Speaker 1: Andy Larson, Salt Lake Tribune. Andy, Happy Wednesday. How are
Speaker 1: we doing?
Speaker 2: I'm good man, how are you good?
Speaker 1: Give me a bucket list destination geographically somewhere in the
Speaker 1: world that you've never been to that you'd like to visit.
Speaker 2: I sew them into Italy and I need to do that.
Speaker 2: And then, like I've been trying to figure out like
Speaker 2: where and how to do a Japan or Korea or
Speaker 2: something like that trip given the language barrier, Like I
Speaker 2: don't know if it's a tour guide situation or what,
Speaker 2: but probably Italy is my number? Want to answerself?
Speaker 1: Can highly recommend Tokyo. I've decided my next stop is
Speaker 1: going to be Australia. I've never been to Australia?
Speaker 3: Have you been?
Speaker 2: I have? In twenty nineteen, right before the world set down,
Speaker 2: I did as a home around the World tour, which
Speaker 2: was awesome. Spent two weeks there, bounced around different cities,
Speaker 2: went to the Great Barrier reefs. It was truly awesome.
Speaker 2: You won't Yeah, you need to go as through as again.
Speaker 3: What's your favorite? What's your favor?
Speaker 1: I was I was munching on some pistachios earlier. I
Speaker 1: feel like pistachios has to be high on anyone's list.
Speaker 2: That's a good question. I've been feeling like Cashew's right
Speaker 2: right recently, is really really good nice, So I'll go
Speaker 2: with that.
Speaker 3: Where do you get your frid Rise? Andy?
Speaker 1: So?
Speaker 2: I used to get it from this place called my
Speaker 2: Tie on thirteenth and third West, but it just closed
Speaker 2: about a month ago, So I'm kind of on the
Speaker 2: lookout for new spots. You know, that place was right
Speaker 2: by the jazz practice facility, so it's perfect, you know,
Speaker 2: after practice, go and get some Frida Rice and it
Speaker 2: was awesome. And they the owner retired after seventeen years
Speaker 2: just you know, she was time. And so yeah, I
Speaker 2: gotta say, I'm certain if you have any good ideas,
Speaker 2: let me know.
Speaker 3: Watching any TV shows these days?
Speaker 2: Andy, Oh, I don't think so. I'm watching the sports.
Speaker 2: I'm sorry, it's it's important sports sent dating anyone.
Speaker 3: No? Oh, all right, movie.
Speaker 2: A little bit.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, you gotta be careful, you gotta be careful, Andy.
Speaker 1: All right, we can move on. I mean, kind of
Speaker 1: a weird mood on a Wednesday. Several reasons why, but
Speaker 1: let's move on.
Speaker 3: All right.
Speaker 1: Let me ask you this, did you catch wind of
Speaker 1: this Austin Ange situation. Did you know this was in
Speaker 1: the pipeline or did it catch you off guard the
Speaker 1: way that it seems to have got everybody off guard?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, yeah, it caught me off guard. I
Speaker 2: did not know. I knew that there were changes in
Speaker 2: the front office, and I knew that, and we've reported
Speaker 2: some of them, right like the Carlos Boozer thing. There
Speaker 2: are a couple of other Jazz staffers who are no
Speaker 2: longer going to be with the team moving forward, And
Speaker 2: now in the wake of Austin Ange being hired, it's
Speaker 2: looking like maybe there could be more changes. I truly,
Speaker 2: you know, I don't want to say anything without having
Speaker 2: that confirmed for multiple sources, because obviously this is people's livelihoods.
Speaker 2: But I knew that there were changes being made. I
Speaker 2: thought they were happening at lower levels, right like I thought.
Speaker 2: Essentially the team was upset with kind of their scouting
Speaker 2: and player player development, not player development player scouting setup,
Speaker 2: so that you know, they made some I think some
Speaker 2: kind of weird draft choices of the last couple of years.
Speaker 2: They haven't really identified that star and so just talent
Speaker 2: recognition I think was kind of lacking since Dennis Lindsay
Speaker 2: was let go, and so I do think there was
Speaker 2: room to hire someone. But I'm surprised that it was
Speaker 2: at the president of basketball operations level. I'm surprised Austin
Speaker 2: Angel is the number one guy. And yeah, I had
Speaker 2: no idea that it was going to be often moving
Speaker 2: moving over here?
Speaker 3: What other changes? And I may have missed something.
Speaker 1: So for our listeners, Carlos Boozer has been added to
Speaker 1: the staff as a scout. And I know you said
Speaker 1: you did not want to pontificate on possibilities, and I
Speaker 1: respect that because people's jobs are important to them. But
Speaker 1: what other changes are you alluding to that I may
Speaker 1: have missed changes.
Speaker 2: So again, I'm trying to not use names here and
Speaker 2: until it's announced, until they find new jobs and stuff
Speaker 2: like that. But yeah, it seems like in the fourth
Speaker 2: or fifth level of the organization, maybe names that aren't
Speaker 2: familiar to fans, but are names more familiar to JEVB
Speaker 2: writers and you know, obviously people my people in the
Speaker 2: day to day workings of the of the organ All.
Speaker 3: Right, ten ten four, how do you think I have?
Speaker 1: I asked a couple of guests this, and I'll preface
Speaker 1: it with you the same way I have with them.
Speaker 1: There are thirty NBA general manager jobs, and if you
Speaker 1: have one, you are very happy to have one despite
Speaker 1: these circumstances around you. And Justin Xanik is coming off
Speaker 1: a very trying year where he had some serious health complications,
Speaker 1: and you know, I've seen him a couple of times
Speaker 1: since and seeing him interviewed since, seems like he's doing well.
Speaker 1: So I'm not implying anything at all with the question,
Speaker 1: nor am I leading the witness. I am wondering what
Speaker 1: you believe to be jay Z's reaction to kind of
Speaker 1: the changes around him in his place in this new ecosystem.
Speaker 2: Look publicly and privately from all all reports that I've
Speaker 2: heard about this, I haven't talked to j V about it,
Speaker 2: but like is that he is taking this positively right
Speaker 2: like he is, you know, saying all the right things.
Speaker 2: He is, you know, saying, hey, look, you know that
Speaker 2: Austin will be added it to our department, and you
Speaker 2: know what's best for the Jazz is what's best for me,
Speaker 2: and all that kind of good stuff. I also know
Speaker 2: how general managers think, and I know how executives think,
Speaker 2: and I know how does people think? And the truth is,
Speaker 2: if you were general manager of a team, you if
Speaker 2: they go to somebody else to hire the president of
Speaker 2: basketball operations, and not only just another teams general manager,
Speaker 2: but another team's assistant general manager, a person lower on
Speaker 2: the totem pold than you are, then you probably don't
Speaker 2: feel right about it. And it is probably the kind
Speaker 2: of thing that makes you want to look around. Now.
Speaker 2: Look like Justin has a contract, and you know, I
Speaker 2: think is well respected and I think does have a
Speaker 2: lot to add to this organization. But I did think
Speaker 2: it was interesting that Ryan Smith made it extremely clear
Speaker 2: who was in charge when he did not do that
Speaker 2: in the Danny Aingecrest conference. And I think it was
Speaker 2: interesting that he drew such a dividing line between Austening
Speaker 2: of skills and Justin venex skills, where you know, he said, hey, look,
Speaker 2: Justin's you know, came up through the agency space and
Speaker 2: as good at that, is good at dealing with players
Speaker 2: and that sort of thing, Whereas they feel that Austen
Speaker 2: came up through the scouting and coaching. It has that
Speaker 2: experience and so we'll be able to add kind of
Speaker 2: those again, player evaluation and talent and scout talent scouting
Speaker 2: to the organization, and kind of the implicit statement there
Speaker 2: is they don't feel like Justin has done a great
Speaker 2: job of that. Now, look, you know, Justin hasn't been
Speaker 2: totally in charge over the last three years. It's in
Speaker 2: Danny Ainge too, and mostly Danny Inge. There was a
Speaker 2: period of time where Justin was the number one guy
Speaker 2: after they fired Dennis Lindsay and you ended up with
Speaker 2: the Rudy Gay summer, right, So it wasn't like a
Speaker 2: unadulterated success. But I do think, you know, Justin sent
Speaker 2: some good things as well and made them smart moves.
Speaker 2: I think fIF year's trade deadline, frankly, was really well handled.
Speaker 2: And so you want that kind of guy around. It's
Speaker 2: just whether or not he wants to be around, and
Speaker 2: I think that's, you know, still kind of an open question.
Speaker 2: If he can get another better job from another NBA team,
Speaker 2: it wouldn't be super surprising to see him take it
Speaker 2: so andy.
Speaker 1: As a nineteen year old, between my freshman and sophomore
Speaker 1: year at the University of Utai, did an internship at
Speaker 1: Madison Square Garden where I had a connection loosely and
Speaker 1: my internship that summer was in the customer relations department,
Speaker 1: where my job was to answer phone calls from angry
Speaker 1: New Yorkers that didn't enjoy Billy Joel the night before
Speaker 1: or whatever.
Speaker 3: It was very interesting, and I.
Speaker 1: Worked in the department of people and a lot of
Speaker 1: them were almost nervous to me around and didn't really
Speaker 1: like to talk to me very much. I've really had
Speaker 1: one friend. His name was Dave Snowden. Ironically enough, he's
Speaker 1: still there. He founded the Wheelchair Next and he's the
Speaker 1: sweetest guy. And went to dinner one night and I'm like, dude,
Speaker 1: why don't these people just feel like they can I'm
Speaker 1: a normal person.
Speaker 3: You can come talk to me and I'll talk to you.
Speaker 1: And he'd laid a line on me at the age
Speaker 1: of nineteen that I still talk about and think about
Speaker 1: to this day. And he said, Spence, it's important that
Speaker 1: at this point in your life you understand one very
Speaker 1: simple truth, and that is nobody cheers for the son
Speaker 1: of a famous father.
Speaker 3: So thank you. Okay, there you go.
Speaker 1: So we move into this space where I feel like
Speaker 1: it's easy to have a conversation where two things can
Speaker 1: be true. That Austin benefited greatly from his last name
Speaker 1: and who his father was, and Austin has put in
Speaker 1: the groundwork and as the resume to qualify himself for
Speaker 1: a hire such as this, is that fair to say, yeah, look,
Speaker 1: I think so.
Speaker 2: I I think, you know, if you look at another
Speaker 2: team and they higher off names, it's a little bit
Speaker 2: of a stretch because he's an assistant GM, not a GM, right, like,
Speaker 2: but given the Celtics success over the last decade, like,
Speaker 2: it does make sense, right And so that's the thing
Speaker 2: that the Jazz can stand on on this is that
Speaker 2: look like, hey, it's you know, he does have he
Speaker 2: is well respected, he does have a ton of success,
Speaker 2: and it's hard to know, you know exactly, you know,
Speaker 2: who drafted Jason Tatum instead of Markel Foltz, and who
Speaker 2: drafted Jalen Brown and who you know, But like clearly
Speaker 2: Austin was at least a round during those times and
Speaker 2: helped make good choices. So you know, it's hard to say, like, hey,
Speaker 2: this is a catastrophe, but I do think, you know,
Speaker 2: like this is kind of a nepotism thing, is you know,
Speaker 2: maybe it prevents you from opening up the job to
Speaker 2: other names. And I think that's where I think you
Speaker 2: can have some real criticism for the Jazz is like,
Speaker 2: if you are trying to compete in a third team MBA,
Speaker 2: you want to know as much about your competition as possible,
Speaker 2: and one of the easiest ways to do that is
Speaker 2: by having a round of significant and serious interviews for
Speaker 2: a president of basketball operations slot right, Like, learn how
Speaker 2: these guys think, learn what they would do with your roster,
Speaker 2: get some free consulting, frankly right, and for them to
Speaker 2: kind of have bypassed that in order to hire you know,
Speaker 2: the son of the CEO and the guy who's friends
Speaker 2: with the owner. Like, look, it is, it's sketchy, it's
Speaker 2: it's not great. It's a really bad look. And I
Speaker 2: think the rest of the NBA was talking all about
Speaker 2: it this week. So I think that's where I think
Speaker 2: you can have significant criticism. Is like, look, if you
Speaker 2: do it in an overall search of the whole market
Speaker 2: and say, hey, Austin Ange is the best guy. Cool,
Speaker 2: but you should really have again, serious and significant interviews
Speaker 2: with other candidates in order to make that in order
Speaker 2: to make that determination. Rather than well, Danny thinks often
Speaker 2: Ange is great. Ryan Smith, the Austin Ange is great.
Speaker 2: Will Hardy says, Austin Ange is great. It's like, well,
Speaker 2: you know, yes, for sure, Like I think the reality
Speaker 2: is probably the autome age is great. And yet also
Speaker 2: there are a gazillion other very smart men and women
Speaker 2: I guess covering and leading NBA franchises right now that
Speaker 2: you also could have talked to for this role and
Speaker 2: chose not to. And I think that's the disappointing part
Speaker 2: of it. I think from a jazz perspective, did.
Speaker 3: It feel like to you?
Speaker 1: And I guess i'll use a gen z saying, as
Speaker 1: the kids would say, doing too much or extra or whatever?
Speaker 1: Did it feel like to you in the statements that
Speaker 1: were released and the comments mainly by Ryan that they
Speaker 1: just overcooked the qualifications that Austin has, that they just
Speaker 1: overcooked the whole like without really saying the quiet part
Speaker 1: out loud, like Danny wasn't even quoted and it was
Speaker 1: never even acknowledging any of the statements. Did it feel
Speaker 1: like to you that they were making a little bit
Speaker 1: too much of an effort, being a little extra when
Speaker 1: it came to just pointing out all of the things
Speaker 1: Austin has done in the statements, and were you surprised
Speaker 1: that Danny was not quoted nor was he available at
Speaker 1: the media availability.
Speaker 2: No, And I mean I guess I don't think they're
Speaker 2: doing like you kind of have to if you're if
Speaker 2: you are the Pierre Department of the Jazz and you're
Speaker 2: put in this position, right, like, that's the thing you
Speaker 2: have to do. You have to say, hey, you know,
Speaker 2: this is Danny Ings hiring his son. It's like, look
Speaker 2: at all the things off and names of son. You
Speaker 2: have to give the fans the reason to believe, because
Speaker 2: if you do that, the fans are gonna believe because
Speaker 2: they're fans. I did. I was skeptical at the idea
Speaker 2: that Ryan just told Danny called Danny up one Dan said, hey,
Speaker 2: I want to hire your son to be president of
Speaker 2: basketball operations, right. You know, I think Ryan and Danny
Speaker 2: talk more often than that for it to have just
Speaker 2: been like, hey, got some bad or weird news that
Speaker 2: I'm hiring your kids, you know, Like I I just
Speaker 2: am skeptical that that's how that went down. But yeah, look,
Speaker 2: I mean, if you are if you're trying to spin
Speaker 2: as any if you are at all professional, you're trying
Speaker 2: to spin it at least a little bit, and the
Speaker 2: only way to spend it is by saying that Austin
Speaker 2: is qualified, you know, but you know in terms of
Speaker 2: he is going to be a relatively young general manager
Speaker 2: or I guess relatively young professional president of basketball operations.
Speaker 2: And you know, like, while he does have fourteen years
Speaker 2: of experience in the Boston Celtics organization or whatever it is,
Speaker 2: seventeen like, you know, it's not all that has been
Speaker 2: as assistant general manager. It's also been at like the
Speaker 2: scouting level and stuff like that. Right, So again, it's
Speaker 2: a reasonable resume and a relatively good one, especially given
Speaker 2: how good the Celtics has been. But that's what you
Speaker 2: had to do. If you're the Jazz. You can't just say, well,
Speaker 2: there's a Danny Agis kid and and try to spin
Speaker 2: it that way.
Speaker 1: Skeptical that Ryan didn't talk to There's no shot in
Speaker 1: hell are you kidding? That was the most insulting part
Speaker 1: of the entire scenario. Hey, Danny's been completely kept out
Speaker 1: of you. He had no idea I was doing this.
Speaker 1: I just told him, like, dude, like, what do you mean, Andy,
Speaker 1: There's no chance that was the case.
Speaker 3: Almost insulting that that was said out loud.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Look, I mean Ryan likes to tell a yarn
Speaker 2: that's probably not super based in reality. Sometimes he's done
Speaker 2: it at press conferences before. I mean, even Katz the
Speaker 2: copyed like the old Greg Miller gas station story, right,
Speaker 2: like I am, you know that's that's Ryan Smith.
Speaker 1: Yes it is, Yes it is, And you know, I
Speaker 1: guess if it's working for you, just keep rolling with it.
Speaker 3: But yeah, there's no shot.
Speaker 1: But when it comes to the Danny angle here, I've
Speaker 1: always been skeptical personally of really just how for lack
Speaker 1: of a better term, invested in the day to day
Speaker 1: process that Danny is with the entire thing. Now, I
Speaker 1: want to be very fair, Danny retired when he left
Speaker 1: the Celtics. He retired. He he didn't move out here
Speaker 1: to work for the Jazz. Okay, that wasn't the reason
Speaker 1: he moved to Utah. He moved to Utah to be
Speaker 1: around his family. And I've never believed Now, look, he's
Speaker 1: at the games. I see him at games, I see
Speaker 1: him at events. I'm not saying he's never there. But
Speaker 1: you reference kind of the original ambiguity when Danny was
Speaker 1: hired and the messaging from Jazz ownership about like I've
Speaker 1: always drawn the parallel between the Jim Halpert, Michael Scott
Speaker 1: off the stuff big picture of day to day and was.
Speaker 3: Kind of like who's doing what all right?
Speaker 1: And this kind of get you know, does this to
Speaker 1: you indicate that Danny might even be a little bit
Speaker 1: further removed in valuing his riverside tee times and hanging
Speaker 1: out with his grandkids. Now that Austin is in place
Speaker 1: and will be in place for a while, do you
Speaker 1: think Danny's gonna be even a little bit further removed
Speaker 1: from the scenario.
Speaker 2: I'll say this, like over the last couple of years,
Speaker 2: if Danny was truly removed, like he was way more
Speaker 2: involved than I thought he would be from that press
Speaker 2: conference right like he was at random star game that
Speaker 2: I was at that you know, the league College City Stars,
Speaker 2: but he had no reason to be at whatsoever? Right
Speaker 2: Like you can successfully delegate the tenth man role on
Speaker 2: the Salege City Stars and feel pretty good about it
Speaker 2: if you're Danny Inge and he didn't, like he was
Speaker 2: involved in that kind of weird stuff like and so
Speaker 2: and was involved like was that morning shoot around again
Speaker 2: for games that did not matter? And just was was
Speaker 2: around again more than it did scouting trips to the
Speaker 2: middle of the country on the for players. You wouldn't
Speaker 2: think that Danny ainge if he were truly you know,
Speaker 2: like just doing the golf tea time thing that he
Speaker 2: would have been involved in. I think he was. That
Speaker 2: being said, I also had that same thought that you did,
Speaker 2: like that, hey, maybe this is a way to get
Speaker 2: Danny to where he wants to be, where he feels comfortable, uh,
Speaker 2: golfing more and being with his grandkids more and all
Speaker 2: that kind of stuff. I could absolutely see. Hey, that's
Speaker 2: why the jazz decided to add another, uh, the louder
Speaker 2: voice of the room. And of course you can get
Speaker 2: Danny on board by making it Austin. So you know,
Speaker 2: I think that it's very plausible that that's what happened.
Speaker 2: But we'll see over the next course a couple of years,
Speaker 2: you know, Like I was surprised at how involved he
Speaker 2: was before, now it could be surprised again.
Speaker 1: All right, in the spirit of listening to what these
Speaker 1: people say and then trying to understand what actually is real,
Speaker 1: Let's move over to the response that Austin gave to
Speaker 1: the question that our very own Sean o'cotta asked about
Speaker 1: his personal philosophy on tanking and manipulating lineups, to which
Speaker 1: Austin responded, you will not see that this year. Austin
Speaker 1: went on our guy John Paul's podcast, I would encourage
Speaker 1: people to go check out Roundball Roundup and expanded on
Speaker 1: the answer.
Speaker 3: So, look, Andy, we know the deal here.
Speaker 1: It's a top eight protected pick that goes to Oklahoma City,
Speaker 1: who most likely is about to win a world championship,
Speaker 1: and then over the next week or so, and I
Speaker 1: would view it as an epic failure if that pick
Speaker 1: had to be conveyed to Oka. See if the Jazz
Speaker 1: win thirty four to thirty five games and end up
Speaker 1: drafting ninth in the lottery and that goes to Oklahoma City.
Speaker 1: I view holding on to that asset as important as
Speaker 1: anything else this year. So if we take Austin at
Speaker 1: his word that they will approach this season with more
Speaker 1: integrity than they did in years past and be front
Speaker 1: facing about injuries and availability and not wait to get
Speaker 1: fined and then have Walker shoot seven threes a game
Speaker 1: and we actually see a serious basketball team this year?
Speaker 1: Can they do that while also maintaining the spot they
Speaker 1: need to maintain to hold onto their draft capital.
Speaker 2: It becomes really really hard even if you trade the veterans,
Speaker 2: like that's that's the tricky spot for me. So like
Speaker 2: you know, you can trade lowerry marketing, You could probably
Speaker 2: trade polmssts, and you can probably trade down Collins. I
Speaker 2: don't think you can trade Jordan Clarkson unless it's packaged
Speaker 2: in a deal where you're giving up value. I don't
Speaker 2: think they're going to get a lot for those guys,
Speaker 2: but I think you can and move them if you'd like.
Speaker 2: But how whoever you get back is at least going
Speaker 2: to have salaries and at least it's going to be
Speaker 2: on the roster, and you know, like you'll have to
Speaker 2: play those guys too. You can't get you know what's
Speaker 2: got a combined eighty million dollars in money off your
Speaker 2: books without taking some veteran contract back. Who then yes,
Speaker 2: under kind of the oft names we won't tank rule
Speaker 2: that you would have to play. And if you look
Speaker 2: at the bottom eight of last year's draft pree lottery,
Speaker 2: all of those teams tanked to some degree. None were
Speaker 2: as you know extreme as the Jazz, but like Washington
Speaker 2: definitely thanks at the end of the year. New Orleans did.
Speaker 2: Brooklyn tanks from the beginning of the year, trading Dennis
Speaker 2: Ruder a year in a month into the season. You know,
Speaker 2: let's see Philadelphia definitely thanks at the end of the year.
Speaker 2: The Spurs even tanked once Webb Yama got hurt. Like
Speaker 2: everyone actually was tanking by the end of the year.
Speaker 2: So I find it difficult to imagine that the jazz
Speaker 2: I don't have to do that to some degree in
Speaker 2: March and April in order to stay quote unquote competitive
Speaker 2: or really anti competitive. Right, Like, there's a real chance
Speaker 2: that if they try their hardest in all eighty two
Speaker 2: games next year, that they end up with, yeah, that
Speaker 2: ninth pick, and then you you just give it away
Speaker 2: to the Oklahoma City Thunder. So I think you have
Speaker 2: to be really careful about how that plays out. And
Speaker 2: you know, and then if you do keep one of
Speaker 2: Lowery or Collin Sexton or John Collins, then all of
Speaker 2: a sudden you add more wins and get even closer
Speaker 2: to that line. So it's a really fine line that
Speaker 2: they're kind of drought to get. And I think ultimately
Speaker 2: what's gonna end up happening is you say, hey, no,
Speaker 2: we're not going to tank it all this year, and
Speaker 2: then you know, you end up just tanking in March April,
Speaker 2: or maybe somebody gets hurt and you get a little
Speaker 2: bit lucky that way. But from what I hear, it
Speaker 2: is much more likely that the Jazz are bad next
Speaker 2: year and kind of embrace that from just a player
Speaker 2: talent point of view, than that they, you know, like
Speaker 2: try to be good and trade for three stars or
Speaker 2: something like that.
Speaker 1: So the Washington model is something that I've been considering
Speaker 1: over the past twenty four or forty eight hours or whatever,
Speaker 1: because Washington actually did try. But what they did Billel
Speaker 1: Coolibali bub Carrington and Jordan Poole just a perfect vet
Speaker 1: to tank on your roster. They traded cous they played
Speaker 1: Alex Sar, they played Kaishawan George, they played Corey Kisbert.
Speaker 1: So what Washington did is, yeah, technically they traded for Middleton,
Speaker 1: but he didn't really play much for them, neither did
Speaker 1: Malcolm Brogden, and they moved on from Kuzma. And again,
Speaker 1: Pools the type of vet you want on your team
Speaker 1: if you're trying to lose, because he doesn't necessarily play
Speaker 1: winning basketball when he's a main COG. So they essentially
Speaker 1: played all young guys and Jordan Poole. So is there
Speaker 1: a world where the Jazz jettison Lowry and maybe even
Speaker 1: Walker and Collins and Sexton or whoever they can, and
Speaker 1: they add the two first rounders this year and maybe
Speaker 1: even the two second rounders to the group of young players,
Speaker 1: and we see something like, I don't know, John Collins
Speaker 1: playing the role of Jordan Poole, surrounded by a bunch
Speaker 1: of kids, and then they do go try and play hard,
Speaker 1: but they're not good enough and they win twenty games. Again,
Speaker 1: is that a scenario you could see?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think that's the most likely scenario. I would
Speaker 2: just also say that that Washington team is tanked, like
Speaker 2: they you pointed out they didn't play Chris Middleton at
Speaker 2: the end of the year, like they didn't play Marcus
Speaker 2: Myit very much, you know, like they they were making
Speaker 2: decisions in the fourth quarter of games that meant that
Speaker 2: they were trying to lose them, right, Like I watched
Speaker 2: the Wizards because I cared about whether or not the
Speaker 2: Jazz got the first or second seat in the NBA
Speaker 2: draft standings, Like they were trying to lose games. Now, look,
Speaker 2: they probably would have finished bottom eight kind of regardless, right, Like,
Speaker 2: they probably end up in that bottom five spot. But
Speaker 2: if you again you want to actually compete in the
Speaker 2: in the tank rates to be a bottom eight team,
Speaker 2: I do think you have to tank even to like
Speaker 2: that Wizard's degree of you know, yeah, sitting in Middleton
Speaker 2: for example. So look, yeah, I think that is probably
Speaker 2: the most likely outcome for the Jazz this year, which
Speaker 2: is not gonna be super fun basketball, but at least
Speaker 2: we'll like feel a little bit less.
Speaker 1: Gross opening nights which vets on the roster now are
Speaker 1: on the roster.
Speaker 2: Then I don't know, I mean, I yeah, I don't know.
Speaker 2: They're going to try to create all of them, I think.
Speaker 2: So I mean, look, you you at least have to
Speaker 2: have the conversation you if you bring Lowery in with
Speaker 2: the you know, and let's I don't think Walker Caster
Speaker 2: is a vet yet. So if you bring Lowry and
Speaker 2: Walker into the season, and I think that's like a
Speaker 2: twenty five win team, you know, like and I think
Speaker 2: that is again really close to that eighth spot where
Speaker 2: you're giving up giving up the pick of the Oklaoba
Speaker 2: City Thunder. So you at least have to have the conversations.
Speaker 2: And our guy Tony Jones is on today telling everyone
Speaker 2: that Lowry has remained, retained all of his value. So
Speaker 2: I've never been more convinced that the Jazz are going
Speaker 2: to try to.
Speaker 1: Trade Oh dear, oh dear, what would be okay? So,
Speaker 1: and I tend to agree with you. What would be
Speaker 1: the type of return?
Speaker 3: You think? Well, I guess I'll say Austin.
Speaker 1: Now, what sort of return does an Austin Ainge look
Speaker 1: for while shopping Lowry marketing?
Speaker 3: Is it straight?
Speaker 1: I mean, there are rules here, and the Jazz don't
Speaker 1: have cap space. They can't just absorb contracts, so you
Speaker 1: do have to match money unless John Collins shocks us
Speaker 1: all and walks away from the player option and we
Speaker 1: have a different conversation.
Speaker 3: But when you get there, and if you get.
Speaker 1: A release, if we all get a release, like, hey,
Speaker 1: the Jazz have traded Lowry market and what type of
Speaker 1: return do you think Austin's looking for?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean you're you're looking for salary release, you're
Speaker 2: hoping for a interesting young player, and then you're hoping
Speaker 2: for a pick or two. I mean, I think last
Speaker 2: year that was essentially the Warriors trade right, like was
Speaker 2: a couple of first round picks and Jonathan Cominga was
Speaker 2: kind of the hope, and you know, you're kind of
Speaker 2: hoping for that same thing as last year. I made
Speaker 2: fun of Tony in the last answer, like, I do
Speaker 2: think you can get something semi similar to what you
Speaker 2: were offered. I just think that it can come from
Speaker 2: fewer teams. It's it's tricky because you know, the Warriors,
Speaker 2: I think you can worry about them in the long term,
Speaker 2: but they also have so much money that they can
Speaker 2: kind of play it like the Lakers a little bit
Speaker 2: and just kind of stay in that seventh to tenth
Speaker 2: spot for a while. So you don't love getting their picks,
Speaker 2: but it's hard to know, you know, I don't know
Speaker 2: that there's a team that you're really excited on betting
Speaker 2: on their picks that are going to be trading for
Speaker 2: lowry either. So I do anticipate a ton of player
Speaker 2: movement this year, and I think just like being part
Speaker 2: of a three or fourteen trade could be the outcome here.
Speaker 2: And that's you know where like a guy like Justin
Speaker 2: Zanik is actually really useful because he does have those
Speaker 2: connections around the league. So yeah, I mean, I don't
Speaker 2: know exactly how that plays out, but that's my guest,
Speaker 2: is like it's some salary relief pick or two and
Speaker 2: an interesting young player.
Speaker 1: All right, we're going to revisit it every week. Can
Speaker 1: tell the draft. Luckily it's only a couple of weeks.
Speaker 1: But before I set, you loose the current Andy Larson
Speaker 1: opinion of best case scenario at five for the Jazz
Speaker 1: is who and why?
Speaker 2: Probably Vijay. It's come right now, and I don't know that.
Speaker 2: I think it's unlikely that he falls to five, but
Speaker 2: if he does, I think that's probably best case because
Speaker 2: I like I like his tools, I like his production
Speaker 2: as a freshman. His stats are actually better than I
Speaker 2: think he's given credit for. I thought he measured out
Speaker 2: well at the combine, and I think he's the kind
Speaker 2: of tough minded defensive type the off name said that
Speaker 2: he was interested in, right like, I think that you
Speaker 2: can question that with other guys at the top of
Speaker 2: this draft. Ace Bailey, I'm just going to say the name,
Speaker 2: and I don't think you have to worry about that
Speaker 2: very much.
Speaker 1: With Vj's come, we don't have time to talk about
Speaker 1: oursell and Honestly, I don't want to, Andy, so I'm
Speaker 1: gonna set you loose on Wednesday and we'll chat soon.
Speaker 3: But okay, sounds good.
Speaker 2: Thanks, thanks,