We'll say good night at six o'clock. Then it's gonna be time for myself, Gordy Chias and Richard Smith. Smitty and Gordy combined like ninety years of experience analyzing talent take you through the entire first round tonight, and then tomorrow night it'll be just Smitty and I will give Gordy the night off. But technically our NBA Draft coverage
has begun and it will continue. And it's just simply been too long since we've heard a little deaf leopard on the program, which means it's time for our conversation with a great Craig Bowler, Jack Bowler, Happy Wednesday, man, how you been.
Hey pal, good to hear from you. You got a nice lineup tonight. Man, you're right, Smittye and Gordy Come on, man, that's that goes way back. That's a combination there.
Yeah, no excited for it. We'll have a good time, Bowler. So look, we know that you're not the general manager, but you're of course the voice of the team and you work with the club, So like, what are you hearing? What's your understanding about what we could expect tonight from the Jazz.
You know, there's always little whispers and rumblings and you know all of his chat and you know, talk to other people around the league and you know, get their take on what the Jazz are about and just the West, you know, basically. And I just I just heard your last take from tearing down the Boss? Was it the Celtics to the Studs? You know, there's a lot of talk in Boston tonight too. There's a lot of talk everywhere. But I think the Jazz are aggressive. I'd be stunned
if they're not. Look Spence, obviously, we talked about this before in other years, and I think this is one of, if not the most important summer draft of the Jazz. Well, if they brought in Big t in eighty three, they had Mark there, they had then stockedon in eighty four, Malone in eighty five. It was a process, but for just one particular draft, I think this thing is big. You got the five pick you last year you won seventeen. The fans were all in on the growth factor of
a Walker Kessler. They saw the emergence of Isaiah Collier, they saw what Philips can do. Obviously, upset that Taylor Hendrix was injured and you really couldn't get a good feel of what his talent level is. Cody Williams disappointed a bit, but you know, when you're top ten, you know expectations are high. So I think with Austin ings now it's Spence at the helm and the assets that Danny hands to him, there's a lot of possibilities tonight.
I think it's a busy night. We'll talk tomorrow, and I could be totally wrong, but the opportunity to be busy with a five and twenty one tonight and do you move up from twenty one? Do you make some late deals or deals during the draft? I think it's busy at least that's kind of the buzz that I've heard in people I've talked to.
So the Austin factor is interesting, Craig for a few different reasons. I don't know that I would go as far as to say unprecedented, but I will use the adjective for an owner to hire the new decision maker mere weeks before potentially the biggest draft this organization has seen in a number of years. And look, it's not like Austin doesn't know the staff. He might know Danny that's my guest. He might know Danny Ainge pretty well,
and I'm sure he knows Zanik and everybody else. It's not like this is a random Eastern European scout that you brought over to run the team. Like people know Austin. Austin knows people. I'm not saying it's completely new as far as relationships go, but it is new as far as the loudest voice in the room being hired weeks before the draft. What sort of dynamic do you think that brings in a play?
You know, that's a great question. I'm with you. I think it's a tough position for Austin Ainge to take. Obviously, embrace the moment opportunity once in a lifetime to recharge, rebuild a franchise. But you talk about doing quick homework. Look, he's in the East, Yes he's his dad's been with a Jazz for multiple years now with Ryan at the Helm.
But you know, your focus is on Boston at the time, and your focus is on Eastern Conference teams, and obviously you know something about the West, but now you're in a deep dive here, you know, and maybe you work your magic in the East with player subtractions or additions, you know, and moving a player here or moving a player there, and using your contacts. It's really about contact spence, as you know from you know your you know your dad with the jazz and and and and everything in
New York. I mean, I think it's really how do you use your your insight, your contacts and can you move one chess piece to appease you and help a piece another? And I'm I'm guessing Austin's got to be pretty good at that to be in a position where he was with the Celtics. He learned from from Danny, he's been with Brad Stevens, and tonight he'll be on
full display. Well, I'm heading down right now to the Science Bank Basketball campus and I'm anxious to see if I can get a minute with him, because that's kind of the question I had too, is where are you at? And you're you know, there's there's draft picks available nine I believe in all that rank up to twenty thirty one second round picks as well, So there's a lot of opportunity for him to move and make deals. But does he actually use him tonight or is it down
the road? How aggressive spence is my question does he want to be and really how aggressive does Ryan want him to be? Hockey's on the upswing the Jazz Nation. I thought last year did a remarkable job. You talked, we talked a lot about this during the season that when you were there and dropped by the booth, I mean you were impressed. I was impressed. I thought Delta Center hung tough throughout the entire season with watching the
young guys grow. And I keep going back to the time too when Will Hardy said earlier in his career that you know, this isn't an easy place to work. I mean, the NBA is for the elite. Some will make it, some will not. Who has the guts to put the work in. And we're probably going to start seeing three years now into Will's career as the head coach, the data points, the data, the data is all in on these you know, these these picks that Will was
a part of. And I think the question is we might get some answers here in the next week, maybe tonight, who stays, who goes, and you know, who is going to be a part of the cores. And I think those are big questions that have to be answered, and you know what, Austin Ainge is going to help answer them.
You know the other dynamic Craig that this brings into play with Austin is now the decision maker, is he did not draft any of the players that have been drafted over the past few years. He did not trade for Lowry, he did not trade for Walker. Literally zero of these players have Austin's fingerprints on them, which leads me to believe there are zero players on the roster that he've used as untouchable. And I think that's fair.
I mean, I don't want to dismiss and diminish and disrespect a veteran like Lowry or a young player like Walker, But outside of those two, and maybe even including those two, I'm not sure that Austin to use anybody as Okay. They have proven to me that they are part of this thing long term, which really brings everything into play and it makes it kind of fun.
Yeah, you know what, that's another great point in any business, and you've been involved, I've been involved CBS. For me, new people come in, they make them, they make change, they put someone that they do have a fingerprint on, and then there's an untouchable on occasion. But same at Fox, same at KSL Radio is no different. And you know, I go back to Dennis Lindsay. You know he was
very protective. You remember of a guy you know that came out of Australia, you know, you know Dante, and it was tough for him to it wasn't going to work. And that's what you just alluded to is the fingerprint of protecting your pick because it reflects on your decision making and if you go someplace else, then you say, look look what I did. And I think you make a great point. These players are players, and I know Danny or Danny and Austin during the process respect that.
But at the same time, I think the way the business is run is that you know what, if I got to move you, that's just part of the business. And you know, the relationship probably is not let's just call it what it is. It can't be that strong. But he hasn't had a chance to even get to know them as much as you would leve like Teddy drafted him. It's a totally different ballgame. Will Hardy's invested because he's coached all these guys and helped helped develop
and watch their maturation. But yeah, Austin's in a position, Spence I think is a great, great point. He could make moves without a lot of emotion attached. Does that make sense because a lot of gms have trouble moving a pick that they actually brought in or a free agent that they made you know, that they brought in as well. So I think tonight, you know, maybe not as an emotional one for Austin, but yet, let's be honest,
the pressure's on. I think there's a lot of pressure to push this team ahead.
Well in Austin's dad, Danny at his introductory press conference when he was announced as the CEO of Jazz Basketball, and I always chuckle when I bring this lineup. It just made me laugh because I've known Danny since I was a kid. He said, you all should know that I remove emotion from decision making when it comes to roster construction. Then he traded Donovan and he traded Rudy
like he broke the whole thing down, you know. And so I would imagine Austin operates very much in the same mold as his pops.
Yeah, I wouldn't be surprised, And you know what I would may get our first real hint of that tonight if the Jazz, if the right situation approaches. I still think most GM's most not all, are are working on that same basis spence, trying to let not the emotions dictate what moves they make. There's been cases where I think maybe a player has stayed too long because of
that tie to a franchise. But if the Jazz need to make a break, I would think this would probably mean probably mean the most opportunistic time because of a new you know, you just said it. He's the loudest voice in the room tonight, and it's going to be really interesting what direction and just how loud that voice is, because there are plenty of opportunities to move vets, to also use picks to improve your position and be more aggressive. You know, if they stay at twenty one, I may
be surprised. I may I think I would be. I think if there's a player that really they feel like is perfect fit and they have to go to fifteen to get him, maybe that's the case because they have the assets at least to be in the conversation and for all indications and all the all the websites you've been on I've been on the Jazz keep popping up on occasion about being you know, Paul's are being fielded, and that's interesting because a lot of times that information
doesn't leak out because you know, back from your dad's time to Scottie Laden and Kevin O'Connor, Dennis h Man, it's it's like playing you know, I wouldn't want to play poker with him because they are as straight faced and tight lift as they can be. And that's that's their job, because they got to protect the players that are on the roster and not interfere, you know, with
their with the relationships. But it's it's a you know, it's kind of a touchy ground to try to work your way around all those all those issues of feel good good relations but yet still talking about a player potentially moving or you know, bringing another guy in.
So you know, without knowing the mindset of the organization and what direction they're going to go, it does make it difficult tantalize what they should or should not do tonight because are they going to try to expedize this process. Are they going to try to use their assets to bring in a vet. Are they going to simply just
go young. And you know, Austin said during his opening press conference and response to our very own Sean O'Connell's question, that he will not be manipulating minutes or draft capital this year. And that's fine, But you do have a top eight protected pick that goes to you know, Oklahoma City, who you know just want a championship this year if you fall out of the top eight. So there's a
fine line to walk. But as somebody who has a front row seat to all of this, uh, there's the old draft cliche best player available or you know, somebody you draft to fit a need. It feels like they need everything. And but if we operate off the premise that they feel really good about Marketing and Kessler, maybe what they don't need is a big But you know, at five, I haven't really heard outside of the mallawatch
kid from do Gunny Bigs link to them? Do you feel like that they are solidified anywhere that would motivate a decision to take one player over the other based off of need or do you think they just need to take the very best player possible at five?
You know, defense is a lot of things in this league, and so is three point shooting, So you know, you're always looking for a six to six guy with wingspan and beyond and who can knock down a triple. That would be a player. I would think the Jazz would eyeball obviously, and the top five six players have some of that potential obviously, you know, essentially make a great point. It depends on what Austin sees in market in a twenty eight okay, twenty eight, still a young man, but
what's the in reality? What is the timetable that Danny and Austin and Ryan have put forth? Is this a two year, three year, five year because that time the Jazz reached a high level in the West. Is marketing played himself out right of the contract and the value that he actually has right now. He's a unique talent, you would agree, being a seven footer can stretch the
floor and still work himself inside. But I think if they stay with the big front line in Philipowski and Walker and Lowry, that is intimidating and there's some talent there. The biggest question is turnovers, which were I mean just I mean they averaged twenty and a half or nearly twenty one a game last year. Don't have it in front of me. But there were nights that we were calling out, you know, twenty seven turnovers and no, you can't have that and give your opposition twenty plus, you know,
extra possessions a game. I still think great teams have great point guards, and I think that's where you start. You have to make a decision on keyante and I think you have to, you know, I think we were a little bit wowed with Isaiah Callier getting the call in the second half of the season and the speed
and determination. I think some leadership popped out that Will Hardy needs drastically spence with a young team, somebody has to be the alpha, and I saw a little bit of that start to come out of Isaiah at the end of the season when he was given the opportunity. You remember he said at USC kind of in the behind the light of a guy named Bronnie James, and now he's got an opportunity to kind of prove who he is and that kind of exciting. Do they stay with him or is he a guy they bring off
the bench. So I think tonight's pick I personally ought to be most likely a backcourt player with some defensive capability that can spark a team, and I think he's got to have an alpha personality as well. You know, that's my take, And I think the front line solid. John Collins still has the option on his contract, and he's played his tail off last year when given the opportunity after he finally kind of decided who he was
and what will Hardy needed out of him. But that's a twenty six million dollar decision that the Jazz can either say okay or maybe not. After John, I'm sure he's gonna take it. Spence, I doubt he's gonna get half that on the open markets, so it's gonna be interesting to see how that all works out. But I think the front line's strong guard, play wing play still in need.
All right, Bowler, let's move over to your thoughts on simply a rumor. You know, and look, in this day and age of aggregation and this person pretending to be an MBA insider and that person just starting a blog. I don't really know what to make a lot of a lot of these rumors. But I don't know either, yeah, for sure, and there may be nothing here at all, And you know, part of me would really love to
see some boldness tonight. Then there's part of me that understands pragmatically that this is a long game scenario and that top draft pick is something you need to hang on to, and it's probably more likely, this is my guess, in my opinion, that we won't see anything super bowld this offseason, but we will next off season when some of the salaries expire and some of the young players
maybe show some promise. But there are people that have been I hate to even say reporting, but you know, there's a lot of synergies between the Celtic front office and the Jazz front office. Danny hired Brad Stevens. Austin worked under Brad for the past number of years. While Danny was out here, Will Hardy coached Jalen Brown as
he was the number one assistant for Emi Udoka. I don't think it makes sense to bring in a Jalen Brown unless you're able to hold on to Lowry and hold on to Walker and probably even hold on to five, right, And so I don't know what the Jazz would send to Boston. I really don't, and I don't know that Boston which I wouldn't trade Jalen Brown. But that's just me.
But if the framework of a deal makes sense and is on the table, do you feel like the Jazz should pull the trigger to bring in a Jalen Brown? Because if you do bring into Jalen Brown and you hold on a Walker, you hold on a lowry, you're able to hold on a number five, You're not one of the eight worst teams in the league. You're just not. So you're going to lose that pick next year. So do you think something like that does make sense?
Pers that may be the biggest answer the question and the answer that faces a Jazz tonight. And you know what, the comment about taking the Celtics down to the Studs
because of Tatum's injury is intriguing. We wouldn't have this conversation if Tatum was healthy, and because that combination of Brown and Tatum is dynamic, and Derek White and you know that's Boston, I thought would have Yes, they would take a step back because of the injury to Tatum, but I thought they would just kind of make their way for another run. It's really an intriguing thought, is it not that you would want to strip a team down because of an injury? And yeah, he was hurt, late,
so he's going to be out for twelve months. They're going to be careful with him. And then you have to think about, you know, Jalen Brown and what is he nine years in or is that Tatum? But you know, again it comes to how much longer and how valuable and what value does he have back? The connection is interesting. I will say that if that would happen tonight, it pushes a Jazz forward in hyper drive in my opinion.
The other part of that is, does a veteran like him or any player around the league with that type of credential, does that make a younger player even perk up and play better? I would probably say yes. The other part of this equation in my books, fence, is if the Jazz kind of state pat and they do want to protect the eighth spot, and they do pick up the two players or three or four and the other two tomorrow night, you've got to make some roster
moves obviously to fill to fit them all in. But the other part of this equation is, yes, they could protect the eight by still playing the younger players. Yes, they could win seventeen more. They could be a thirty let's say a thirty win team and just just miss giving up the eighth spot to Oklahoma City, but yet still gain valuable experience and you get a better feel of who you are, who says, who goes right? And next summer with a very loaded draft, you make even
your more Boulder moves. So there's options there. But I think the question is how fast you want to accelerate the process, don't you?
Yeah? And I don't think it's ready to be accelerated. But the Jalen thing is interesting because he is good enough that if you hold on to Lowry, and if you hold on to Walker, and if you draft let's say Trey Johnson or Jeremiah Fears at five, Taylor comes back healthy, Cody makes a little progress, puts on some weight. Keante decides he wants to try to guard Isaiah comes back and knocks down threes at a higher clip like Craig.
If they can acquire Jalen and hold on to some of their main pieces and the framework like, the only way Boston does this is if they are all in on simply saving money mode, because the trade that could work as Collins and Clarkston and Sexton and a bunch of picks for Jalen.
And if you do that, we have Lily.
We've we got something, Greg, we do now you do sacrifice eight next year, but maybe it's worth it if you can get a star player like Jalen Brown at the age of twenty eight.
You know, Spence. The other part of this is we really don't know the financial mentality of the new ownership of the Celtics. They went for six point one and the Lakers just went for ten. The value of who the Lakers and the name brand ten billion, pardon me, and six point one billion. I wonder what the ownership if they're gonna try. Iuld think if you're gonna take the Celtics and the Lakers, you've got to play ball, right or why even purchase such a an iconic franchise.
But I'm anxious to see, you know what, money still is the bottom line, and they don't to get into the second apron, So that is intriguing. If they would dump a salary of Jalen Brown to try to break it to the Studs while Tatum recovers and then reset their reset probably isn't anything close anywhere near close to what the Jazz would be faced with because free agency and players would flock to Boston because of just who
they are. But man, I say, you bring up an interesting conversation, and you know what, We're gonna get some answers here in the next two to four hours.
All right, Butler, before I set you loose, let's tap into that sharp sharp in the mature, you know, just sixth sense of yours. I want the Craig Bowler, Jack gut, what is it? What does it tell you? What is your sixth sense to tell you your north star?
Tell you?
Do they drafted five and twenty one? Or do we see some movement?
I think we go five and fifteen. That's just me. I think there's I think Austin Age may make an impact in this draft tonight. I know it won't be Cooper Flag at number five. I can that's my insight. There. Here's just something to think about, Spence. I want to get your quick thought. I know you got to go. But does Canipple Does he disrupt the top five pick by any chance? Is he a domino that could change things even for the Jazz?
Yeah?
I mean I like him. I just don't know, like it feels like a player like Ace Bailey has more ceiling potential. I think Colin, I think con excuse me, I think conk Nipple is going to be like a good solid ten to twelve year NBA vet and a pro who can shoot it and guard on the perimeter. But I just like and maybe he ends up being
a steadier piece than Ace Bailey. But if Ace was able to reach his potential, it feels like he has more like maybe he can be one of those dudes potential because of all the intoxicating traits he has and measurements. But Cannipple, to me, is more of a safe pick for a team that's actually ready to win. The Jazz needs star power and I'm not sure Canipple has star power.
Yeah, yeah, no, He's kind of a toolbox guy. I get it. The only reason I bring that up is obviously, Will Coach played a duke alongside Flag. You know, he got so much hype and he's done well in workouts. Ace Bailey refused to work out. That just personally doesn't set well with me, but I get how it works today. You know, you saw me play. You know who I am,
and he does have freakish measures of six'. Eight you know The Trey johnson young man From, texas a little smaller but still you, know a, great a great, athlete and you know the kid From Rutgers. ACE i, Mean i've written down a couple of you, know names that they respond or at least compare him, to And Michael Porter junior was one THAT i ran. ACROSS i thought that was kind of intriguing as. Well and then there was an outside Chance Jeremiah fears may maybe a jazz
selection as. Well SO i think there's two or three names that are real potential unless something drops early and then that first domino drops and it could, change you, know the whole. Complexity but that's why we go through this every. Summer AND i, think, again this is one of the biggest biggest drafts of Jazz i've, had if not the, biggest especially With austin three weeks into a new job at The helm in the war room tonight making some very big decisions for this. Franchise, bowler you're the.
Man enjoy the. Night we'll get you back on soon to break it. Down thank, you.
Sir all, Right, bell take care and have a good.
Night you do the, Same The Great Craig, Bowler JACK Tv voice of The Utah. Jazz we are about one hour and thirty minutes away from our live coverage of the twenty twenty FIVE Nba, draft, Myself Gordy, Chaser Richard. Smith we're gonna have a good time, tonight so stay. Tuned we'll catch a. Break but before we do, that we welcome In ryan from The dish. Professionals give him a call at eight oh one four two Four dish and save a bunch of money on a bunch of different. Things what's going, on Ron?
Ben thanks so? Much as, always you, know great opportunities right now with the offers we have With, dish it's never been.
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