FULL SHOW | Utah Jazz Offseason Moves and Salt Lake City Summer League | Who Won and Lost Early N…
Happy Saturday. Welcome back to the Saturday show 975DKSL Sports Zone. I’m Christian Esparza joined by Alex Napoulos. As always, we’ve got Sean behind the glass. I hope you guys all had a tremendous Fourth of July.
Is it Saturday?
Today’s Saturday. Oh man, I lost track of the day of the week.
Feels a little weird, doesn’t it? It does. Uh, obviously the station was off yesterday and so I’ve this entire week I went through thinking and trying to figure out what day of the week it was. I came in on on Thursday and I genuinely thought it was Friday.
It basically was.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Well, I’m looking and you’ve still got all 10 fingers.
Yeah.
Uh Sean, you as well? Yep. Okay. Way to go, guys.
None of us burned our fingers off.
Yeah,
that’s that’s a successful Fourth of July in my book.
Yes. as well as pounding all the burgers and the hot dogs.
Yes, sir.
As possible.
Uh, you know what? I’ll start off the day with an old man sort of opinion. I think there’s got to be there’s got to be like a time cut off for
No, I I 100% agree with you.
I It has never bugged me.
I don’t think ever until last night for some reason. You know, I was trying to sleep uh and it was probably It was definitely past midnight. It was probably I’m talking like 12:30ish and neighbors are lighting off fireworks and it’s like dude my dog is freaking out like
couldn’t sleep and I couldn’t sleep. My wife had to work this morning. She had to be up super early. She couldn’t sleep. Uh so yeah, we we’ve got to do something about uh you know I think it’s great that people can buy fireworks and obviously if they’re being safe don’t want to cause a fire or anything. I think that is fun and especially for kids and stuff but there’s just got to be a time cut off. you know, be respectful to the people in your neighborhood. But I just had to get that off my chest.
I think in my neighborhood, um I think it was probably like one o’clock and you still heard some
some bangs and some shabooms.
Yeah. You know, uh how’s your fourth joy, though, man?
Uh my fourth was great. Uh I was out all week actually. I went up to Minnesota. That’s where my mom is from. Got to see my grandpa. Got to see my aunt and uncle. Saw some family. I haven’t been up there in a few years, so I wanted to get up there. It’s always a great time. It’s beautiful up there this time of year. It’s a very very beautiful state. They call it the land of 10,000 lakes. That holds true. I mean, you can’t even drive five miles without passing like two lakes. Like it it is crazy. So, we go up there, do a lot of fishing, uh visit with family, and that’s always fun. And then, yeah, I got got home in time to enjoy the uh the holiday. So, there you go. Awesome, man. I uh we didn’t do fireworks. My parents are out of town. They and their friends went on on a quick trip down to down to Mosquite.
Oh, Mosquet’s fun.
So, me and my siblings ended up just uh doing 30 rounds of Mario Party last night. And so, we 30 rounds of Mario Party.
Um and so or 30 turns, I should say.
Okay. I thought you meant like 30 separate games. I was like, I don’t know how that’s possible. No, no, no. Uh 30 30 turns uh Mario Party, which uh I think that game lasted almost 3 hours.
That’s fun.
We started at 10:00 and we didn’t finish till Oh, man. It had have been 1:30 in the morning.
Nice.
Yeah.
Yeah. There you go. That sounds fun. Did you go out and watch like city fireworks or uh I mean we watched what we could from our from from our rooftop in our window. Nice.
Yeah. Just every all the neighbors just mooching off the neighbors this year. We didn’t buy fireworks. We didn’t partake in the fireworks. We just watched
everybody else’s fireworks.
Oh, great. Yeah, man.
Sean, you get out, watch fireworks.
No, I did the same thing as Alex.
Yeah,
West Valley, it pops off. So,
just go out in the front yard and look in any direction and it’s just going.
There you go. Well, I’m I hope everybody out there listening had a great holiday. And uh that’s what’s nice about it falling on a Friday. You still get the whole weekend to uh just chill and relax. So, thanks for making us a party of morning. Let’s jump right in. It was a busy week. Obviously, NBA free agency, NHL free agency both opened on Monday. Saw a lot saw a lot of movement um for the Jazz, especially saying goodbye to two guys that really gave a lot to the team. Uh number one and Jordan Clarkson, who was the longest tener player at the moment. uh they buy out his contract after presumably I would guess that they have tried to trade him the last couple of years and nobody really wanted his contract so it just got to a point where they had to buy him out and then uh with Colin Ston they trade him to Charlotte and uh both of these moves essentially I mean you’ve got Walter Clayton Jr. You’ve got Kiante George, you’ve got Isaiah Collier. Uh the reason the Jazz move off of those veterans is to clear playing time for this young group because Keonte George is extension elible eligible next summer.
Yeah.
Uh so you need to know what your decision is. You need him to see the floor as much as possible. Uh and then Isaiah Collier had a pretty good rookie year. He had a lot of ups, a lot of downs. You got to see how much he can improve and really decide if he can be a quality rotation player at the very least. And then of course you draft Walter Clayton Jr. in the first round this year. You want him to see the floor as much as possible. So ideally for the Jazz, I mean obviously best case scenario would be all three of those guys work out. But if you’re the Jazz, you’re hoping at least two of those guys are long-term assets for this team.
100%. And I think I think the moving on from Jordan Clarkson um maybe a little bit overdue. I think I think that there was probably a market for him three years ago. Maybe like once the whole rebuild started
into that deal.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And you know, I think I think it was just time to I know he’s a fan favorite. I know I know everybody loves Jordan Clarkson, but I think it was time to it was time to move on and to allow the younger guys to step up and and allow allow them to take those minutes. For Colin Ston, that one I thought Colin Saxon brought a lot.
Yeah, I loved the energy that he brought to the team. I loved the the grit and the determination he brought on the court every time he was on the court and played. But again, that opens up minutes for Keonte George, for a Walt Clayton Jr., and for Isaiah Collier. And so that one I I I while I’m maybe not a fan at at the beginning of it, I think I will ultimately be okay with it once once we we give ourselves the opportunity to see the younger guys get more playing time.
Well, and that’s the hard part kind of looking at these moves, right? Because you use the term fan favorites and that is so true.
Yeah. Um Jordan Clarkson, both of them.
Yeah. Both of them. Jordan Clarkson had so many memorable moments here in Salt Lake City. And again, he was the last hold over from the previous iteration of Jazz teams. And you know, I was explaining to my wife like the whole uh how many Jazz games have you been to this year? Oh, a lot. Like that whole situation is just funny. And he’s a great guy by all accounts.
Uh great locker room personality. He’s been around the league. He’s played for several teams and he knows what it takes to stick around. Um, and not only that, but he’s a true testament of coaching and how much being coachable as a player can benefit you because the Jordan Clarkson that left Salt Lake City is not the same Jordan Clarkson that came in when they acquired him. uh he he changed so much as a player during his time here for the better and we saw that uh including winning the sixth uh man of the year award and then even under Will Hardy just becoming a a really dependable veteran and I think that’s what the Knicks are acquiring obviously they are signing him after the contract buyout with the Jazz and then to Colin Ston that was a tough one because he was you know Clarkson’s older ston is right on the borderline of you talk about timelines with this team. Um he’s what 25 or 26 and it’s like theoretically he could possibly be a part of the future for this team but with there being so many young guards in the rotation you need to clear space you need to see what you have. So yeah uh that’s tough. You talk about his kind of tenacious work ethic and that kind of bled into every aspect of his game and you could see it even he’s not the biggest guy but you could see the work that he puts in offensively and defensively. I mean he plays to the whistle.
Yeah.
Every single possession. And it it’s you would hope that that was contagious and that’s why you wanted Colin Ston around because he’s a really high energy guy. And that’s the part that kind of sucks about losing him is you’ve got these young guys coming in and you want them to know that hard work is going to get you where you want to go in the NBA. And that’s what Colin Ston is. So losing that, you’re losing a valuable locker room asset there.
They called him Young Bull for a reason, man. Exactly.
Called him young bull for a reason. And
now he’s just bull.
Now he’s just bull.
Not quite young.
He anytime, like I said, anytime he was on the court, he he would bring a different vibe and a different energy because he would he he was always the type to just put his head down and and and kind of use use his his physicality and his energy to make up for where he lacked maybe in in shooting, maybe in his skills, but he always gave it 100%. And you can see that.
Yep. And I think a lot of fans appreciate when you can see a guy going in and giving it 110%. And Colin Ston is 100% one of those guys.
Always.
Always. Yeah. And you get into like the how do I word this? You know, last year they got fined for essentially tanking for holding out players because of exaggerated injury reports. And you know that that had to hurt Colin Ston because he’s one of those guys that just
he thirsts to be out on the court, right? he wants to be out there because he is a competitor and so I I know that if he was going to stick around on this team, he wasn’t looking forward to that for next year. I know they say they’re not going to do that and this is kind of evidence to that. They are moving off of veterans so they don’t have to find reasons to hold them out of games. Um let’s talk about the return a little bit though because that’s where this Colin Sexton trade gets a little weird, right? Yes. Not only do they trade Colin Ston to the Charlotte Hornets to get Yu Nerkich, a veteran, they also had to add a second round pick to the trade to to to make it work. And I have a really hard time believing that there’s essentially no trade market for Colin Ston. And I know that being on on a team with a losing record, the worst record in the NBA, that’s going to hurt anybody’s trade value, no matter how good they are. But I think that was the most shocking part to me was that’s all that they could get. They didn’t get any picks in return.
And in fact, they lost a pick. In fact, they lost a pick. And again, I know the the the reason you make this trade isn’t to accumulate assets. The reason is to clear playing time for the young guys, but it would be nice to accumulate more assets, but no, they have to lose a pick in the process. And I know it’s a 20 30 second round pick. So, how much does that matter? Ideally, they’ll be good by then, but that was a little weird to me. And now they bring in Nerkich, who is just a body on the bench, and I know he’s front court depth behind Walker Kesler and Kyle Filipowski and Taylor Hendris. Um, but that was a little weird to me.
Nerk, an 11-year veteran, um, with about a career average of about 11 points and eight rebounds. Even then, you look at Nerkach and and I mean, I guess that they’re, you know, you want to bring in some center depth, and that’s fine, but I don’t know if I don’t know if Nerkich is the guy that’s really going to come in and and try to make this team better, right? This this kind of screams to me as
this is kind of a bridge player until we can figure out what we want to do at that position, for sure. until either one Kyle Filipowski kind of rises up to the occasion and continues his development and be and and ends up being better, right, as he develops. But to me, to me, this is just uh this guy’s going to come in and he’s going to be a vet a veteran in the locker room. Yeah. You look at, you know, the reason this trade was made again to clear playing time for the young guards, but now you add a veteran that is he going to take minutes away from the older big men or from the younger big men in this group. Um, you know, I don’t think so because obviously, especially big men, right, they’re not going to play a lot every night. This guy, Nerkich, is not gonna I don’t know what is how many minutes he played a game last year. I doubt he’s going to be averaging more than 20 minutes a game with the Jazz. Um, of course you need depth with those guys, especially with I don’t know what the deal is with Micah Potter and Oscar Sheway. I know that they’ve extended uh an offer to Sheibu, but yeah, you you need depth and I get that. Part of me is like, okay, why wouldn’t they take a swing on a maybe a project ro rotational man and see if they can get another kind of hybrid guy like Philipowski and so just to add more uh versatility. But then the other part of me is like well it’s nice to have the veteran that you don’t have to worry about developing and spend less time I guessounding him. You don’t want, again, pups don’t raise pups. So, you need some sort of veteran presence in the locker room, I guess, because now Walker Kesler is your longest tenure Jazz player. Um,
yes.
So, yeah, you need you need some sort of veteran man in the group to kind of help these guys out. But, I don’t I don’t know. I’ve I haven’t heard much about Nerkach and his leadership style and all that, but again, similar to Jordan Clarkson, like he’s been around the league and at the very minimum, he knows what it takes to stick around and that alone is something. So, I am curious to see what sort of impact he has on guys like again Walker Kesler and and Kyle Filipowski and Taylor Hendris and some of those other guys. Ner I think Nerkage can come in and and you know I think the hope is that he will he will end up being being some sort of a veteran presence especially for a guy like Kyle Filipowski who I think we saw a lot of potential out of him last season. And so again I think I think Nerkage is just is brought in to kind of help bridge the gap between when Kyle Filipowski right now is in that development stage and to kind of bridge and have a little bit more extra depth there while Philipki continues to to grow as a player. That’s that’s purely what I see Nerkage coming over to the Jazz as.
Yeah. And then you throw in the fact I mean I know Larry Markin doesn’t play the five much but he is you know probably a fourish. So
yeah you throw in Lowry Markin and Taylor Hendricks, Kyle Filipowski, Walker Kesler. That’s a fourman rotation already. So where does Nerkich fit in there? And essentially, I guess that that brings some pressure off of maybe Taylor Hendricks coming off the injury, not rushing him back and and whatever. And then who knows, maybe this is kind of insurance in case uh Lowry Markin or Walker Kesler move does come down the road because the summer just got started and there’s still a long time before the NBA season tips off. So, who’s to say what’s what else is going to happen with this Jazz roster? But, uh, yeah, Nerkich pulling up his stats. I mean, nine points a game last year, 7.8 rebounds, 2.3 assists on 20.8 minutes per game. So,
right. And I thought, you know, I thought his time in Portland, he was pretty decent. And then he went over to the Phoenix Suns to try to help them get over the hump and help them try to win a championship, but it didn’t really work out in Phoenix. Ends up getting traded and moved to Charlotte. uh halfway through the season and then now you have him here in Utah. So, we’ll see again what he’s able to bring.
Um in the the interesting thing to me now is you lose Colin Ston, you lose Jordan Clarkson. Obviously, that’s time to It gives you that opportunity to open up minutes for the younger guys, but now now now I’m looking at what’s next and and to me it seems as to me the question is what’s going to happen with John Collins at this point? I totally forgot about John Collins. talking about.
That’s why I bring him up. That’s why I bring him up because I think I’m trying to think of like the projected starting five for the Utah Jazz next season.
I’m trying to think of who’s going to be there and every time I try to like put it together and build it.
Yeah.
John Collins is the odd man out,
right?
I can’t I can’t find a place for him because, you know, you want to give time to Ace Bailey, you want to give time to Taylor Hendricks who’s going to be coming back.
Yeah.
And then obviously L’s in that conversation. And so it seems like John Collins is kind of the odd man out right now.
Yeah. Uh I wouldn’t be surprised if John Collins has moved. I do want to going back to Nerkage real quick, one last note. Um who’s to say the Jazz don’t reroute him here this summer or at the uh trade deadline again? That’s always possible. So
yeah, 100%.
Just want to throw that in there. But again, yeah, going back to John Collins, he was sort of people talked about Jordan Clarkson, Colin Ston, and John Collins as the vets that were very likely to get moved. And then you throw in the possibility of yeah, Lowry could get moved. And then Walker Kesler is like, you know, there are always going to be trade rumors surrounding Walker Kesler. So yeah, John Collins still very much on the trading block, I would presume, especially again as you bring up. You need time for Taylor Hendricks. You need time for Ace Bailey. You need time for Flip. And if you still have Walker Kesler and Lowry Markin in that group, like that really limits how much John Collins uh will play a role with this team. And I know he was great last year um with the Jazz. he was probably their best player and for the Jazz where they’re at right now, I don’t know if they want a best player. Uh, but we’ll see. I mean, I I think John Collins could add a lot of value to a lot of teams. I think anybody would be really interested in a essentially a stretch five that can come in and really spread the floor. You know, incredibly athletic and he’s he’s solid on defense. He’s nothing spectacular, but he’s just kind of a really do-it-all guy,
right? Right. And I think anybody would be interested in that. So
I think I think statistically speaking, John Collins last year had a pretty had a had a really good season, man. Um
probably the best year of his career.
I especially with the Utah Jazz. Yeah,
especially with the Utah Jazz.
And right he’s on that expiring contract. He opted into that the player options. Picked up his option.
So he’s he’s on the expiring contract. And so I mean he’s right now he’s a really valuable asset for the Utah Jazz to try to move off of and and see what they can get in return for him. And I think I think the next domino to fall in this Utah Jazz rebuild is going to be John Collins. Yeah. Well, we thought that Colin Ston was a really valuable asset and it turns out I guess he wasn’t. Um so maybe this kind of is like okay yeah tough market. Prepare for an underwhelming return if and when they do trade John Collins.
I don’t know. Who knows? Um real quickly I do want to move on. Uh, Salt Lake Summer League begins tonight and I am very, very excited for that, especially for tonight’s matchup. The Jazz are taking on the 76ers. Obviously, that means you’re going to see Ace Bailey pick number five versus VJ Edgecom pick number three. I think that uh I was looking at the rosters for for the Salt Lake Summer League this year, and they’re pretty stacked. Um, I think it’s going to be a very entertaining year. I was trying to find the uh the 76ers roster, but the the website I’m looking at posted the Jazz roster under the 76ers roster. Oh,
I’m interested to see if Jared McCain is playing for Philly. I haven’t seen that yet, but uh I like McCain uh going into his second year coming off a meniscus tear that shortened what was a really exciting rookie season. So, uh, Philly has a lot of exciting young talent as well as the Utah Jazz, obviously with not only Ace Bailey, but pick number 18, Walt Clayton Jr., uh, doesn’t look like Kee George is going to be playing. Um, the only guy from that draft year on the Salt Lake summer league roster for the Jazz is Bryce Sensib with Taylor Hendricks still recovering, but then Cody Williams, Isaiah Collier, Kyle Filipowski, all on the roster. Uh, John Tani, second round pick, and R.J. Lewis Jr. free agent pickup this year. So, lot of exciting names to watch tonight for the Jazz. Uh, not just tonight, but this weekend. Again, Jazz getting going tonight. Uh, that game tips off at 7. And reminder, it’s at the Huntsman Center this year, not the Delta Center. I think it’ll be awesome to see VJ Edgecom, man, get his uh get his NBA start, too, in in Salt Lake along with Ace Bailey.
Oh, I’m so excited to watch Ace. I I think that I think the VJ Edgecom Ace Bailey matchup tonight should be extremely exciting. Not only for Jazz fans obviously because I think most and every single Jazz fan is excited to see Ace Bailey, but I mean at the same time you get to see VJ Edgecom and a lot of people argued that was your number three and your number four in the draft.
Oh 100%.
As far as talent and ceilings go.
Yeah.
Ace it was Ace Bailey and VJ Edgecom. So, you’re seeing two incredibly talented ball players getting to play and going headto-head tonight at the Hudsman Center. Man, it’s awesome. There are a lot of fun storylines, especially because VJ Edgecom went to Baylor, right? And with Utah and BYU both being in the Big 12, we saw a lot of Baylor basketball last year. So, it seems like out of all of the top five prospects, aside from Cooper Flag, because everybody was watching Cooper Flag, hoping he was coming to Salt Lake, it seems like VJ Edgecom was the guy that local fans watched the most. Uh, but then, yeah, you throw in the fact that uh Ace Bailey was widely seen as the second or third best prospect in this draft, yet he didn’t end up going to Philly at number three. Yes.
So, yeah, a lot of underlying storylines. Um, I know that Ace Bailey obviously has been practicing with the Jazz the last week or so, and by all accounts, it sounds like it’s going great. Uh, sounds like his shot is real, you know, real smooth, real fluid. He can get it up whenever he wants. And then, not to throw, uh, not to forget about Walt Clayton Jr., I’m excited to see what sort of playing style kind of translates to the NBA because he was a guy we talked about it last week with Chandler Holt. Like you need a big shot, Walt Clayton Jr. is taking it and it’s going in. And as far as now he’s coming to the Jazz and he’s not the guy, he’s a guy. I am curious to see what what sort of change comes there as far as being more of a facilitator as a point guard and but we know he has the ability to to chuck it up and score because his shooting percentages were legit. He’s and I think it’s an opportunity for for a guy like like like Clayton Jr. and a guy like Tani and even and even RJ Lewis to come in and kind of make a name for yourselves because right now those are guys that are fighting for roster spots. Those are guys that are fighting to to impress the coaching staff, to impress people, you know, who who probably didn’t necessarily expect these guys to come in and really be impact or make and and make a difference, right? But they they have that opportunity. They have that stage here in the summer league. And that’s one of the things I really like about summer league, right? You give these players an opportunity to showcase their skills, to showcase their potential um to eventually and hopefully make it onto an NBA roster. And so I’m I’m excited to see all these these new guys come in and try to make a difference.
Uh again, that game tips off at 7 tonight against the Philadelphia 76ers. Obviously, you can go up and watch it at the Huntsman Center. If you can’t make it, tune in to the KSL Sports Zone. We’ll be broadcasting that as always with David Lock and Ron Boon. Um and you know, if neither of those options work, got a lot of options to watch it on TV. It’s going to be on ESPN, uh Kazz, NBA TV, YouTube TV, all that fun stuff. So that’s tonight’s game. Uh, as far as the rest of the summer league schedule, we’ve also got the Grizzlies taking on the Thunder. That’s tonight at 5. Uh, and then day two will be Monday. So, they get the day off tomorrow. Monday, you’ve got the Thunder taking on Philadelphia at 5. And then you’ve got the Grizzlies taking on the Jazz at 7. And then day three on Tuesday, the Grizzlies will play the 76ers. And the Jazz will wrap it up against the Thunder. So, all of these teams have lottery talent this year. a lot of exciting names to come in and watch. So, especially I mean, man, you look at the you look at the Thunder and all of the young players that they’ve drafted over the last couple years that didn’t even get kind of the chance to to make their mark on that championship team. Like, I’m excited to see I I think this is a great group of Salt Lake Summer League teams. I think they all bring something very interesting and you’re going to want to tune in to these games. I 100% agree. And then you look at, you know, you look at the Grizzlies and they’ve uh Cedric Howard, their first round draft pick will of course be here playing. And so I think he’s going to be someone I’m going to be keeping an eye on to see how he performs. And then obviously you have Oklahoma City who uh is able to finally debut their rookie, Nicola Topic, who suffered an ACL and didn’t play last year and didn’t play
a single game unfortunately in his rookie year. So, those are other two fun story lines to keep an eye on uh especially that since it’s happening here in in Salt Lake City.
Yeah. And then of course they’ll move on to Vegas uh soon after that. So, all right, we got to take a break. Coming up next, we will get into uh more into NBA free agency. I want to kind of do some winners and losers. Uh there were some teams that I think made some great acquisitions. Uh and I want to talk about that next. It’s the Saturday Show 975, the KSL Sports Zone. Welcome back to the Saturday Show 975 the KSL Sports Zone. It is summertime. It was hot yesterday. I don’t know if that’s just me. It was kind It was kind of uh It was like humid hot because we had like the thunderstorms roll in and the monsoon roll in and it kind of
kind of made things a little gross and humid. Yeah. I came in again. I was in Minnesota all week. So up there it’s very humid, but the the temperature isn’t as hot. It actually felt really nice up there. And then I come back to Utah and the dry heat just like it was hot. I was struggling.
No, it was that’s that’s Utah for you, man. You can feel it the second you like
Yeah.
walk off the plane, man. It’s weird. Yeah. Literally like on the bridge coming into the airport. It’s like h anyway. Okay, let’s get into uh NBA free agency because that was kind of the big story of the week. It opened on Monday. saw a lot of movement, which is always fun, especially given the fact that they’re, you know, big names don’t hit free agency anymore, but we still saw a lot of trades. There were a few teams that I thought made some some very good moves. There are a few teams that I think made questionable moves. What do you want to start with? You want to start with a winner or a loser?
Start with some winners, man.
Winners.
Start with some positive vibes.
All right. Uh, I’ll save my big winner for later. I want to start off with the the Rockets, not even counting their Kevin Durant trade, which obviously that was huge. That happened a little bit before
free agency officially started. But then they bring in Clint Capella to add alongside Shenun and uh Steven Adams and that gives them three very rotational big men. Um, a lot of versatility there, especially with Clint Capella kind of being a really athletic guy and I know that he’s past his prime. like I’m not going to sit here and act that this is the the Clint Capella that we saw uh five six years ago, right? But he’s still a very serviceable serviceable body. And the reason that I like this move
is because it shows that the Rockets were not just content with trading for Kevin Durant. They didn’t make the big move and then say, “Okay, we’re done. We’re going to win the championship now.
We’re contenders.” Yeah. They’re saying, “No, we we make the big move. Yeah.
What other moves around it can we make to increase our chances of winning? And I like that from a front office. They also bring in Dorian Finny Smith, um, a shooter, and then, uh, they keep Fred Van Fleet. And it it really shows. I think this is just front, you know, smart front office decisions.
Right. Right. You you resign. I think the biggest thing is is resigning Jabari Smith and Fred Van Fleet. Um, Fred Van Fleet, right, is now taking less of a hit on the salary cap thanks to the his extension, the way it was structured. Um, and so you you you’re able to bring in Dorian Finny Smith, Clint Compella, and Kevin Durant’s contract and avoid
kind and avoid the second apron. Yeah.
Right. You’re all within
you’re you’re in a pretty good spot if you’re the Rockets. You re you re you restructure some salaries and then you bring in some guys who I think can really put you over the top. To me, the biggest winner is the Houston Rockets, especially in the Western Conference.
They’re your biggest winner
in the Western Conference. Yes. Okay.
And I know you’re gonna disagree. No, that’s fine. I I still think I mean, you can both be winners.
Yeah.
Yeah. Uh I like it and I’m curious to see how this ends up working out for the Rockets because when they first made the the Kevin Durant trade
Yeah.
And I was the same way with the Thunder. I’m not ready to crown somebody like as the the champs.
No. And I’m not saying they’re going to win it all.
No. No. No. And I I I’m not taking it like that. I’m just saying that again, like I said, they made additional moves on top of that. And I really really like that.
Right. And I am curious to see how it works out because Kevin Durant hasn’t won anything in a while. And when he did, obviously, he did great things in Golden State, but also he was playing next to one of the greatest players of all time. So, how much can he lead a young team? um you know, his leadership is going to be very important for the Rockets. But again, the the auxiliary moves around it I do really really like. So
on paper it looks really it looks like a really
on paper they’re contenders.
On paper, yes, on paper they’re contenders. It looks really good,
but the biggest question now is going to be can KD stay healthy? Can he lead? Can he stay healthy? And can he lead?
Uh we know he can score when he’s on the court and but
as we’ve seen like it’s not just all about scoring. So
I want to talk about the Denver Nuggets. I I really really liked the moves that they made. Um they started things off by getting rid of Michael Porter Jr. and his atrocious contract. They traded uh Michael Porter Jr. in a future unprotected 2032 first round pick to the Brooklyn Nets for Cam Johnson. Number one quick aside on the Nets, I like that they are in the business of acquiring assets and taking on bad contracts to accumulate picks. I think that is a great move. It’s what got the Thunder to where they are now. Um although you look at their five first round picks and they weren’t I didn’t like the selections that they made, but I like the process. So anyway, I I like Brooklyn taking on Porter Jr. to get this uh this first round pick. But going back to the Nuggets, bring in Cam Johnson, who essentially I know they’re different players, but Johnson is one of the best spot-up shooters in the NBA. And that’s exactly what you’re going to get playing in Denver. And we, you know, we saw Aaron Gordon kind of pick up that role a little bit, especially during the playoffs. And he actually did really good at it. But again, you need shooters when you have one of the best passers in the league and Nicola Joic, some a guy who’s going to get it in the paint and then kick it out at the last second. Michael Porter Jr. kind of fell apart in the playoffs last year. So essentially the one-on-one replacement, but you’re also saving like $17 million a year. I love that. But then they weren’t done there. They also added Tim Hardaway Jr., another shooter. So I really like that move. and uh some other depth moves, you know. I don’t know. I I I think the Nuggets were kind of facing like a split path, right? It’s like do you continue to try and build around this core around Jokic and try to keep your chips in the contending basket or do you think about tearing it down because you have all these bad contracts? And I know it’s it’s hard moving off a 2032 first round pick because that’s going to come around when uh Nicolo Joic is probably on his decline or on his way out of the league, right? So that’s always a risky move, but you know, if you are in your contending window right now, you kind of got to go all in and I like that.
100% agree. Uh Cam Johnson, I think, is definitely a massive step up from from Porter Jr., especially after the way the season ended for Michael Porter Jr. And you’re also now kind of fixing your bench depth, which I think the bench depth that the Nuggets had in 2023 when they won that championship, I think was a big reason why they won that championship.
Yeah.
Uh I mean, we talked about it a lot during the playoff run is how important it was to have a deep bench, guys who can come in and contribute and and step up in big ways in the playoffs for you. And I think they’re finally trying to get back to that and they’re finally making moves that allow you to do that. Um, Bruce Brown, Tim Hardaway, I think are are going to be good depth additions for the Nuggets. And you’re helping bring back a good supporting cast around Jokic, which I think is the most important thing for the Nuggets.
Well, yeah, you still retain Jamal Murray, Aaron Gordon, Joic, right? Uh, Christian Brown. They had one of the best starting lineups in the NBA playoffs last year. It’s just, as you mentioned, their depth was was really, really bad. Uh, Bruce Brown, totally forgot to mention him like you bring up. uh he already spent some time with Denver. He won the championship there.
Yep.
So, he he kind of knows the roster, knows the uh the system a little bit, and I thought that this was this was a a really good first off season for the new front office after they got rid of Calvin Booth. And now you’re looking at the top of the West and it’s like, okay, the Thunder just won the title and their their roster is not changing over the next year. the the second apron’s not going to hit them until the year after. So, they are still very much contenders. We just talked about the Rockets. Um, and I think the Nuggets made basically every move they needed to make to keep themselves in that conversation. I think you’re looking at a three-team race in the West as far as waking up today, July 5th, what’s going to happen. So, I I personally like the Nuggets moves a little more than the Rockets moves. Again, going back to number one, the Nuggets have done it before. Uh, number two, I think they just have I think the Rockets are too young still a little bit outside of Durant. Um, but we’ll see. I think the the the playoffs are going to be fun as always next year. I think another big winner for me and the probably the biggest winner in the Eastern Conference has got to be the Atlanta Hawks. You
Yeah, they’re interesting. You move on from Caris Levert, Clink Capella, Larry Nance Jr., George Niang, and Terrence Man. Do any of those names move the needle for you?
Not really. Not anymore. No.
You move on from all those guys. You bring in Christoph Porcenius, uh, Nquil Alexander Walker, and Luke Canard.
Yeah. Well, Nquille Alexander Walker was one of because, you know, people don’t hit free agency anymore. He was like one of the most coveted free agents, which is interesting just because, you know, we had a cup of coffee here in Salt Lake or cup of soda. Uh, so yeah, and then obviously, you know, Quinn Snider’s coaching over there and similar to Denver, they were kind of facing the path of like, what do we do as far as
trying to go all in in an East that is wide open or trying to tear it down? And it’s like, yeah, why would you why would you tear it down after, you know, the Pacers suffering the Tyrese Hallebertton injury and then the Celtics obviously losing Jason Tatum. So yeah, that east is wide open and the Hawks were in the Eastern Conference Finals a few years ago. Um Trey Young is the only player I think that is still on that roster. I don’t know for sure. I don’t know their roster very well, but yeah, I mean I think it gives them a chance. And bringing in Chris Apps Porzingis is interesting. He’s definitely a lot better player than Clint Capella right now. Uh you’re not asking Clint Capella to come in and be your starter and I think that’s that’s what matters. Uh so we’ll see if Porzingis can stay healthy. He had that mystery illness uh that kept him out a little bit in the playoffs. So that’s right. Uh but yeah, getting rid of a lot of these contracts and uh I don’t know, bringing in some guys that that bring interest to the Hawks, which again,
right,
as far as the East, yeah, I I could see that
I I’ve I like the moves that the Hawks have made, and I think on paper right now, they they as far as, you know, winners and losers go for free agency, to me, the Hawks are the are the biggest winners right now in the Eastern Conference. For for sure.
Yeah, I could see that. Uh real quick, just got a bag on the Lakers. Oh man,
biggest losers.
What are you guys doing?
Not only does LeBron pick up his player option, which limits how much money that they have. Everybody was kind of hoping that he would take a pay cut to try and build the roster, but then you’ve got all these trade rumors surrounding him, and that’s why he picked up the option so he could get traded. And I’ve always held the belief that I think he’s going to want to finish his career in Cleveland. And I would not be shocked by that. And again, I’m not reporting anything, especially with the Lakers. Like I don’t have any sources, but it would not surprise me at all if he wants to go back to Cleveland at some point and
retire.
Picking up the option. I think that’s, you know, that signals that he could get traded. It also signals that maybe he just wants as much money as he can make with the Lakers. But again, that limits to what they can do moneywise. And they pick up. Everybody knows they need a big man. They really want Walker Kesler. They always have. They probably always will, but instead they bring in DeAndre Aton. Uh, very underwhelming player, former number one overall pick, same draft class as Luca Donuch. Uh, big whiff there. Yep.
By the Suns. But I don’t know, he he made it to the finals with the Suns. And I think that’s his only redeeming quality. Outside of that, I was listening to some stories on the way in and it really sounded like his time in Portland did not go well as far as being a a leader
or lack of leadership and whatever. that caused a lot of issues.
So, yeah, that’s tough. And now you’re joining, not only are you going to LA, but you’re also joining a locker room that already has big egos with LeBron James and Luca Donuch. So,
we’ll see. I think ultimately I would not be shocked if LeBron’s going to request a trade. I’m I’m not going to say that I think that’s what’s going to happen. I don’t know if I’m quite there yet, but it definitely would not surprise me uh in the least. What what was the comments that the that his agency made after he he went in he went in back? I remember of all people Adam Shfter tweeting it and talking about it and and a lot of people kind of took it as a dig to the to the Los Angeles
Lakers. Something about he wants to uh
go to a contender, right? and he realizes what the Lakers roster is doing and it it was kind of hinting that the L he didn’t feel like the Lakers were
building up a contending roster or something like that. Yes.
Um, it is interesting when you’ve got Rich Paul who’s got his hands behind every move in the league, at least it seems like, and I know it seems like he’s losing a little bit of power, but still he controls a lot of the big contracts in the NBA. And then especially when you have LeBron James, you know, the big fish for as old as he is, he’s still LeBron James and you’ve got all the star power there in Los Angeles. So,
I don’t know. Uh, as far as teams that would want to trade for LeBron. I honestly don’t know if Cleveland would, but again, LeBron has never been told no in the NBA. He kind of always gets what he wants. So, that that’s going to be interesting to see what happens. I found the quote from Merge Paul. Um, he says, “LeBron knows the Lakers are building for the future. LeBron understands that he values a realistic chance of winning it all. We are very appreciative of the partnership that we’ve had for eight years with Genie Bus and Rob Pelanka and considers the consider the Lakers as a critical part of his career and somehow someway people took that as a dig at at LA.
He’s already been there for eight years,
right, man?
That’s crazy.
We’re old.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Well, and I I could see how that’s interpreted that way. Fully understands that the Lakers are building for the future. LeBron is 40. What is he 43? It seems like like
that’s not a guy that he doesn’t care what they’re doing for the future.
And I could understand how that would feel kind of a slap to the face to him like, “Hey, I’ve still got good basketball left, right? Uh I want you to build around me now because I’m here now. I’m not going to be here for the future.” And again, with a new ownership group with the Lakers, it’s probably smart for them to build for the future because again, LeBron is not told no very often. and eventually he does get his way. So if he if he feels like the Lakers are kind of phasing him out, he’s going to request a trade and go somewhere that he feels like can have a title and it’s probably going to be somewhere in the East because the West is wide open. Um or excuse me, the West is so topheavy and the East is wide open. He’s probably going to go somewhere over East. I’m just curious to whether again whether or not Cleveland would risk trading for him. I don’t think they would, but it would be
desperation is a stinky cologne, my friend.
Right. Right. And we talked about how the Cleveland Cavaliers haven’t been able to get over the hump. No.
So, maybe they see LeBron as their ticket to to push for for a championship one more time before he retires. I don’t know, man. I don’t know. But we’ll see. We will see. All right. Uh we got to take a break. Coming up next on the other side, we’ll get into technical fouls, some of the funnier things that happen in the world of sports this week. It’s the Saturday show 975 DKSL Sports Zone. All right, welcome back to the Saturday show 975 DKSL Sports Zone. I’m Christian Esparza, Alex Napoulos with me. It’s time for technical fouls. We get to talk about uh some of the sports franchises that kind of well, not sports franchises, sports stories that kind of make us laugh, make us wonder, make us say you shouldn’t have done that. So, Alex, why don’t you start us off? We’ve got one technical foul today, but uh it’s relevant. There’s a pretty big one happening right now and it it’s it’s still, you know, in the it’s still in the world of the NBA and it has to be of course the Milwaukee Bucks. Um just abs I I think they absolutely backstabbed Damen Lillard this week in waving him. I I know obvious and and buying out his contract and I know obviously for the next couple years or so he’s still going to be making money off this contract or whatever, but you kind of you kind of call it quits on Damen Lillard to bring in Miles Turner and the Bucks seem like it’s a really desperate move um for them to just move on from from Lillard.
So that’s that’s the angle that I’ve seen a lot of people taking it right like they did Dame Dirty.
I I think they I I think they did. I’m kind of questionable on that. I don’t know. I get it. But it’s also it’s not their fault that he got hurt.
No.
Um I think it was a bad contract to begin with because he was already old and they gave him a very long-term deal for somebody of that age and you’re basically hoping that it pans out, right? When you when you make that move and commit that much money, then in his first year with the team, he suffers an Achilles tear which is going to be very hard to come back from. and the Bucks were up against the corner and they’re facing the possibility of Giannis onto the Kmpo wanting out and you’re basically trying to salvage the relationship with probably the best player to ever play for your franchise um and wanting to retain him and I I know that there was some speculation because Giannis put a tweet out like after Dame was bought out and I don’t know how to read that whether it was he was upset. I know Chris Haynes, uh, an NBA insider who has actually connections to Giannis. He reported that Giannis was upset that they bought Dame out, but it’s like, what does it, why would he be upset at that because he’s not going to play at all next year anyways,
right?
And you have to understand from a team building standpoint if you have $50 million a year tied up to Damen Lillard, you need to do something because he’s 37, he’s not going to play next year, and you’re you’re up against a corner. So, I thought it was a smart move from Milwaukee, honestly. Um, spreading out his cap hit over what is it over five years, right?
Yes. Over five years. I That’s all they could do. And I I know it’s not smart technically because they’re going to owe 22.5 million to him every year for the next five years, but it’s like
they had to do something, right? And I I don’t know if Miles Turner was the right move, but they had to do something.
I like Miles Turner, and I thought he played a huge a huge piece of helping Indiana get to that NBA Finals.
Yeah.
Um but I I don’t know if uh and obviously time will tell, but I don’t know if his fit in Milwaukee is the best.
No, it’s kind of weird. Well, I don’t know because Giannis is your traditional rim protector big. uh and then he scores in the paint and he doesn’t do anything outside of the paint and then whereas Miles Turner is your stretch big and he doesn’t like to be in the paint and so I guess they complement each other
in that way but then they they don’t have any any guards really. Um but I don’t know as far as the doing Damian Lillard dirty like it’s it’s what they had to do and he’s rehabbing all of next year anyways. On top of that, it gives him the opportunity to sign with a contender when he’s ready to come back or sign with whoever he wants, whether it is a contender or whether he wants to play a year in Utah just because he loves the state so much. I don’t know. Uh we’ll see what happens a year from now, but it’s what they had to do. But I I think it’s a very interesting move because you don’t see moves like this very often in the NBA. It’s very rare to see buyouts anyways, but then to buy him out and spread his cap hits the way that they’ve done, I will say basically with Lillard’s cap hit plus Miles Turner’s cap hit, that equals essentially what Lillard was going to be making. Anyways, uh it’s like a couple million less than the 50 whatever. I think it it totals up to like 49 or something. Uh, so that part was interesting, but yeah, it’s uh I think it could be an interesting move again with with the East and not knowing what that’s going to look like next year. They’re very desperate to keep Giannis around and this could appease him. We’ll see what it looks like on the court. We’ll see what it looks like in the court. on the court. And again, I know that everything that they’re doing right now is, you know, the Bucks are just trying to pull out every stop to keep Giannis in town and keep him happy, but
I don’t know if the I don’t know if this this move by adding adding Miles Turner puts them over that hump and keeps them in the in the contender conversation. Yeah.
Um they also lost Pat Con um Pat Coneton.
Uh but they did sign Bob Bobby Porter Jr. resigned Bobby Porter Jr. So I guess
that I think is a worse How they gave him a lot of money, right? They did. Uh oh, man. I’m trying to remember the the exact contract that that he was given, but they they’d resigned Bobby Portoris,
who I mean, by all means, was a is a fun player to watch, but I
three years $44 million. There you go. And I know he was a key part of their their finals run when they did end up winning it all, but he’s also very old. And
with Miles Turner now, I don’t even think Bobby Poris was starting last year. Uh, so yeah, with bringing Miles Turner and he Bobby Portoris is definitely not going to be starting. Um, so that’s a lot of money to tie up, but again, going back to fan favorites and that whole deal, like this is a guy who’s done a lot for your organization and they they did lose Brook Lopez, I believe. So,
right,
uh, I know you need some depth there behind Giannis and Miles Turner and he’s a fine depth piece, but he’s not the player that he was a couple years ago. So, I don’t know. We’ll see how it all works out, but I right now the right now the moves that the Bucks are making are a little bit of a head scratcher.
Yeah.
In in my opinion.
Yeah. I I I think that’s the best way to put it. Heads scratcher. Um they should have they never should have traded Drew Holiday. I don’t think
I No, I went wrong.
I agree. I get you trade Drew Holiday to get Damen Lillard in to try to go all in, but honestly, the
the Damen Lillard experience hasn’t worked out the best. No.
Yeah.
Uh and that’s it’s because we’re commending, you know, teams like the Rockets and and teams like the Nuggets for not being content and trying to go all in. And admittedly, that’s what the Bucks were doing. They were like, “Okay, how can we make ourselves even better? We need shooting. Let’s go get one of the better shooters in the NBA and Damen Lillard.” And it obviously just didn’t work out. So, that’s hard because in retrospect, it’s a bad decision. Um, and yeah, you could have criticized the move at the time, saying you lose a lot of defending and whatever,
but yeah, sometimes there are teams that feel like they need to go all in and and make these moves to stay relevant and it just backfires. So, it’s not always smart, but I don’t know. You got to commend them for trying, I guess. But now they got to dig themselves out of this hole.
Then you fire Mike Budenhoer and bring in Doc Rivers to replace him.
Yeah.
And that also did not work.
No. Yeah, that was that was that was a really bad move by the Bucks.
All right, let’s take another break. Coming up next, Alex. Next week is Big 12 media days. Uh so let’s talk some college football. We kind of got to get into I’m sure there was a lot of talk this week about the uh the Big 12 not doing their preseason polls. That’s kind of controversial. So we’ll kind of give our own preseason predictions for the Big 12 a little bit. Coming up next, it’s the Saturday Show 975, the KSL Sports Zone. Welcome back to the Saturday show 975 the KSL Sports Zone. I’m Christian Esparza. Alex Napoulos with me. Very excited for next week. Big 12 media days held July 8th and 9th. So I think that’s Tuesday and Wednesday, right? Coming up. Big week here on the station. That’s always fun. We send send uh I think all of our talent pretty much over to this year it’s going to be in Frisco, Texas. Uh been in Vegas the last couple years. So, sending uh sending the shows down to Texas, you’re going to hear a lot of interviews with coaches and players from around the Big 12 Conference. And then, of course, with Utah and BYU both being in the conference this year, makes it that much more exciting. And then you’ve got all the storylines surrounding the teams. Of course, with BYU, uh sounds like Jake Ratzoff is going to transfer. uh it will not be back with the program although that case has been dismissed and who knows what that means whether it was
prejudice
yeah with prejudice right so meaning I’ve I’ve seen some rumors that probably means or it could mean it was settled by both sides but that might not ever come public so who knows what what ended up happening there but anyways so yeah Jake Rutzoff not back with BYU then of course with Utah you’ve got uh Devin Dampier coming in Jason Beck hoping hoping to revitalize this Utah offense. So, I’m curious to to to hear, I guess, what everybody has to say about the local teams. I think there’s going to be obviously a lot of questions, but a lot of hype surrounding Jason Beck, Devin Dampier, and this new Utah offense and see if they can solve a lot of the the problems and a lot of the issues that they had last season, which was which was the lack of scoring. Right. there was how many games Christian did they have where they lost by a possession and yeah how different would their season have been if they would have won those games right they all they needed it was a one all they needed was a score it was a one possession game right and so now the hope is that you can turn that around with Deon Dampier and Jason Beck at the helm um and and and that’s going to be obvious one of the biggest story line if not the biggest story line for the University of Utah coming this this fall
yeah and then for BYU who’s your quarterback and it sounds like For the second straight summer, we’ve got a full out quarterback battle. McKay Hilstead,
Tyson Borgay, and uh Bear Bachmeire, I guess. And I would be shocked if Bear Bachmire, you know, he’s a true freshman coming in, and that’s always interesting.
Look, man, it’s not maybe necessarily apples to apples. Maybe it’s apples to oranges, but the University of Utah ran out a true freshman quarterback this last season who wasn’t ready. And how how did the season go?
Poorly.
There you go.
And I I I totally agree. And that’s why I mean I guess with BYU, they have Bor and Hillstead who have both played college games, although not at the Big 12 level. But I liked what I saw from Hillstead when he was at uh Utah State. I mean, I’ve been producing all of the Utah State football games the last couple of years, so I’ve watched every game, including the the starts that he made and the the snaps that he took. and he’s a gunslinger and he’s his mentality is, you know,
almost reminds me a little bit of Cam Rising, like a guy that’s he is no question he is a leader,
right?
No question he’s going to put his body on the line to do what it takes to even pick up a first down in the first quarter. But that’s also to his detriment because he’s very small. Um, I think he’s like 510 and he’s not thick. He’s pretty quick, but it’s I don’t know. It’s you don’t want him he got hurt playing like that at Utah State at the Mountain West level. You don’t want him playing like that at the Big 12 level. So, I don’t know. But as far as passing ability, he he definitely showed some flashes at uh at Utah State. But again, going back to his height, that kind of worries me playing behind a very big offensive and defensive line. You get into the whole sightelines thing. But I don’t know. Oh, I know A-Rod could come up with some clever roll outs or whatever to get him out of a messy pocket. Um, but of course, you know, Hillstead is the name that I know the best, so I can talk to his ability the most.
Yeah.
And I think there is some upside there.
I think so. The first the first year that I did uh that I started calling games with Rewind was his senior year at Skyidge.
Mhm.
And I I did a couple of Skyidge games and I I there’s no question for me about his passing ability. I think he’s a he’s a fantastic passer. From watching him from from his Skyidge times, from watching, you know, the glimpses of him that we saw at Utah State, I I I think that he is a I think that he’s a really good passer, but I do think that he needs to be a little bit more more physical because you’re right, Christian, he did get hurt playing that way with Utah State, and you don’t want to do that. You don’t want to see that continue, right, at the Big 12 level. And so I’m curious to see what what the offseason regiment looks like for McKay Hilstead and what what what the plan is now knowing that you’re not going to have rats laugh and that the the QB position is completely wide open for both Bor I guess Bachmire too for Bear Bachmeire and for McKay Ilstead.
Yeah. Um, last year’s quarterback battle was so interesting because of course with uh Rhettzloff and Bohan and it literally went up until the first snap of the season and by the time the game had come around we basically knew it was going to be Rhettzlaf right but throughout the summer the coaching staff wasn’t saying anything. They were very adamant and I’m remembering now Kehlani Sitake got so sick of being asked constantly and I know that he was probably looking forward to not having to face those questions again and then this stuff happens and it’s like h we got to have another quarterback battle.
Welcome back.
Uh so yeah, that’s probably tough on the coaching staff, but um with Ratzoff, I mean it it definitely it worked.
Yeah. and uh it got BYU to double digit wins last season and they it seems like they made the right decision. So yeah, that would basically I mean I have faith that they can make the right pick for the team. I mean not
there’s Yeah, there’s no doubt for there’s no doubt in my mind either that I think Kehlani Satake and both Aaron both him and Aaron Rodri can come up with the the best decision and what they what they feel will give them the most success to win games. Not only that, but whoever is going to be playing quarterback has some nice weapons to play with right at Chase is a huge man. Is a huge
Martin at running back. Uh a very good offensive line. So, I mean, don’t forget like yes, they won double digit games last year, but they are returning most of their talent. Like they did not lose a lot of guys, most of their defense roster. Most of their defense
who their defense last year was incredible.
Yeah. So, uh, I want to go through real quick, and we don’t have to do all of the teams in the conference because especially towards the bottom, it kind of gets pointless. And I don’t think either of us are going to have BYU or Utah towards the bottom, but let’s kind of go through maybe the top eight to 10 teams in the Big 12 and kind of see what the feel is. Do you think there’s a consens? Well, well, the reason I want to do this, right, the Big 12 conference announced they’re they’re not doing their preseason media poll this year,
right? Uh especi and they ended up winning the conference and going to the college football playoffs. So,
and and real quick before we start ranking though, I think that that’s
dumb that they’re not doing it, man. Because that’s what makes it fun, right? Obviously,
you got you got to smear a little bit of pine in the people’s faces who voted Arizona State 16 and now Arizona State are the big dogs.
Yeah, I think it’s fun.
Yeah, that’s what makes it fun.
It’s part of the ramp up for college football giving getting ready having some conversations. So,
exactly.
Do you think there’s a consensus number one to finish at top the conference? Do you think there’s, you know, a pick
to me? And I think maybe you can agree. I think the one and two right now can be debated between Arizona State and Iowa State.
Okay. That’s not who I had it to, but I would agree with Arizona State.
Who’d you have it to?
I have Kansas State.
What?
Just because of I don’t know. Bringing their quarterback back is always huge, especially a quarterback like Avery Johnson who we know can do some damage, right?
Uh but we’ll start with Arizona State again. Bringing the quarterback back and they
obviously won the conference last year and bringing Levit in. I know they lose Scatabo, but like running backs, you can find a dime a dozen. And again, good defense. Uh they’ve done it. And bringing the the head coach and the quarterback, you know, you look at across sports like that is the tandem. And if you have the same head coach and quarterback yeartoear, you can probably count on sustaining success. So, for that reason, again, that’s why why I had Arizona at number one, and that’s why I have Kansas State pretty high, too. Um, but I would listen to any other team for two. I I personally think that Arizona State is the favorite. Um, I’d be surprised if anybody picked another team besides Arizona State, but I’m kind of I’m in between. It kind of flips in my head all the time. I think it’s Arizona State or Iowa State. Uh, Roco Beck coming back, Matt Campbell coming back. um for quarterback quarterback head coach duo I as you’re talking about that is super super important and I think that
that that gives them an edge. Um obviously one of the most successful if not the most successful season for for Iowa State last year. Can they build off of it is the big question. And so those two those two are my one and two.
Okay. So we’ll do you know one two three. Uh would you have Kansas State at three or would you have them a little lower? Oh, I would listen. I mean, it it it it gets interesting.
I would probably have them Yeah, I’ll give them a three.
And four is probably Baylor, right?
Four. I’m giving it to Texas Tech.
Okay. And see, Texas Tech is always a wild card because their pockets are limitless, it seems like.
Right.
So, how much can you buy a roster?
They were huge in the transfer portal.
They were huge players and they were pretty good last year, too. They weren’t slouches. No. Right. They’re not coming off a bad year.
But again, the question is, right, cohesiveness, team chemistry.
Yeah.
How will that impact bringing in bringing in a bunch of transfers, how will that impact your season? And so,
I think on paper right now, I’ll give him a number four.
Okay. Uh, we got to talk about Baylor. Um, I think they are going to finish pretty high. Sawyer Robinson really came onto the scene last year. Um, Dave Aranda is the big question mark because I know it’s like a tale of two seasons, right, right, with Baylor. First half of the season, Baylor fans are wanting him gone. Second half of the season, they’re like, “Oh, he saved this program. We’re back.” So, I am curious to see which version of David Randall we’re going to get and they finished eight and five last year. So, it’s not like they were amazing, but they did some good things. And especially with with Sawyer Robinson now being more of a I guess veteran player, I’m excited to see how he plays. Where do you have Baylor?
I could have them I could see them anywhere from four to six, right?
I’m going seven.
You’re going seven, right?
I’m going seven.
All right. And that’s fine.
I don’t I I believe in Sawyer Robertson,
but not Dave Rando.
I don’t believe in a Dave Random.
And I totally
I think he got obviously like give him credit for the run they had at the end of the season. Yeah. But is it sustainable?
Yeah.
Can he continue to to win games the way that he did? Like you said, it’s a tail of two seasons, right? If they’re off if they get off to a slow start, that’s going to kind of give me a feeling of where Dave and this Baylor team is.
Yeah, I get you. He could easily lose his job next year. I I wouldn’t be surprised if a year from now we’re talking about a different Baylor head coach. So, I I totally see why you would have them at seven at seven. So, who do you have next then?
Where are we at? five
ish. I mean, we’re we’re kind of jumping around, but
for me, for me at five, I’m going to go BYU.
Okay. So, I guess that’s my big question is you have BYU higher than Utah. I do. Even with the quarterback question now.
I do. Okay. Because you’re trusting the rest of the roster,
right?
Okay.
Chase Roberts, huge addition to bring back. LJ Martin, huge guy to bring back. Like we were talking about, you return most of that defense that made you incredibly successful last season. I’m going BYU five for now. Well, and the locals are going to eat this up. I have them neck and neck, right? I have them right there in the upper middle part of the conference, right? I don’t I would be shocked if either of these two teams won the conference to be honest with you.
Um I do think BYU is going to take a little step back just because of quarterback and maybe they’ll prove me wrong. I don’t know. Obviously Utah is likely going to rebound from being one of the bottom teams last year, but I I do have them very very close. Um, I think if you know Utah’s defense can show up and show out like they’re always going to do, right?
That’s not where you’re worried. I think the offense is always going to be the question mark. And I know that people are excited about Deon Dampier and Jason Beck, but you got to realize too, no matter what he did last year, that was at New Mexico. And taking a step up into the Big 12, that’s always going to be a big adjustment. and maybe he can do it, especially where a lot of what he does is on the ground, which probably translates a little easier, but at the same time, it’s bigger, tougher competition. So, I’m not ready to put Utah, you know, as one of the Big 12 contenders or whatever. But, I do think they’re going to make some noise. And I have BYU right there with them because like we mentioned a couple times, they’re returning most of a double-digit win roster. Kehani Sitake proved last year he’s one of the best coaches in the Big 12. It’s just a matter of
100% agree.
We don’t know who’s taking snaps at quarterback and whoever it is, they’ve got huge question marks,
right? And there is question marks surrounding Deon Dampier
and like you mentioned, can he do it at this level at the power four level, right? New Mexico and and in the Mountain West, that’s a different story. Can he continue to do it in the Big 12 for for now? And for me, that’s the reason why I say BYU five, Utah six.
Okay. Yeah, but they’re they’ll be in the conversation. I don’t think I don’t think you know Utah’s poised and even BYU for that matter now without a quarterback. I don’t think they’re poised for for a terrible season, right? They’re not it’s not it’s not going to be a five six win season, right? I think both teams will be
obviously both eligible and I think both teams are going to be competing for the Big 12 championship. They’re going to be in the conversation up until late into the season. Yeah, I think we both agree there, especially with, you know, it’s almost like again tiering it off like you have your top three or four teams that could contend contend for the title and then the next tier it’s like five, six, seven, maybe eight. Yeah. It’s like those guys are all those teams are all very very
similar with similar question marks and similar ceilings. Um, of course the floor, you never know how low your floor can go as we saw with Utah and even Oklahoma State last year. Uh, so who do you have coming in? So you had Baylor at seven,
567, BYU, Utah, Baylor. Who’s at eight?
I’m gonna give it to TCU.
Okay. That’s where that’s about where I had them as well.
Yeah, they’re uh returning quarterback in Hoover. Um, who I think will will hopefully potentially take a big step up, but they’re kind of in the mix right there. You’re talking about tiers. They’re in that tier for me of a team that can compete but and and will be in the mix up until the very end. Similar to the conversation we’re having with BYU Utah. Uh I see TCU in kind of the same light. I had Kansas coming up after TCU. Do you think that’s a little too rich?
I think it’s a little too high.
You think so? Even with Jaylen Daniels back?
Oh, yeah. Nine. Nine. Nine. I could see it.
Will they be I mean they ruined Colorado and BYU’s season.
Kansas single-handedly destroyed the Big 12 last year.
Yeah. Yeah, they cannibalized the Big 12.
We We were talking about a BYU Colorado in the Big 12 championship, right? It seemed like it was going to be that way. What was it? Two or three weeks out. Exactly. It was like Yeah,
it was 3 weeks out. It was the the morning of BYU taking on Kansas. We were like, it’s looking like it’s going to shape up to be BYU Colorado.
Oh, yeah. BYU’s just got to get past this Kansas team.
And we were like, they’re going to win, bro. Come on. And didn’t they beat BYU and then Colorado in backto back
wins?
Yes, they they single-handedly destroyed the Big 12
and then finished five and seven. But again, quarterback, head coach back together. Honestly, Jaylen Daniels is a very talented player. He’s just got to cut back on the turnovers and that was their big issue. And we saw it at times when he did reduce those numbers.
He looked great again in those in that BYU and Colorado game. But it’s just a matter of finding the consistency there, which obviously you would assume happens now coming in as a sixth sixth season with the program here. So, he’s an older player. So, we’ll see.
If I remember right, uh ESPN had them as far as like ESPN bet goes, they had them in Jaylen Daniels in the top 10 contenders for the Heisman. That’s rich.
Which uh I’m not buying it.
No,
I’m not buying it. There are 10 better players, better football players in the country than than Jaylen Daniels, but who knows? He he was in the top 10, man.
Maybe he’s one of the 10 best players in the Big 12, but even then, I don’t know.
I’m not buying it.
Uh, where do you have Colorado?
Oh, Colorado to me,
how far do you have them falling after losing their starting quarterback and wide receiver and corner? But they retain Dion is the thing.
I think Colorado comes in at 11 for me.
Okay. Who do you have at 10? Just curious. Oh,
we don’t have to talk about them, but
uh it Houston maybe.
I’m gonna throw No, I’m gonna throw Arizona there.
Arizona. Okay.
I think they’ll have a little bit of a bounce back, but nothing too crazy.
Okay. Well, we’ll wrap up just talking about Colorado because they are they’re always going to be relevant with Dion there. Um I think Dion Sanders has proved that he does have the ability to bring talent in, right? Um, this will probably be a bit of a down year though because again, you’re trying to find your new footing with with the quarterback and with the receiver talent and uh especially losing Travis Hunter who was your do it all guy and played both sides of the ball. So, not only are you use not only are you losing wide receiver one, you’re also losing corner one. Um, and then yeah, to lose your quarterback definitely hurts, but they’re not going to be towards the I don’t think they’re going to be the bottom of the conference. I would be shocked
as far as I mean recruiting goes. They did pretty well in in the on the recruiting front, but I mean these are uh you know 12 fourstar true freshman players coming in now. I think that if Colorado is able to have a bounceback, it’s going to be a little bit down the road,
right? It’s going to take a couple years to build this thing up.
Right. Right. It’s going to take a little bit to develop these guys if they stick around. Who sticks around? Right. It’s going to it’s it’s going to be a minute. I don’t I don’t fully trust a bunch of four star true freshman running the running basically.
You’re not going to be starting a lot of true fresh. That’s the thing is you don’t even know playing exactly.
Yeah.
And I think that’s why there’s so many questions around Colorado because I think obviously Dion has that pull to bring in high level recruits, but it who’s who who’s to say, right, these these guys are going to come in and make immediate impacts right off the bat.
And that’s that’s for me why I have Colorado so low. I’m trying to find their attendees for media days because sometimes that will kind of tip things off a little bit. Uh, real quick as far as So that’s why I got Arizona 10, I got Colorado 11. And to kind of round up my my my my my rankings, I’m going Cincinnati 12, Oklahoma State 13, West Virginia 15, and then UCF 16,
UCF, Houston at 14,
and then Houston at 14. Yes, there you go. That’s the team I was missing.
Uh, looking at the Big 12, I think that’s a fine list, by the way. I don’t think I there’s much argument there. I think, again, it’s very clearly a tiered conference right now. like you have the the teams at the bottom that have a lot of question marks. Looking at the attendees, by the way, for Colorado, interesting. They are bringing two quarterbacks. They’re bringing Julian Lewis and Kaden Salter. They’re also bringing offensive lineman Jordan Satin, defensive back DJ McKini and kicker Alejandro Mata. Bringing a kicker with the squad. Somebody brought a punter last year, I think.
I think is Ma the guy that’s um Ma is that the guy that’s been with Dion his entire coaching career?
Oh, it might be like Travis Hunter. Yeah, I think so. Okay.
Um, but Julian Lewis being there is interesting because he is one of the four stars that I’m talking about when we have these conversations, right? He is a four-star. He’s an incredibly talented quarterback, but
he was their big get
and he’s a huge get. He’s a huge huge recruiting get for Colorado, but again, how is that going to translate now in this college?
In the year 2025 at the college football level. That’s a fair question. Yeah, I get that. Uh, just while we’re here, Utah is bringing Devin Dampier, Spencer Fo, Smith Snowden, and Lander Barton. Solid group there. I mean, when you think of this Utah team, that’s who you’re thinking of, right?
Yes.
Uh, ton of leadership there. Spencer Fono, one of the best offensive linemen in the country. Lander Barton,
uh, I want to see a big year out of him this year. I think that we can expect that. Last year, obviously, there were injuries everywhere, so that kind of hurts.
He kind of needs it.
He needs it. He does kind of needs it.
We know the talent is there, but he’s got to put up the numbers. Uh, and then BYU is bringing in LJ Martin, Chase Roberts, Jack Kelly, Isaiah Glasker, and Keanu Tanavasa. Interesting.
Keanu Tanavasa will be fun. Yeah, that’s Yeah, that’s going to be really fun. That one That one will be fun. Uh, but again, like you mentioned with Utah, those are your leaders. Those are kind of the guys that put themselves out there as as far as the faces of BYU goes. And so, especially now without necessarily having a QB1 at the moment, Yeah. Yeah,
those are those are good guys to to represent the BYU brand. Well, and I love they’re bringing two linebackers, you know, that just that’s like that’s what their identity was last year.
Uh Jack Kelly and Isaiah Glasker. Still underrated, by the way, in the eyes of the the national,
but here locally, we know how great they are. Yeah. And they’re those that that linebacking core at BYU last year was so instrumental for Jay Hill and that defense to be one of the top units in the Big 12. I had a lot of fun watching them. Um, I think they did great things and again coming back having those two studs uh and then representing your team at media days again that shows like that’s your defensive identity right there.
Yes, 100%. Those are two guys that I think everybody’s excited to watch this season.
Uh again, that is coming up uh this Tuesday and Wednesday. You can listen to the KSL Sports Zone all day for wall-to-wall coverage. That’s all we’re going to be focusing on. So, tune in there. Uh we got to take a break. Coming up next, we’ll get five minutes of we’ll talk a little bit of Utah Mammoth and their free agency pickups. This is the Saturday show 975 the KSL Sports Zone. Welcome back to the Saturday Show 975 the KSL Sports Zone as you hear right there. It’s time for five minutes of I’m Christian Sparza. Alex Napoulos with me. We got Sean behind the glass producing. Very cold here in the studio. Alex, I should have wore a hoodie. I forgot how cold it gets.
You guys are a bunch of babies. I feel good. You were whining in the break, too.
I feel good. Ah,
that’s a lie.
Uh, speaking of cold, Alex, how do you like this? Speaking of cold,
let’s talk hockey.
Oh, what a transition.
I had to do it.
I love it.
Oh, man. Utah hockey club. Sorry. Utah Mammoth.
Dump it, Sean. Dump it. Busy. Uh, again, similar to the NBA, free agency opened earlier in the week and then the Mammoth of course had their development camp the latter part of the week. So, lot of news coming out from the Mammoth. I want to talk about uh Should we do development camp first? Yeah, let’s do it.
All right. Our guy Cole Bagley, of course, up there with some great in-depth coverage. Um they do a couple days of camp and then they finish things off with a scrimmage. Team MVP or game MVP from the scrimmage I guess would be Dimmitri Semichev. One of their young prospects, a forward that the team just gave a deal a couple weeks ago. So, looks like SemaVev is going to be joining the main roster and sounds like they have very high expectations for this kid coming in. He was a 2023 draft pick. Uh they’re very excited to see him.
Yeah.
And sounds like he dominated the scrimmage.
Yes. And him getting the MVP of the development camp. I think that’s uh I think that’s a really good sign, right? Because like we mentioned, he’s supposed to make the jump this year. We’re supposed to see him more now with the first team with the NHL team. And so him getting the MVP and kind of allowing himself to dominate in the uh in the development camp, I think that’s a really good sign for Simv um and his potential
to to come up and and potent and contribute at the with the with the Mammoth.
Top two lines are basically ironed out, especially after the addition of JJ Purka. But
yeah, after you lose Josh Don, there’s going to be a lot of playing time up for grabs on that third or fourth line. So, I’m assuming we’re going to see Smashv um on one of those two lines. I’d be surprised if they send him to the Road Runners. I’d like to see him. Uh but, you know, obviously that’s a good thing. I mean, if if he is sent to the Road Runners, that means that your your main roster is is full of vets and you’re really trying to push for a spot. Um but who knows, maybe CMC is good enough to contribute to a playoff team right now. I know again they are very high on him. Uh big body bully. Uh we’ll see what he can come in and do. It also sounds like uh speaking of Bully Kobwan coming in uh in his second year with the program. Still not sure what the future holds for him. I know he wants to fight for a roster spot this year and that would be great. But again, when they drafted him last year at the back end of the first round, the expectations were that it was going to be a couple years before we saw him anyway. But, uh, he’s a center and I know that they need the, you know, Utah needs some center depth. So, we’ll see, um, what Baldwin can do, but I know that he’s got kind of that bully style and our guy Cole had some tweets all week about Cole just being scrappy and he forgot how scrappy he was. And that’s to me that’s a good thing because as we talked about with Cole last year, that’s kind of what this team was lacking during the season was just some scrainess,
some physicality, man.
Yeah. And if uh if if Cole’s bringing that in the at the development camp, then that I think that again that points for good signs and good things um as far as his development goes. And maybe potentially we can see him uh hopefully soon in a mammoth sweater.
Quote from the man himself, Coan. I’m going to keep working hard this summer so I can make the team going into camp believing in myself and I think they believe in me so I want to be a big part of this team. I want to show why I’m worthy to be on that team. So he really I it sounds like this is that’s one of his goals is to make the the main roster coming out of summer. So we’ll see there. But there is some competition because again free agency open and Utah made some really nice moves. I liked what they did. I want to start off talking about Nate Schmidt. I think that’s the signing I’m most excited for. Um, they also brought in Brennan Tanv and Scott Perunovich. But Nate Schmidt coming in on the defensive side. He comes over from Florida, of course, winning the Stanley Cup over there. If you remember, uh, when they won the cup, they let all the players who had never won a cup before carry the cup around the ice first. And I believe Nate Schmidt was one of the first players to do it. Um, but Schmidt, I mean, a solid defenseman. after losing Michael Kessler, there were definitely some questions about the depth on the defensive side behind, you know, Derzy and uh Sergachev. So, I like Schmidt. I think that’s a huge signing.
And ultimately for me, I feel like this is a I know I know Michael Kessler was a huge fan favorite and and the people loved him here, but I think ultimately it is an upgrade over Kessle Ring. Uh this is a a guy with a he seems like he has a really uh really great personality. seems like he’ll fit right in. He’s a good locker room guy. Uh quick defenseman and so ultimately I think Schmidt is is an upgrade over Kessle Ring and of course he brings in championship experience. He brings in Stanley Cup experience and I think that’s something that Bill Armstrong and and the company have harped on. Uh wanting to bring in guys who’ve been in those situations and have have had experience playing at that level.
Yeah. Um, and I think obviously you get that with with Schmidt.
Three-year 10.5 million dollar deal uh for Nate Schmidt again coming over from Florida uh in his career. 52 goals, 187 assists, and he’s 33 years old. So, solid player, solid player, and we saw them make a nice addition with Ian Cole last year. That was a little bit after the season had started, but he turned out to be a very, very good player for the team. And, uh, Nate Schmidt coming in. You can expect something similar. Brandon Tanv, another big addition. He’s kind of a I don’t know, a lot of people know him because of his what do they call that? Like the team pictures,
his head shot. Yeah, his head shot before the season. He just gives like the blank look. And then people were saying he kind of looks like a caveman, which is kind of mean, but I guess it fits the mammoth theme. And anyway, I what I’ve gathered from Tanv is he’s kind of what local fans thought Spicy Tuna was going to be. Uh no disrespect to Tuna because he definitely got the the crowd going, the Delta Center growing going at times. But this dude is going to come in and he’s going to be a thorn in the other team’s side and he’s going to fight and he’s going to scrap and he’s going to bug. And again, going back to the Florida Panthers, that was a huge part of them winning the Stanley Cup is because their roster is just full of that guys. Full of guys that are going to get under the team’s skin and really throw them off their game. And I think that sort of, I guess, mentality, again, that’s what Utah was missing last year. So, they’re bringing in a guy who’s going to scrap. He’s not going to score a ton of points. He’s not going to be probably on your top two lines, uh, but he’s definitely going to bring a sort of edge that Utah really needs.
Seems like he’s just a guy that has a lot of a lot of energy, has a high motor, and isn’t afraid to get scrappy with it, man. He isn’t afraid to uh to drag people in to drag you into fights every single night. And so, Tanv, I think, is again an improvement uh as far as depth goes, and I’m excited to see what he’s able to bring on to the Eyes for the Mammoth. Yeah. Uh, and then Scott Perunovich, another depth uh, defensemanly. This is the guy that I know the least about, but uh, just bringing in depth on the defensive side. Again, after losing Castle Ring and last year, of course, Marino and Dery also dealt with injuries and that the group of defenseman got really, really thin. So, I think it’s good to just build up that defensive depth so that if if and when injuries do happen this year, you’ve just got proven veterans that you can uh that you can count on. So, Sean, you got anything on uh Prunovic? If not, that’s okay.
Yeah, I also
he’s he’s on a two-year deal, so he’s a young guy.
Plays for the Islanders.
Okay.
I don’t pay attention or play played for them, but I do not pay attention to them.
I get that. Well, yeah, mid-season trade sent him to the Islanders uh in January. Um he was previously in St. Louis, so but again, he’s on a two-year conte one-year two-way contract, excuse me. So, he might spend some time in Tucson. Uh last year, we saw, you know, guys like Maverick Lamaroo bounce back and forth. Even Josh Don did a little bit. So,
again, a depth piece that you can call upon when needed, right? And I I think that’s good,
right? And then obviously I think the the big one is Vanichek bringing in a backup goalender who can rotate with Vigila.
Yeah. Because there was still unclarity about Connor Ingram and his future um and and exactly where Connor Ingram stands. And so you go back to the Florida Panthers and you bring in
the Utah Mammoth Panthers.
Yeah, there you go. And you bring in uh Vanichek as kind of your backup goalender to help Veggie. So now you got two Czech uh goenders. Well, and the thing that I like about this move is it’s a one-year deal at one and a half million dollars. I know there w it was funny. I was producing the NHL draft show and there was, you know, the people on the show.
Yeah.
Uh on the station, there was some back and forth about whether Utah needed to bring in a goalender and it’s like, well,
yeah. Don’t you remember all the hubbhub about Veggie playing I don’t remember the streak of like 17 games in a row or whatever to close the year out? And yeah, it’s because with Connor Ingram, you know, in the in the program and not being with the team and trying to get all the help he needs, you’re left with Veggie and Stabber. And Stabber was very inexperienced. And it’s it’s hard to ask an inexperienced guy to be in that position for a team that remember they were fighting for a playoff spot towards the end of the year,
especially because of that.
You need a depth goalender and you know that Veggie is going to come in and be the guy and this does not affect Veggie at all. Um, but you need somebody who can come in on and and play on backtobacks and and give your your starter some much needed rest. But it’s also a one-year deal because you don’t know what’s going to happen with Connor Ingram. Maybe he is back. Uh, who knows with that. But then down the line, you’ve also got Rubble in the system who according to our guy Cole at the development camp is a monster and is going to come in and has a very high ceiling as an NHL goalender. So, yeah, you don’t want to sign these backup guys to long-term deals that are going to potentially affect that. So, I like it. Uh, Vanichek at one year, $1.5 million. It’s It’s a depth piece, a very much needed depth piece. And I think Utah uh with Bill Armstrong and Chris Armstrong did a very great job at plugging all of their holes uh in free agency.
They cooked, man.
They did. Bill Armstrong is cooking and he’s getting this team into what they believe and what they think will be a playoff contender team. And I I do think that with the additions made, I do think that they upgraded a little bit as far as their depth goes. And so, um, plus you bring in Purka, who I think will end up being a phenomenal addition for this Utah Mammoth side. And so, I think that Utah I think the Utah Mammoth will continue to make those improvements that we’ve seen yeartoyear. And hopefully that improvement this season will ultimately lead to a playoff hockey spot because I think uh I think I think the Mammoth are ready to make that jump. Purka raises your ceiling.
I think so. Yeah.
The uh the other additions that they made in free agency raise your floor and I think that’s the best way. Oh, that’s a phenomenal way to put it. Yeah,
that’s a phenomenal way to put it. I cooked with that one. All right, uh let’s take a break. Coming up next, we’ll wrap the show up. Preview again tonight’s Jazz Summer League game. And it’s the Saturday show 975 the KSL Sports Zone. Welcome back to the Saturday show 975 the KSL Sports Zone. I’m Christian Esparza. Alex Napol is with me here to wrap up another edition. Hope you’re having a good weekend out there. Do you have some good food yesterday?
Uh no. So my parents are out of town and usually my dad’s the chef. Yeah.
Um and so we settled for for pizza.
That’s always fun.
We just got a couple boxes of pizza. Maybe had a little too much pizza. Well, that’s what the holidays are for.
Yeah, man. Calories don’t count during the holidays, right?
No. Yeah, they don’t. Uh, yeah. Hope everybody listening has all their fingers still. I didn’t hear of any accidents, but that doesn’t mean they didn’t happen. So,
yes, we hope everybody had a good, safe holiday.
Uh, want to remind you, got a busy night here on the station. Of course, as always, we’re going to have RSL playing tonight and the Salt Lake Bees as we do basically every Saturday throughout the summer. uh RSL. Oh, I don’t even Oh, it’s St. Louis. There it is. I was gonna say I thought it was St. Louis. Uh but yeah, they’re pre-match. So, 6:30 and then first kick at 7:30 and then the Bees are at home vers Tacoma at 6:50. That the Bees game, by the way, is going to be streaming because we have Salt Lake Summer League, the big event tonight here on the station again. Jazz taking on the 76ers tonight. Ace Bailey versus VJ Edgecomb. very excited and I know that Salt Lake City fans, uh, Utah Jazz fans are very excited to see Ace Bailey out on the floor in a Jazz uniform. Can’t wait to see what he looks like. But not to mention Walt Clayton Jr. and I forgot he prefers Walt, right?
I think I saw that earlier the week. So, Walt Clayton Jr. and Ace Bailey tonight.
Again, super excited for this summer league uh matchup. Again, you got to see guys who were projected to be the third and fourth best talents. Sometimes even, you know, debated to see who was third and who was fourth, but that is Ace Bailey and BJ Hedgecom. And so, it’s exciting to see them get to uh to get to see their their NBA start whether, you know, albeit summer league.
Yeah.
Um but here in Salt Lake at the Hudsman Center. And so, I mean, if you’re not if you’re not doing anything tonight, Jazz fans, go out, go support, um, and show Ace Bailey what the Salt Lake fan base and what the Utah Jazz fan base is all about.
Yeah, exactly. I think that’s the biggest thing that Jazz fans can do is show Ace Bailey what it looks like when there is like a mainstay on this team, when there is a franchise player, when there is a star, right? because that’s when Jazz fans are at their best is when there is a face of the team to really rally behind and and Ace Bailey can be that and he’s not that right away. Um,
but he he can be that. He has the potential because he is the best prospect they’ve had in a very long time. So, I’m excited to see what he looks like tonight. Again, you can hear it here on the KSL Sports Zone or is also going to be on KJS.
Tune in. I think you’re producing that one, right?
I am producing.
You’ll be here tonight doing that one, man. That’s awesome. You got to see You got to watch and hear Ace Bailey. Yeah, it’s going to be great.
Yeah,
David Lock and Ron Boon on the call as well. So, tune in again. That is at 7.
All right. Uh, enjoy the rest of your weekend. We will talk to you next week. Again, Big 12 media days Tuesday and Wednesday here on the zone. So, tune in for that. Lot of exciting news coming down the pipeline. It’s the Saturday show 975 the KSL Sports Zone.
Full episode of the Saturday Show with Christian Esparza and Alex Napoles on July 5, 2025
• Jazz move on from Clarkson and Sexton; What will we see at the Salt Lake City Summer League?
• The guys break down NBA free agency winners and losers
• Technical Fouls
• Big 12 Media Days are coming up, what are the expectations for each team?
• 5 Minutes Of – Utah Mammoth development camp and offseason moves
• What’s coming up this weekend
