FRUSTRATION – Year 4 of REBUILD bringing out FAN ANGUISH. TRADE possibilities and Re-DRAFTING
Utah Jazz fans face a turning point: Is patience with the front office finally wearing thin, or is the rebuild on track? David Locke tackles tough questions about Ryan Smith’s commitment to winning, the long-term vision behind trading stars like Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert, and the pressures of pursuing greatness over settling for mediocrity. The conversation spotlights promising talents like Keyonte George, Lauri Markkanen, and Ace Bailey, weighing their development against the frustrations of middling draft picks and defensive woes.
Key topics include the impact of front office moves under Austin Ange, whether harder tanking could have yielded star prospects, and how the Jazz compare to other rebuilding teams like the Houston Rockets and Detroit Pistons. Can Utah keep faith through growing pains and build a contender, or is fan frustration signaling time for a new strategy? Don’t miss insights on the Jazz’s season trajectory and what the future could hold.
00:00 – Rebuild Trust: Front Office & Core Pieces
04:45 – Ryan Smith’s Approach: Winning vs. Rebuild
08:32 – Tank Harder? Reflections on Draft Position and Strategy
15:00 — Trade possibilities and redrafting
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31 Comments
What's the plan been? How do you not go full tank when there is a unicorn like Wemby in the draft. The one year they go full tank it goes off the rails and they end up at 5. Yes, that sucks. So, instead of staying the course, with the pick on the line mind you, its back to the middle. Stupid.
The Jazz are 4 years into this and not close to the end, because they stupidly thought they could put one toe in and not fully commit to tanking. Nerd goes psychotic on this, but inspite of his rants, he is right. The Jazz could have been in the run for one of the Thompson's and Castile. This year they are s***ing the bed, with the best talent at the top of the draft, they are pretending to be competitive. The ownership thinks they can win and be the hero to everyone, rather than do what it takes to build a winner.
Ring Malith = Rings
29:39 “none of the 2024 class would be drafted top ten” AND WE’RE GOING TO LOSE OUR FIRST ROUND PICK TO THE OKC THUNDER!!!! This because of our incompetent ownership and front office if they don’t turn this around and “do the hard thing” and actually commit to the rebuild!!
You want to talk about fan experience??? I don’t give a flying crap about concession prices when we are a play in team at best! The best fan experience is a deep playoff run hands down!!
The best way we could get there is consistent top 5-7 picks in the draft and giving ourselves the best odds at top 3 picks. OUR ORGANIZATION IS NOT DOING THIS!!! That is why real fans are frustrated!
That is all this entire comment section is talking about and the ownership and front office needs to take a hint and do better!
There's some truth to your claims about the game being quite different now, vs the 90's. Particularly with athleticism, how the game is played, and physical demands/expectations of the players. One thing that's overblown is the possessions. Starters averaged more minutes in the 1990's, diluting your possessions claim. According to Gemini, starters average of 1.8 more possessions, per game today vs the 1990's. For kicks and giggles, if we include the 80's we get this:
1980s: Starters played the most minutes in the fastest game, leading to the highest workload in terms of possessions.
1990s: Starters played many minutes but in a very slow game, resulting in the lowest workload in terms of possessions.
Today: Starters play the fewest minutes, but the game is very fast. The fast pace offsets the lower minutes, resulting in a number of possessions slightly higher than the 90s, but significantly lower than the 80s.
Woah… Malone was playing against Charles Oakley, he couldn't do anything with the ball… Locke, you sound like someone who's never played the game. Guarding someone who is physical af, is pretty brutal on the body. I get you're not running after him, and trying to keep Oakley from breaking you down off the dribble, or running through screens to stop him off a pop
… but to act like getting busted and bruised in a 3 foot radius doesn't wear down the body is ridiculous
By halfway of program your mic turnout to be horrible.
David last i checked still 48 minutes in an NBA game, you’re saying extra possessions equal more minutes played? Terrible take, in today’s game Luca dribbles the ball and 4 other guys stand around and watch!
The jazz were the best team in the league and they blew it up! Gave them one shot! Ryan smith blew it up over money
Locke has the worst job in America… putting a pretty ribbon on this mess
Thanks for dealing with all the grumpy Jazz fans David! Hopefully things turn around
Draft Rings….. Ring Malith = Rings
My frustration is that they DIDNT TANK. Only last year can be counted as a true tank. Look at OKC. They did it for years. Pays off
Everyone's an expert nowadays
Great show David!
The last few episodes of locked on jazz have been illuminating in as far as looking at the effectiveness of this 'rebuild'.
I dont believe "the draft finishes" just because a c few duds are drafted, there were still other options where Taylor & Cody were drafted.
If it does finish though then we stuffed up those years by not losing enough and we're now doing it this season.
Dont look now but we're in the 'play-in' bracket! lol 🤪
This year is not good we need to keep our pick and try to get a top 3 generational player to pair with Ace.
They are going the right way and I approve: people need to be patient. I have been enjoying the games. Win or lose. Learning by watching.
I agree 👍💯 TANK HARDER !!!
I think David Locke understands that the Jazz franchise needs to go through the pain and just decide actually Tank and REBUILD and not lose their ONLY pick this year and if they don't get someone good this year it stretches this rebuild out a couple more years or the front offices gives up on the rebuild and then we will be mediocre for the next 10 years.
Trade Nuckic then. But we need to retain our draft pick
The NBA tournament is stupid, it's so sparatic and it's to weird to follow. The NBA needs to find a way to organize the the tournament or just get rid of it all together
Something is wrong with your Audio, you might already know this…
Nice Job Locke 👏👏 💯 glad to see that your a still a real Jazz Fan at heart
Tank harder. It's the only way. Unload everyone until you get an all NBA guy. Churn through all these mediocre players who can't defend and trade them for picks. There's no such thing as too many picks. Just ask Sam Presti.
Yeah we know the model, BUT THEY AREN'T ACTUALLY GODDAM DOING IT
Need to make smarter picks. Search the globe for those diamonds in the rough. Cody and Taylor are major setbacks…
The frustration is the team keeps on bringing in vets or playing guys that are like the 6 to 8th player on most teams to try to win a few extra games. The fan base was sold on the draft and then management have only really tanked last year and most fans feel we need another piece. This draft why are we not playing only young guys and Lauri? There are 3 to 4 studs in this draft and we will lose our pick at this rate. Just saying
The jazz don't need to be finding rotation players unless the young players develop into that. Rotation players move on. Get your rotation players after you get your studs. This is the last year we need to go into a hard tank. But it is what it is.
Lauri Bird.
So my question is if tanking worked so well why are the same teams in the lottery every year? Most of the time the draft is hit or miss. Many great players are picked 8 and later. Most NBA champions did not tank. Of course when there are generational players that is the time to go for it but it is a lottery so there aren’t guarantee’s. It seems to me that tanking ruins franchises and the same teams are in the lottery every year.