utah. You’re like the guy who wanted to see Al Capone busted for uh bootlegging and not tax evasion. Like the free agency, it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter who’s the biggest free agent the Jazz have ever gotten in. How many giant free agents are out there? Like LeBron was the first Max guy to actually leave his drafted team. That wasn’t that long ago. The decision that wasn’t that long ago. And this is the NBA, which is much further advanced in the collective bargaining front than than the NHL is. I mean, honestly, how many good free agents are even out there in the NHL from year to year? Does it even matter? I I would argue that it matters way more that extension. Well, at very least, it’s evidence of what you’re talking about. Direct evidence. just because you label it free agency in a trade. He’s forcing his way out of Buffalo, which means he has control over the situation and he is the one who gets to sign the extension. And there’s not a team out there that would blindly trade for a player in that situation without assurance. It did happen in the NBA with the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Yes. With Paul George.
But the fact the the tailtale sign that this is different
is he signed the extension the minute that the trade was announced. Yes.
Yes. It was agreed to before the trade was an obvious.
Absolutely.
So he at very least Ben, this young prospect who might as well have been a free agent because he could dictate essentially where he wanted to go at very least picked Salt Lake City over Buffalo.
Yes.
Which is an established NHL market.
But I was talking to somebody about Buffalo and I said, “Give me some sense on this.” And they said it’s a quote poverty franchise. It is. It is. The Kansas City Royals. But what does that matter? I mean, maybe that’s the reason that uh he didn’t want to stay or part of it, I guess. Or maybe they didn’t want to pay him like the the Coyotes. They just don’t want to pay that kind of guy. But either way, he forced his way out and he at very least agreed
agreed to stay in Utah,
to be in Utah over at least one other NHL market.
Maybe it’s a bad thing. I’m still waiting the Mitch Marers or the And again, Miko Randon didn’t even hit free agency. He signed his extension mid-season, but when do those guys pick Utah? And you know what?
No, he signed his extension. He didn’t become a free agent.
The Mammoth may have not even wanted to make a splash like that. They had talked about not wanting to make a splash like that by going out and getting a 30-year-old. I’m just waiting to see if we see it. I’m waiting to see if that’s different than how the Jazz have acquired players in the past.
I don’t like this damaged line of thinking where we have to be. We’re so scared of rejection. I’m not scared of it. I get rejected all the time. I’m free. It’s this whole Ace Bailey thing became about it. It’s this damaged perception of ourselves. Like that shouldn’t even be a story whether he’s picking when does the free agency pick Salt Lake City. The free agent pick Salt Lake City. And the only reason it is a story is because we’re so sensitive about how we are perceived in our community. I understand.
We got to get over it because you know what? The guy from Germany doesn’t care cuz he just wants to make sure there’s a German style beer hall downtown. And guess what? We have one of those.
There does seem to be more willingness to sign in smaller cities. That doesn’t mean that the major cities don’t still dominate a lot of these signings.
All right, number two. Yakob Purle gets paid.
He chose Utah at one point in his life
and he is from Eastern Europe. from Eastern Europe.
There were there were connections there though.
Uh so there you go. Purle I uh we were I was googling during the the break who Yaka Purle’s agent is and it’s Michael Telum from XL Sports Management and I would hire that guy because he just swindled the Raptors. No offense to Yaka Purle, but four years and what, Ben?
108 million. He was already owed 20 this year. So, they just kind of loop this in and give him a three-year extension on top of it. But yeah, that’s only a little bit less than what Miles Turner got. And Yakob’s a good player. We shouldn’t underrate that. Yakob is a good player, but yeah, that sets a weird market for a guy like Walker K.
Oh, he’s gonna get paid through the nose.
You would think so. And I This is why I don’t think Walker’s gonna get paid this summer. I think the Jazz are gonna let this market play itself out and see what he does next year.
He’s way better than Purle. And again, I know people love Purle around here. I get it. But he’s way better than Purle.
Purle is a much better like more skilled offensive player, but as far as impact on the game goes. I don’t know. I feel like you can find Yakob Purle.
Yeah. And he’s available. You know, you can just you can you can go out and get him. And look, big reasonable. He’s not as good as Miles Turner either.
No, I don’t think he’s as valuable. He doesn’t shoot the three at all. you know, he’s not a great shot blocker. He’s probably a little bit tougher. He’s very consistent. Yaka Pearl is a really good player. Don’t get me wrong. He’s a very good player, but and we also need to adjust the idea of like this is what starting players get now. Starters get $25 million. It’s not a superstar contract, but it is a ton of money. He’s going to have made $180 million by the time this contract’s done in his NBA career. And he was the lottery pick. Like, he’s a he is a really, really good player. He’s nowhere near an all-star. He’s probably the 15th best center in the NBA, you know. But yeah, this is the this is just what starters make now in the league, which again is surprising that John Collins doesn’t have much value at 26 a.5 million because it’s a very similar and he does some more of the things like shoot the three and, you know, can score 19 points a game and grab you eight rebounds and have some big outputs that apparently doesn’t have much of a market right now.
All right, what’s next? All right, number three. Is Utah becoming an O line factory? Uh Utah got a big commit. What’s the kid’s name?
Kelvin Oat.
Obot. Um he’s a fourstar recruit. He’s the top tackle coming out of the state of Idaho. And correct me if I’m wrong, his coach is Jordan Gross.
Yeah. So he’s from Futland High School where Jordan Gross also went to high school. And Jordan’s now back there as their head coach. Kelvin is the number one recruit out of the state of Idaho. Composite fourstar, rated 94. This kid’s big time. Um, but it comes on the heels or the expected heels of Utah having two tackles drafted. Mel Kyper said both first rounders, but we’ll see. If you’re drafted in the top 60, you’ve had a very good college career and that’d be a huge success for Utah if they get both of their tackles drafted in the first and second round. You start to wonder if Jim Harding’s building a reputation as a guy who will put you in the NFL.
Um, I I think we buried the lead here with this guy. What? What? Well, I guess the most significant thing to me is what part of Idaho? Futland is I believe I want to say western Idaho. Let me double check that though.
But a long way away from Weezer. Yeah. Okay, good. I I’m I’m protecting my guy. I don’t want a more high-profile athlete from Weezer, Idaho. What? That’s That’s Hans’s moniker. That’s his sign outside that town. You know what I mean?
Yeah. So, Fooland. Okay. All right. Good.
It’s kind of close.
Is it?
Is it his? Is it close?
Same district.
It’s up in that area.
What if they play each other?
They might.
Um Oh, no. Is it true?
Utah beat out Michigan, Oregon, Nebraska, and Michigan State uh for this guy. So, along those same lines, Utah not been running for the other tackle, the kid out of Texas Ojo. He has narrowed it down to his top four, and Utah’s not included. is a grand total of 19.2 miles from Futland, Idaho to Weezer, Idaho. Yeah, that’s like Draper. It’s a 27minute drive.
Yeah, that’s Draper. That’s not far at all.
This is Hans Olsson eraser.
Oh man, I wonder if if Hans is threatened or is proud, you know what I mean? Maybe maybe he’s got some region pride going.
I’m sure he can’t wait to go up there and tell him that he also is from the area and is familiar with the area. Scotty, too.
Oh, yeah. Those Idaho guys like talking Idaho. talking Idaho.
Yeah.
So, I’ll be curious. I’ll be curious if you talk and establish this as an identity. This was a real strength for BYU for so long.
All right. Stay tuned. We’ll get to more coming up next. It is the Jake Anban Show 975 the KSL Sports Zone.
Hey, bro. You hear us every day with our crazy opinions.
Hey, what you doing?
Well, now it’s time to hear from you.
Hey, great show.
Download the KSL Sports app and fire off your thoughts with the call-in tab on the bottom of your screen. This show is fantastic. It’s the one that captivates me the most.
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I think you guys do an incredible job. This is 975, the KSL Sports Zone.
Quickly, this is not the top three stories. We just did the top three stories. Oh, way to go, Hatch.
That’s fine. I just don’t want people expecting the top three stories again.
Yeah. You know what? Who is the biggest offender? The one who makes the mistake or the one who points it out to everybody? Cuz I got to say, Ben,
why should you jail for a crime somebody else noticed?
Exactly. You could have just let that go.
You didn’t do it. I just don’t want people expecting it to be like, I thought they were doing top three. Hasher right now. Yeah.
Hatch, what’s the biggest mistake you’ve ever made in your life?
Oh jeez, there’s a few.
Did they ever tell you about the time I almost burnt down the city of Rock Springs with fireworks? Did hear about that today.
Said that told that story.
Uh join Hansen Scotty uh coming up today uh in speaking of Futland from noon to 3 and JJ and Ale. Oh, why does it say Futland here? That’s can’t be it. There is a Futland Utah. You don’t think it’s in Fruitland?
I don’t think it’s in Fland. No, because It goes on to say it’s South Jordan. So, who typed Futland into my coffee?
Did you And you know what? If you write it, I
You trying to Google Feland and you accidentally had the wrong sheet up and you just typed Futland into the middle of your
No, there’s no way. It’s right here. Maybe I did. That could have happened.
That sounds like you.
I’m like looking at I’m like
That sounds a lot like you.
Uh well, I just erased it. Uh, join Hans and Scotty today from noon to three at JJ and Alex from 3 to 6 at Kenny Jay’s Barbecue at the District in South Jordan, not Futland.
Uh, yeah, go
order a uh half pound burgers in time for your Fourth of July barbecue presmoked by Kenny himself.
Sounds great. I’m can’t wait to eat. I love Fourth of July. Again, South Jordan.
Uh, not Fland.
No. Um, Jordan Clarkson gave $3.6 $6 million back to the Utah Jazz in his buyout, which I was surprised by. He probably didn’t have to, but that also gives you some understanding of the motivation for the Jazz. So, they end up paying him 10ish uh as opposed to the 13.5 million to just have him sit on the bench and watch the young players, which is a good value for the Jazz. They get money back. And also, Jordan Clarkson will be made whole because he has enough tenure now in the NBA that that 3.6 million is the exact same Joe Engles just got because that’s the veteran minimum. Once you’ve been in the league long enough, you get 3.6 6 million a year is the minimum. So, the Knicks will sign him to that contract and he will be back to the whatever 13.5 million he was set to make.
Okay. But let’s not let’s not think too warmly of Jordan necessarily here. I mean, like he’s fine, but we’re saying, “Oh, he did the Chaz a favor.” No, he didn’t. Cuz they didn’t have to let it they didn’t have to cut him.
No, they didn’t.
Like they could just keep him,
right?
Like if you want that money, we’ll just keep you. This is the this is the negotiating that he had to do to go to a team where he was going to play for more important, you know, the things that he wants in his career. So, it’s not like,
oh, I’ll do you a favor cuz I love you.
No,
it’s it’s not really a bargain he had to make to go somewhere else.
But the I I I think the motivation was probably more on the Jazz’s end even the Jordans. I wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case at all. If the Jazz were had a bigger desire to get this done than even Jordan did. Yeah, fine. Who cares? They still could Raja Bellum. They hardly played him last year. Like, you know what I mean? He had to bend in order to get to play on another team. Sure, but I think the Jazz more wanted Jordan off the team than Jordan wanted to be off the Jazz.
But, but that that not the point. He’s under contract. They had leverage. He had to do something in order for the Jazz to do it because they really could. They could just not play him. I mean, that’s you don’t have to play
and that would have been the worst case scenario for both sides. And I am sure that the Jazz and Jordan Clarkson do have a warm relationship. And it probably was not one of those things that was very difficult to negotiate, I’m guessing. But, uh, you know, nobody’s leaving what did what did you say it was, Ben? $3.6 million on the table because they like somebody. Agreed. Uh, especially at this point in the NBA. I would also add,
you know, I love Christian, but I’m not leaving like 35 cents on the table. Just kidding. You also remember when the Jazz signed Jordan in 2023, two years ago, they gave him the rest of their salary cap space. Do you remember that? They just they renegotiated and extended him and they bumped him up in 2023 24. So two years ago, didn’t they bump him up to like $25 million? They he was owed 14 and they said, “What if we just give you 9 million more upfront just to fill out our cap space and then you sign the extra couple years on the top of it?” So yeah, he jumped up to 23.5 million. Uh maybe even been last year. No, it was 0304 and then last year he dropped back down to 14. But the Jazz had done well by Jordan financially already.
Yeah. Yeah. Sure.
So it makes sense why there would be a little bit of maybe willingness to get this deal done, you know, without I think there being any uh hard feelings for anybody. Absolutely. I uh we were talking about this a little bit off the uh off the air, but I mean if the relationship between team player and agent functions correctly, then everybody is rooting for everybody and everybody’s on the same page. It’s when that goes sideways that things get a little off sometimes. You know what I mean?
And that stuff gets around because it’s a really small community. I mean, there’s only a handful of agents, and all those players, by the way, you don’t get, we talk about a lot on this show, but you don’t hear a ton about it everywhere else. All those players have relationships with the other players that are represented by the same company. Like all the Bartlestein clients all know each other. Yes, they all work out together. It’s its own little community. So, word really gets around. That’s why uh the Lakers uh putting out bad info about health stuff on players they want to lowball is is really a desperate and bad move because
then nobody trusts you and then you can’t land a center even if you want to,
you know.
Yeah.
So the Jazz should treat Jordan Clarkson well. And to your point, there should be some give and take and and some goodwill, but there’s also stake in the game, which there should be, right? Everybody, everybody’s always looking out for their self-interest, but there’s no reason you can’t be on the same team,
right? Make it right for everybody. Help everybody, improve everybody, be out for everybody’s benefit. And maybe I’m projecting because this is kind of how I view my role in the business world is that, you know, I’m I’m not the one with all the talent. I’m I’m the one that can help make other people better and help make situations better and at least try and be pleasant to work with. And it’s it’s worked for me so far in my career. You know,
I think it works for people in a lot of lines of work and in the NBA. If you all pull in the same direction and you’re out for everybody’s benefit, it’s it’s like um
it’s like head coaches in college football when their coordinators get head coaching jobs. Yeah.
No, I’m happy for Yeah. You know, I’m happy for that. That’s a real step up. I’m excited for their opportunity. I’ll root for them to win every game except for when we play them, you know. I mean, it’s the reason you have that kind of uh mentality is because it comes back around. The next talented coordinator is going to want to coach for you because you’re going to put them in a position where they can take the next step in their career.
We also haven’t seen the last of Jordan in Utah. Jordan in one respect or another will be a Uton in a sense. He’s going to be a guy who I think after his retirement is going to be a Jazz. Like I think you’re going to see him. He’s going to be welcomed back. He’s going to be beloved. He’s going to get a standing ovation every time he comes back. If he wants to do anything in basketball, which maybe he doesn’t, he will have an open door, I would imagine. Yeah. Well, he’s an upper east side guy now. I guess
he is. Yeah.
We’ll see if he comes out of that. But
you don’t meet many pop stars in Salt Lake.
No, but I’ve talked to Jordan. You know, maybe he was just saying the right things, but I’ve talked to Jordan a bunch of times about what he wants his postretirement to look like, and he said, “I want to buy a motorcycle, and I want to ride around Utah. I want to go to the national parks. I want to go up and down. I just can’t do it right now.” I thought he would have said like volunteer guide at the Alamo. Okay. San Antonio guy.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I would stand there and talk to tourists about what happened at this famous site. Hey, you know what? If any player were to do it, it might be Jordan,
right? He’s a unique He’s a unique
interesting guy. Probably knows a lot about the Alamo.
Yeah.
All right. Stay tuned. Uh we’ll have more coming up next. Watch Wednesday is at 11:30. So, Jake and Ben show 975, the K uh KSL sports zone.
Hour one of Jake & Ben for July 1, 2025:
• Fireworks and Utah Jazz historic moves
• Top 3 Stories at KSLSports.com
• Jordan Clarkson gets his buyout
