Speaker 1: It's been a while, but our good friend from the
Speaker 1: Desert ret News, Sarah Todd, stops by on a Tuesday afternoon. Sarah,
Speaker 1: Happy Tuesday.
Speaker 2: How are you happy Tuesday? Since Tuesday?
Speaker 3: What a beautiful day it is. It is a beautiful day.
Speaker 3: And we've got a lot to.
Speaker 1: Do with you because it's been a minute since we've
Speaker 1: been able to connect.
Speaker 3: So we'll start with the little Jazz draft stuff.
Speaker 1: And I just wonder what your understanding is of this
Speaker 1: narrative surrounding Ace at Ace Bailey, who the Jazz landed
Speaker 1: on a number five and the whole Hey, he doesn't
Speaker 1: want to be here, his camp doesn't want him to
Speaker 1: be in Salt Lake City, and then there's rumors that
Speaker 1: he won't report all of the things, and I can't
Speaker 1: cooperate any of them. But your thoughts on the Jazz
Speaker 1: drafting Ace and your understanding of the narrative surrounding that selection.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean I think that what I expected to
Speaker 2: happen is what happened, right like, once once Ace Bailey
Speaker 2: was here, once you get him in the building, you know,
Speaker 2: once the rows behind the dollar sign are made clear
Speaker 2: on the rookie contract and everything else, kind of falls
Speaker 2: into place, and that's how I kind of expected this
Speaker 2: to play out. I didn't expect him to not report.
Speaker 2: It's my understanding that the top five team that he
Speaker 2: was rumored to have his team to have not said
Speaker 2: that he would report to was not the Utah Jazz.
Speaker 2: But you know, that's neither here nor there at this point,
Speaker 2: right But I think that the biggest thing that I
Speaker 2: can say is that the narrative that kind of started
Speaker 2: to formulate about maybe Ace being entitled and not really
Speaker 2: you know, knowing how this process works and being like
Speaker 2: an arrogant kid, that it was expecting too much. That's
Speaker 2: the part that I didn't appreciate, because you know, we're
Speaker 2: talking about an eighteen year old kid. We're talking about
Speaker 2: a literal teenager who had people in his corner handling
Speaker 2: his business and that they were the ones that were
Speaker 2: representing him and speaking on behalf for him during the
Speaker 2: pre process. And I think that that was all done
Speaker 2: in a very misguided fashion. And now we move on
Speaker 2: from it.
Speaker 1: As far as what you think he can be as
Speaker 1: a player for the Jazz as he grows, I mean,
Speaker 1: it's gonna be tough because there are very few eighteen
Speaker 1: year olds in our name Lebron James.
Speaker 3: That step in and look like they're ready.
Speaker 1: But and we'll get to some of the decisions that
Speaker 1: have already been made, it does indicate that there should
Speaker 1: be plenty of minutes for him.
Speaker 3: I think a lot of fans are excited about that.
Speaker 1: So I'll ask a two parter, what do you think
Speaker 1: it looks like immediately and what s your Jazz fans
Speaker 1: hope it looks like eventually?
Speaker 2: Immediately? Probably not gonna look great, right, you said it.
Speaker 2: There's not a lot of guys that come into this
Speaker 2: league and look perfect and ready and you know, polished
Speaker 2: right away. But I think that prior to Draft night,
Speaker 2: on the Utah Jazz roster there was probably not a
Speaker 2: single player on the roster, But Jazz fans could have
Speaker 2: gone out and got his jersey and been like, yes,
Speaker 2: this is going to be a guy that's going to
Speaker 2: be a part of the future, no questions asked. Right,
Speaker 2: even if we're talking about guys like Lowry, Markinen and
Speaker 2: Walker Kessler, those are not guarantees. Like the Jazz are
Speaker 2: going to hear offers that come in for them and
Speaker 2: if one makes sense, they'll make it. And so there
Speaker 2: and like the young guys on this roster currently, Like, yeah,
Speaker 2: there's been some flashes of potential, but there's nothing that
Speaker 2: we've seen at this point that says like absolutely no
Speaker 2: questions asked. Isaiah Collier is a building block for the future, right,
Speaker 2: Like there's just not a player on the team, and
Speaker 2: so then Draft night comes in. Ace Dailey is someone
Speaker 2: that has potential to be a clear building block, So like,
Speaker 2: what could we see in the future. This kid could
Speaker 2: be really good. He has all star potential, and we
Speaker 2: don't know if he's going to reach that feeling. We
Speaker 2: don't know what's going to happen, and that's part of
Speaker 2: like the risk of all of this and building teams.
Speaker 2: But if you're looking towards like what the Jazz are
Speaker 2: trying to do, he could be one of the certain
Speaker 2: building blocks.
Speaker 1: I feel the same way, And I also feel like
Speaker 1: this fan base has been a little and look it,
Speaker 1: we should be very clear, Sarah, as you and I
Speaker 1: visit throughout the course of the off season then into
Speaker 1: next season. This appears that it will be another very
Speaker 1: long year from a standpoint of wins and losses, but
Speaker 1: at least there's like a plan starting to formulate a
Speaker 1: little bit, and I do feel like there's genuine excitement
Speaker 1: in the community for Jazz fans about what Ace could
Speaker 1: eventually be.
Speaker 3: Are you getting kind of the same vibe?
Speaker 2: Yeah? Absolutely, I mean I think that you know me
Speaker 2: and you both said when you know Austin Ainge was hired,
Speaker 2: and the question was asked why Sean O'Connell, like, you know,
Speaker 2: what's your philosophy on manipulating player minutes and availability in
Speaker 2: order to tank? And he said, you won't see that
Speaker 2: this year. The sub tweet on that was because we
Speaker 2: won't have the players on the roster that we need
Speaker 2: to manipulate their minutes, right, And that's what we're seeing.
Speaker 2: You don't need to sit Jordan Clarkson out anymore because
Speaker 2: they've bought out his contract. You don't need to worry
Speaker 2: about sitting a healthy Colin Sexton because they've traded him.
Speaker 2: Now they bring in use of Nurkic, and a lot
Speaker 2: of fans see that and they think, why would you
Speaker 2: give up like a twenty six year old guy who's
Speaker 2: really efficient shooter for someone who's basically like a washed
Speaker 2: backup center. Well, because the Jazz don't want to win,
Speaker 2: that's why. And so they got what they wanted out
Speaker 2: of that deal. They got the exact amount of expiring
Speaker 2: money that Colin Sexton would have been on, and they
Speaker 2: got someone that they don't have to worry about sitting
Speaker 2: on the bench when he's healthy. And so I think
Speaker 2: that you're yes, Jazz fans are absolutely in for another
Speaker 2: long season. It's not going to be very good, but
Speaker 2: at least you are going to see exactly what we
Speaker 2: have out of all of the young guys there is.
Speaker 2: There will be no lack of opportunity for them to
Speaker 2: get on the floor and they're going to be competing
Speaker 2: against each other and competing for their next contracts.
Speaker 1: So that brings us to and it's Walt. It's not Walter,
Speaker 1: it's wall Clayton Junior. That's what he wants to be called.
Speaker 1: And if that's what he wants, we'll give it to him.
Speaker 1: So I'll call him Walt. And I'm a little conflicted
Speaker 1: about this. I think where I've landed. And I thought
Speaker 1: Brad Stevens comment was interesting when he asked he was
Speaker 1: asked about Austin trading up for wal Clayton Junior, and
Speaker 1: he said, I could have told you two years ago
Speaker 1: Austin was going to go.
Speaker 3: Trade up for him.
Speaker 1: So this is a player Austin has liked for a
Speaker 1: long time, and so where I've landed on it is
Speaker 1: and look, only time will tell.
Speaker 3: We'll see how it manifests. But if that's your guy,
Speaker 3: go get them.
Speaker 1: Okay, if that's the guy you've identified, you've done your calculation,
Speaker 1: go get them. But you trade twenty one for eighteen,
Speaker 1: and then you also trade three second round picks, which
Speaker 1: is also not nothing to only move up three spots.
Speaker 1: Like I said, my net net is, if Walt's the guy,
Speaker 1: go get him.
Speaker 3: But what's your take on the transaction?
Speaker 2: I think it's fall And let's say places you like,
Speaker 2: if that's the guy that you wanted, if that's the
Speaker 2: guy that you singled out and you really wanted to
Speaker 2: get him, and you heard that Miami was gonna pick
Speaker 2: him before you wanted to, and all you had to
Speaker 2: do was to give up some seconds to move up, Sure,
Speaker 2: go get the guy that you really really want. Of course,
Speaker 2: how that plays out in the future is going to
Speaker 2: determine whether or not it was a good a good
Speaker 2: move to make. And also with you like, three seconds
Speaker 2: isn't nothing. But if it's three second round picks for
Speaker 2: a guy that you really believe in that then turns
Speaker 2: into somebody that could be like a full rotation player
Speaker 2: for a good number of years. Then, like it's hard
Speaker 2: to find those players in the second round, right, Like
Speaker 2: those are those are such like luck of the draw
Speaker 2: picks in the second round that you don't always know
Speaker 2: whether it's gonna be you know, Nikola Jokic or some
Speaker 2: guy that you never heard of even after Draft night
Speaker 2: because he never even played a day in the NBA, right,
Speaker 2: And so it's kind of a this or that and
Speaker 2: time will tell. But I'm fine with it, you know,
Speaker 2: Like I like I like that the Jazz took Walter
Speaker 2: Clayton junior and even in the second round when they
Speaker 2: picked John Tanji, like a couple of guys that just
Speaker 2: aren't eighteen. Right, You've got a bunch of guys who
Speaker 2: came in off one and done years in college. And
Speaker 2: I just like that they have some guys that are
Speaker 2: going to come in and like actually can play some
Speaker 2: basketball and maybe don't need like the maturation time that
Speaker 2: the others need. That doesn't mean that they're going to
Speaker 2: be great, but I just think that it's good that
Speaker 2: it's on the roster, that not everybody is an actual teenager.
Speaker 3: Well said, let's let's go back to the Sexton deal.
Speaker 1: You outlined it well, and we could just bottom line
Speaker 1: it with your answer, but I'll follow up asking if
Speaker 1: you are surprised that there wasn't better value out there
Speaker 1: for Colin who's coming off a good year and he's
Speaker 1: one of the players that has shown up shown he's
Speaker 1: a pro shot over forty percent from three years, about
Speaker 1: nineteen points a night. And to your earlier point, that
Speaker 1: may have been the only motivation. They wanted a matching
Speaker 1: salary and a player that you don't need to play
Speaker 1: because Nurkicch is no longer, you know, anything other than
Speaker 1: a vet. They can give you ten or twelve minutes
Speaker 1: to night. But were you surprised there wasn't more value
Speaker 1: in return with that transaction for the Jazz.
Speaker 2: A little bit? Right? I think that, especially if you're
Speaker 2: thinking about John Collins the way that he has kind
Speaker 2: of improved his offensive game since coming to Utah, and
Speaker 2: then Colin Sexton, he showed that he can be a
Speaker 2: little bit more of a distributor. Right Like, it looked
Speaker 2: like these were positive value guys. But I think there's
Speaker 2: a couple of things that came to mind kind of
Speaker 2: right after the initial like sticker shock. And that's obviously
Speaker 2: not to say John Collins is gone, but I assume
Speaker 2: that he will be at some point. Number One, these
Speaker 2: are guys that looked really good on the Jazz, and
Speaker 2: that is a bar that is very low in the
Speaker 2: NBA as of today. I mean, when you're playing on
Speaker 2: the absolute worst defensive team in the league and you're
Speaker 2: playing on a team that has the least amount of
Speaker 2: wins and the minutes that you play look good, that's relative.
Speaker 2: And number two, the value of these players might not
Speaker 2: necessarily been the value of them in particular, but maybe
Speaker 2: just the value of the Jazz is negotiating power in
Speaker 2: these situations. The rest of the NBA knows exactly what
Speaker 2: the Jazz are doing. They know that they need to
Speaker 2: get off these veteran expiring deals. They know that they
Speaker 2: want a runway for the young players to play, and
Speaker 2: so they the Jazz don't really have leverage here. It's like, well,
Speaker 2: you want us to take on a contract that you
Speaker 2: don't want, and you want a player that's also on
Speaker 2: expiring to come back, like what's in it for us,
Speaker 2: especially for like, let's look at Charlotte, like, it's not
Speaker 2: like they need a bunch of guards. And so it
Speaker 2: doesn't really really shock me once I start to think
Speaker 2: about it that the rest of the league is like, hey,
Speaker 2: utadd what can you even show us that proves that
Speaker 2: the Ers are good players? That they played kind of
Speaker 2: good on the worst team in the league. That doesn't
Speaker 2: really say much.
Speaker 1: Yeah, no, well said, all right, now this moves us
Speaker 1: over to Jordan Clarkson couple of different layers to this question.
Speaker 1: I have been a little bit surprised at how sad
Speaker 1: a lot of people are to see JC go. You know,
Speaker 1: last couple of years, the on court stuff just wasn't great.
Speaker 1: The advanced numbers weren't great, the usage, the true shooting percentage.
Speaker 1: He just none of us are as young as we
Speaker 1: used to be. And you know, he's not the guy
Speaker 1: that won six Man of the Year. You know, in retrospect,
Speaker 1: the trade that that xanak and and that group made
Speaker 1: for him was really good, sending Dante in a couple
Speaker 1: of second rounders to Cleveland for him. But I think
Speaker 1: you'll have better perspective on this than I do. As
Speaker 1: somebody who's on the beat, and I always say this,
Speaker 1: you should listen to the beat writers. They know more
Speaker 1: than any of us. It does feel like throughout this
Speaker 1: four year pivot, clunky rebuild that at best has been
Speaker 1: mediocre and at worst has been embarrassing, he's kind of
Speaker 1: been a north star, like a bright spot for the organization,
Speaker 1: bright spot for the locker room. So as as Clarkson
Speaker 1: walks out the door and reportedly he is going to
Speaker 1: sign with the Knicks, can you put some perspective on
Speaker 1: why a lot of people feel like this is kind
Speaker 1: of a sad day.
Speaker 2: Yeah. I think even the on court stuff, you know,
Speaker 2: is has context, right, Like, you know, Jordan getting the
Speaker 2: ball from a bunch of rookies or second year guys
Speaker 2: with five seconds on a shot clog is not really
Speaker 2: the best way to operate, and you know, or another
Speaker 2: situation if you imagine, you know, Jordan's in an ISO
Speaker 2: situation on the right wing and he looks over and
Speaker 2: the guy that's open from three is Isaiah Collier, who
Speaker 2: can't shoot threes, and I probably wouldn't want to pass
Speaker 2: the ball either, And so I think that it was
Speaker 2: just a really weird situation and so that led to
Speaker 2: some bad numbers. Part of it is obviously what you said, right,
Speaker 2: father time is undefeated. He's not the man that he
Speaker 2: used to be. All of that's true too, But I
Speaker 2: think that he was also like the last three and
Speaker 2: a half years really took a toll on him. I mean,
Speaker 2: even that last year with the Donovan and Rudy team,
Speaker 2: that took a toll on those players. And he was
Speaker 2: the last player on this team that had ties to
Speaker 2: that team, and so I don't think that he ever
Speaker 2: really got to recover and move on from that because
Speaker 2: he was still here. And so, yeah, it didn't look great.
Speaker 2: And I'm I'm honestly really happy that he gets a
Speaker 2: chance to go play for a team that's actually gonna
Speaker 2: play for some meaningful basketball, like the game's mattering. Makes
Speaker 2: me happy for Jordan, and he was kind of a
Speaker 2: bright spot. And I think that's probably one of the
Speaker 2: reasons that the Jazz held on to him a little bit,
Speaker 2: is because he was a familiar face, he was a
Speaker 2: sellable name. He's somebody that could get butts in seats.
Speaker 2: He was also I mean, he has an incredible wealth
Speaker 2: of knowledge about the NBA, like he might not have
Speaker 2: ever been the guy on a team, but he has
Speaker 2: been on good teams and he's been around a lot
Speaker 2: of really great players, and so he was a good
Speaker 2: guy who was fun to be around for these young guys,
Speaker 2: and he could also take them under their wing. And
Speaker 2: it wasn't weird when he was offering advice because it
Speaker 2: felt like it came from a good place. And so
Speaker 2: he was great for this team and he was great
Speaker 2: for the fans. It is absolutely no surprise to me
Speaker 2: that someone was his personality and the amount of slagger
Speaker 2: that he has endeared himself so much to the fans
Speaker 2: so quickly, and it's gonna really leave a hole for
Speaker 2: the Jazz. I mean, there's no one like Jordan Clarkson's.
Speaker 1: Now I'm going to ask you a follow up, just
Speaker 1: like I did with Colin, and the answer could be
Speaker 1: exactly the same, and it's fine. But I am curious
Speaker 1: as to whether or not you're a bit surprised that
Speaker 1: the Jazz only option with Jordan was essentially they cut him.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's a it's a buyout situation where it
Speaker 1: saves the team some money, but are you surprised they
Speaker 1: couldn't get anything on the open market for Jordan Clarkson.
Speaker 2: No, I'm not super surprised. I know that they tried
Speaker 2: to move him, you know, at least last year and
Speaker 2: weren't able to get some I think the thing is,
Speaker 2: it's like, do you want to take on another contract
Speaker 2: and possibly give up maybe a second or any kind
Speaker 2: of picked to attach to him when what you really
Speaker 2: want is money off the books and to keep the
Speaker 2: rest of your assets. I mean, I think that it
Speaker 2: makes a little bit more sense when you're looking at
Speaker 2: Colin because there was more money involved there and they
Speaker 2: were able to get a backup center in the process.
Speaker 2: But for Jordan, I think that it made a lot
Speaker 2: of sense to just like cut ties and just give
Speaker 2: him a chance to go sign with someone else who
Speaker 2: wants him. And for those teams who you know, I
Speaker 2: think the Knicks are I'm going to be putting him
Speaker 2: on a vat minimum this year, which is basically the
Speaker 2: amount of money that he gave up in the buyout,
Speaker 2: and so he doesn't lose money this year, the Jazz
Speaker 2: save a little bit of money and get his contract
Speaker 2: off the books. I think that this is kind of
Speaker 2: a win win in a bit of a lose lose situation.
Speaker 2: If that makes sense.
Speaker 3: It does so.
Speaker 1: As I talk about all the time when it comes
Speaker 1: to teams that are in the spot the Jazz are in,
Speaker 1: there is a salary floor that you have to hit.
Speaker 1: Everyone talks about the second apron, the salary cap, the
Speaker 1: luxury tax. Well, you also have to spend a minimum
Speaker 1: amount of money on your roster. And this year's salary
Speaker 1: floor is just about one hundred and forty million. If
Speaker 1: my numbers in front of me are correct. The Jazz
Speaker 1: are at one hundred and fifty point six million right now,
Speaker 1: which leads us to John Collins. Now, any transaction they'll
Speaker 1: bring money back. My point is John just might be
Speaker 1: a guy that you're fine paying for one more year.
Speaker 1: You know, doesn't necessarily distract or dissuade you from what
Speaker 1: you're trying to accomplish this season. But more noise around
Speaker 1: John Collins potentially being moved off of by the Utah Jazz.
Speaker 3: Any insight on what's next for the Jazz and John.
Speaker 2: I know that the Jazz have been working to move
Speaker 2: off of him to find a trade partner. So far,
Speaker 2: it's been hard for them to find something that like
Speaker 2: nets them a positive result. Looking at the same thing
Speaker 2: as Collinsext and right, like, no one was going to
Speaker 2: give the Jazz good things to take on a contract
Speaker 2: that they didn't want anymore, and so they had to
Speaker 2: add a second and so then that's kind of a
Speaker 2: negative net, right you got to give up something to
Speaker 2: get it, And that's not really what the Jazz wanted
Speaker 2: to do with John, considering how much he kind of
Speaker 2: revamped his offensive games. That being said, the league still
Speaker 2: knows that he's not really a great defensive player, and
Speaker 2: he didn't really show that he was much better with
Speaker 2: the Jazz. I mean, it's hard to show that you're
Speaker 2: a great defensive player when you're on a team that
Speaker 2: is the worst defensive team. So I think that it's
Speaker 2: been difficult. That being said, if he ends up being
Speaker 2: a player they keep and tell him he doesn't have
Speaker 2: to report. If they want to buy him out, that's
Speaker 2: a possibility too. They could also keep him around, like
Speaker 2: they are not the Jazz are not opposed to just
Speaker 2: letting John Collins deal expiring, because once you've got you know,
Speaker 2: John Collins, Colin Sexton or use of nurkice now Jordan
Speaker 2: Clark sends the money off the books for all those
Speaker 2: you know, contracts at the at the end of this
Speaker 2: upcoming season. That gives them a lot of wiggle room
Speaker 2: and a lot of cap space, and so I just
Speaker 2: I think that you're right. If he ends up being here,
Speaker 2: I think that they can maneuver around that. But they've
Speaker 2: still got options to go and maybe they'll be able
Speaker 2: to pull something together and find a trade partner before
Speaker 2: the end of the offseason.
Speaker 1: I know we've discussed this, but it's been a minute.
Speaker 1: So I'm just going to bring up the two names
Speaker 1: that you know, feel like they're very good players, but
Speaker 1: do they fit the timeline? And it's weird to say
Speaker 1: that about Walker Kessler, but you know, I'll ask you
Speaker 1: whether or not you have any recent intel on the
Speaker 1: Jazz potentially fielding and phone calls and either Walker or Lowry.
Speaker 1: I mean, I talk about this now every day now
Speaker 1: that Austin is in charge. It's not marry to any
Speaker 1: of these guys. Didn't draft him, didn't trade for him.
Speaker 1: Like I said, I have nothing but good things to
Speaker 1: say about both these players. I think they both have
Speaker 1: played well here. But your thoughts on the potential of
Speaker 1: the Jazz doing anything at all with either Lowry or Walker.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that. You know, if you ask me
Speaker 2: the same question maybe a year ago, i'd had a
Speaker 2: little bit of a different answer, and at that point
Speaker 2: it'd be like, you know, these are the guys that
Speaker 2: it's going to be really hard to take out of
Speaker 2: the jazz team. They want to keep them. I'm a
Speaker 2: little bit still in that camp, but I think that
Speaker 2: now the way that I've changed is at this point
Speaker 2: it feels like it's kind of fifty to fifty if
Speaker 2: the right deal comes along and someone sweetens the pot
Speaker 2: for the jazz in a way that makes it hard
Speaker 2: to say no, you're right, Austin is not married to
Speaker 2: this situation. He didn't pick these guys, he didn't make
Speaker 2: those deals, and if they get something that looks better
Speaker 2: for the future, then they're going to do it. That
Speaker 2: being said, I know that the jazz, the front office,
Speaker 2: everyone involved, they would love for Lowry and Walker to
Speaker 2: be a part of the future. They would love for
Speaker 2: them to turn into two of those building blocks and
Speaker 2: be a part of the next core of a great
Speaker 2: jazz team. But they are not guaranteed, and they will
Speaker 2: be listening to phone calls that come in.
Speaker 3: All right, before I say you loose.
Speaker 1: I think an interesting dynamic of this season, and I
Speaker 1: just talked about this with a couple of the NBA
Speaker 1: guests we've had on Todayaylor Hendrix, Cody Williams, Keyante, George,
Speaker 1: Bryce sen Siba, and Isaiah Collier all have contracts which
Speaker 1: are team options next year. So it could be I'm
Speaker 1: not saying it will be, and I have no inside here,
Speaker 1: but it could be the final year for these players
Speaker 1: if the Jazz have done their calculation on them and
Speaker 1: have decided it's not going to work. It's rare this happens,
Speaker 1: but it is something worth talking about. So those five players,
Speaker 1: Taylor Hendrix, Cody Williams, Keyante, George, Bryce Sensaba, Isaiah Collier,
Speaker 1: all playing on contracts this year. That could be a
Speaker 1: situation where the team doesn't pick it up next year.
Speaker 1: What are your thoughts on the calculations that have been
Speaker 1: done on those five.
Speaker 2: I mean, I fully wouldn't expect that to be the
Speaker 2: case for Taylor or Cody, because I don't think that
Speaker 2: there's been enough calculation at all. I think that you
Speaker 2: want as much time looking at those guys as you
Speaker 2: can possibly get, because both of them came in looking
Speaker 2: like Bambi, right, like Skinny, a little bit like wonky eyed,
Speaker 2: not knowing where to go at times, and and just uh,
Speaker 2: the first summer after the rookie seasons were so so important,
Speaker 2: this one for Cody, last season for Taylor, and the
Speaker 2: unfortunate injury that Taylor gets then set him back a year.
Speaker 2: And so I just don't think that you've had enough
Speaker 2: time to look at Taylor, to look at Cody, and
Speaker 2: to know what you're going to be getting out of
Speaker 2: those players, for Isaiah, for Keyante, for any of the
Speaker 2: other young guys that you know, Bryce, anybody that else
Speaker 2: we might be talking about. It's it's difficult. I think
Speaker 2: that this summer is really really important for all of them.
Speaker 2: I would kind of be surprised if the Jazz decided
Speaker 2: to like just make this upcoming season their their last season.
Speaker 2: A lot of a lot of them have. You know,
Speaker 2: these player options have to be decided like a year
Speaker 2: in advance, right, and so like this summer, the player
Speaker 2: or the team options, it's not about this upcoming season,
Speaker 2: It's about the following season. And so I would be
Speaker 2: really surprised if they didn't at least keep on keep
Speaker 2: a hold of everyone, like through this season and the
Speaker 2: next season to get like a full clear picture of
Speaker 2: what they have in those players. But yeah, this summer
Speaker 2: is really really important. If guys look like they're disinterested
Speaker 2: or they haven't improved or or any of those things, Yeah,
Speaker 2: hard decisions are coming.
Speaker 1: Yeah, there's no doubt. All Right, Sarah, it's been too long.
Speaker 1: Thanks so much for the time. Keep up the great
Speaker 1: work and we'll chat soon.
Speaker 2: It okay, Yeah, anytime?
Speaker 1: S fence all right, our friend Sarah Todd from the
Speaker 1: des Red News. She also has covered the seventy six
Speaker 1: ers and the Warriors. She's been doing it at a
Speaker 1: very high level. She's won Utah Sports Ride of the
Speaker 1: Year a couple of different times, most recently last year.
Speaker 1: She's on Twitter at NBA sarahs where you find her