Richard Smith In-Studio on NBA Draft, Round 1, Jazz Pick Bailey/Clayton Jr. + more

the early evenings, and man, it's bright out. The sun's out. And then I realized, oh, yeah, it's late spring, early summer. And I usually never saw the sun because we're always hiding in the theater at the Jazz practice facility, watching film twelve hours a day. Yeah, you know, leading up to the draft. So but this is this this time of year, you just kind of get energized for all the stuff that's going on and all the the decisions that have made, some of them that are calculated, and

some of them are on the fly. And that's what makes an exciting time.

Murray guy, all right, So Subitty. One of the things I like about having you in studio is you have this front office perspective and you can help us understand whether or not it means anything that everybody seems to be applauding what the Jazz did last night. Now, Ace Bailey is eighteen years old, and so he has a marathon between now and whatever it looks like when he is fully baked.

five for the Jazz to select. And all of the reports Smitty are literally all of them. If you go and read anything from The Athletic or ESPN, if you go listen to any of these post draft pods, they're all saying the same thing.

which you should. You know, that's that's the kind of stuff you want to do when you have an eighteen or nineteen year old who is you know, reacclimating to a new part next part of their life and a new part of the country that they're not familiar with. He's a he's a young kid. He's a He's an exciting type player. What's gonna be interesting is, uh, is how he how he comes into the fold of what they're trying to do and what his his mindset is.

You Know, one of the things I like about him is that he really has a versatile game and he can really do a lot of different things. He's a switchable guy defensively, you know, he can create shots on the offense. He's the kind of player the Jazz need on their roster, meaning you know, his length, his agility, as his athleticism, all those things fit right into the box that they need to fill.

feeling a little bit of his oats. Maybe he thought he was bigger than the program, you know, just his overall mindset and one of the questions I would have going into it. Of course, I'm sure the Jazz looked into all these things and you know, dotted the i's and crossed the t's on all this kind of stuff. But you know, I hope he's he's a team oriented guy and he wants to do what he can do

to help the group to succeed. If he comes in and he's trying to be, you know, a major guy right off the bat and wants to be all rookie and wants to be you know, make the All Star team and all these things or whatever, he's more worried about his own game and what he produces on the floor for himself, then that would be a concern that I would have in terms of having him as part

of what the group is trying to accomplish. But I'm sure the Jazz front office group, you know, look did all those things, and they they researched them, and and you know, feel comfortable that he was the guy that they they wanted to incorporate into into what they're trying to build.

and say, so, what what what's next? In the process?

remember one year I probably shouldn't story, we're there. He took us down, man took me. I remember one time, you know, the year we drafted Coasta Koufas from Ohio State. It was a similar scenario. They Coasta did not come in to work out, We did not interview him. We thought he was going to go before us in the draft. He only played one year at Ohio State and UH and he fell to us, and we we were kind of we had him on our board, but we didn't We really didn't expect him to be there, so we

hadn't kind of were in that that mindset. Anyway, we ended up taking him because he he we think he's the best player. At the time he comes in, we do this this little meet and Greek thing. We have him on stage, we have a few questions and and you know, he's of of a Greek heritage. You know, his mother is a u was a middle school principal in UH in the Dayton, Ohio area, and that's where he grew up. But Coasta is very Greek looking like

he looks like he just came over from Athens or something. Right, And we had a season ticket holding older gentleman, you know, might have been in his eighties or something. He was excited to come and be part of this thing. And and you know, we said, are there any questions, and question over here, question over there. Then this gentleman raises his hand and and say, yes, sir, you have a question for a coaster. He goes, yes, how did you learn to speak such good English? And he goes such

good English? He goes, yes, you know, I'm very fascinated with your Greek heritage and that you that you speak such clear English. And he he was kind of dumbfounded, you know, obviously, and the gentleman, of course, didn't know

of his background. You know that he grew up in Ohio, you know, and uh, and the whole coaster kind of did as much as he could to smooth it over to say, well, you know, I went to good schools and my mom is an educator and in the middle school in Ohio, and uh, I went to a very

good high school and and uhy're Ohio State. And so I'm, uh, you know, I think it's I think that's part of my overall uh, you know, he and he's trying to think of away, how do I say this, Yeah, yeah, that I'm as much of an American as you are, like and uh, and so that was funny, you know, but you know, but we've had a lot of a lot of interactions like that over the years, where uh, players come in and they try and meet the uh the season ticket holder base or maybe the VIP group

or something like that. I don't know what the Jazz have planned in that regard, you know, with these new guys, or if they're doing anything in that way, but but they'll certainly get them quickly acclimated the next three four, five days, because they'll have him in here by the middle of next week and getting getting they're group ready for a summer league, because the Jazz do their summer league here that this year is gonna be up in

the Huntsman Center because of the renovations at the Delta Center. So the Jazz Summer League is gonna be at the Huntsman Center the week of right after July fourth, next week is so, so they're doing it then and then right from there they always go right down to Vegas and do the Vegas Summer League. So those guys will be getting in uh five, six seven games within like

a ten day span, you know. So, and and there's always there's always variants and and how much guys play in the games or how and when they decide they're gonna hold them out or they're gonna play them on Tuesday and not on Wednesday, or they're only gonna play them ten minutes today and twenty minutes tomorrow, and and all that stuff gets you know, a little, a little goofy in my opinion, because they just try to over

overwork it and overthink the process. But but they'll those guys will be in here quickly in the next several days, and they'll be getting acclimated to the group, and Bart Taylor and his group and the person outside will be finalizing the people that they want to bring in for the summer League team. They'll have some of the guys from the team last year that will play in the

Summer League. And then, depending on how the draft goes tonight, if they do anything else different, they'll be on the phones. As soon as the draft ends tonight, they'll they'll be on the phones with agents of guys who didn't get drafted to say, Hey, we like your guy and we really thought about taking him at fifty three, which youzz have tonight. We didn't get take him at fifty three, but we really like him enough to want to bring him into Summer League and take a close up look

at him. Can we get him in here? And then that's a negotiation thing with the agents. And so the agent says, well, I got the Lakers want them, and Phoenix wants them, and so let me see, you know whatever. And so Bart Taylor and his group are on the phone with agents just going down their lists boom boom boom the players they want to try and get in for the summer league program. And sometimes they get a guy for Vegas, but they don't get a guy for

Salt Lake or vice versa. They say, hey, why don't you give him give him to us for the Salt Lake games and then have him go play for the Lakers in the Vegas games, okay, And and the agent will go, yeah, okay, we can do that, you know.

So there's a lot of you know, jockeying around and stuff and and and because it's really not obviously about the the games themselves in the two summer leagues, it's about getting a chance to see those players on the floor against like competition, to be able to see how they do and how they fare against that, and then you make those kind of judgments and then you go from there in terms of possibly inviting non drafted guys into your your camp in the fall or even into

uh other workouts later in the summer open gym type things. Uh, we can get more more bites at the apples, so to speak, about trying to fill in some holes on your roster.

think you were the best player available. We think you fit in here. You're going to get to know our head coach, who we like a lot. You're gonna get to know our developmental program. You're going to get to know the community. You're going to get to know the organization what is that mindset where, Okay, we have seven years to sell you on us. You know, if the reports are true that this kid does not want to be here, and Austin just bucked that and said we're doing it anyway, what's the mindset?

you know you know what. You know, this is a job. This is a profession. So you know, you come in and let's go. We're going to work. I don't care. I don't care. You don't want to be you know you want to be here, you don't want to be here. It doesn't matter you want to play in the NBA. It's it's it's the same as if you're in some other corporation. Spence, you go to Harvard NBA school and you come out and you you accept a job with uh, you know, I'm obeying company. You know your dad was

with them a long time ago, you know. But that's a big firm. He could be working in Boston, or they could say, hey, we want you to work in the Chicago office now for the next two years, or we want you to work in the la office. Whatever it is. So the NBA is is a big corporation. And when you come into this this company and you want to work for this company, then you work where the company asks you to go to work. Okay, it's it's a simple process. You know, you don't want to

do that. You can go play in Europe, you can go play in Australia. We you know, we have no holds on you, you know, but if you want to play in the NBA, we're assigning you to the Salt Lake office. Is the process? Yeah, And so you know it's it's as simple as that. You know. Again, with Jerry Sloan, with Kevin O'Connor, with Dennis Lindsay. You know, these are all guys who you know are straight up guys who would just say, hey, we're all here to

get the job done the best we can. You know, we don't have time for this kind of you know, nonsense, whether a guy's feelings are hurt today or you know, or you know, whatever it is. So that's one thing that I would caution against, you know, whatever is the sentiment at the moment. And of course this is not even twenty four hours after the draft has taken place, and and some of this may be misread as well.

I don't know. These are all things we hear third and fourth hand, So I don't know how to how to put any weight on any of this kind of stuff. I would just take it one day at a time to see how the kid is when he comes in and whatnot. You know, but if you know, if he's coming in with the right attitude and the right approach, this is great. Let's go to work. You know, we can get a lot of stuff done. And if there's

a problem in that regard, then my my impression. And again don't know him very well, but you know, Will Hardy and Danny Ainge I know really well in that regard. You know, the kind of guys that sit a guy down and go, Hey says what the deal is. Okay, let's go. You know, we don't have time for this that kind of thing. It's a job. And in the NBA, the way the CBA is, if you draft a guy and you like him and he's your guy, you really think he can do something and you can develop him

into something. The Jazz in this case would have control over the player for a minimum of seven years based on his four year rookie deal and then the restricted free agent process after that. If you're having problems with the player along the way, he's not working out the way you want, you know, he's too much work. You know, it's you know, yeah, he's got talent, but his attitude is way over here and we can't seem to get it in line, and you know, it's too much heavy lifting.

Then there are things you can do in terms obviously, in terms of trades or even you know, letting guys go if if you just want to cut your losses and move on, you know, I mean, so there's all all those things at play. I'm sure that Austin Ainge and making this decision, made the decision based on the player he thought had the best talent could could add

the most to the jazz group. And also I'm sure that he had he had looked into all the things in his background about what kind of guy he is, how he was at Rutgers, how the coaches liked him, you know what, the what the trainers thought of behind the scenes, working with him every day, all those kinds

of things. And I don't think he would, uh, you know, throw a lot of a lot of his or early weight if you will, and get it, being new on the job to selecting a guy who he thought, really, you know, was was going to be wishy washy in terms of is this going to work out? In that I really think that he would have made the decision unless he's pretty confident that, you know this, we can make this work.

twelve in conference play, they were fifteen and seventeen. Overall, they lost to Kennesaw State with two of the top really three prospects of the time and ended up two of the top five NBA prospects on their roster at a time. How do you explain that and is that anything that's concerning as you go through your.

winning record and their performances were uneven. Both Harper and Bailey, you know, played well enough that you know, obviously the you know, teams still regarded them very highly in terms of potential pro prospects. But they but they they weren't consistent all year long. Uh, they didn't they didn't play in some of the games that you think, uh, you know, they they should have a you know, not easy time,

but should win this game against an inferior opponent. And they had sometimes lackluster performances, maybe because their head wasn't in it that night, or they they thought this is gonna be a you know whatever. But that plays into you know, what kind of mentality they have. What what do they bring to the court every night? Uh? Did they come to just play? You know at the times when they want to play? And when they don't, you know, they just kind of shrug it off. Yeah, it doesn't matter.

I'm out of here after the year anyway. You know, those are things you don't really know, uh, but guys behind the scenes would have a feel for that. So that's why when you're doing all your your homeworking background, you're not just talking to the coaches because a lot of times the coaches are gonna sell you a bill a bill of goods unless you have a personal relationship

with with them. If it's just a professional one where they know who you are, but you don't really know each other on a personal level, they're gonna try and sell you on a kid because they're trying to improve their program. Right. So the guy from Rutgers today is calling prospects, you know that he's recruiting, saying, hey, you see you come to Rutgers and you can be one of the you know, one of the top five picks

in the draft, you know that kind of thing. What you who you try and talk to, or the people behind the scenes, the athletic trainers, maybe the student managers who work there who are the same age as the players, who might be in the class with the players, who can tell you, hey, this is how this guy is when he's not in the limelight, when the when the

spotlight isn't on him. You try and talk to opposing coaches who more than likely had recruited those kids who now playing against them, but also have a different perspective on who they are, not just as players, but also as people because they may have been, you know, spending a few years trying to recruit them as well. So you try and get a hold of those people to see, hey,

what what's the real deal with this kid? You know, and stuff and and a lot of times you get a lot more on the on the spot answers when you can get to people like that, you know, we I know, sometimes we went so far as to having some of our staff spend two or three days on a college campus, uh, you know, investigating looking at certain players and and going around to everybody. They could figure out, you know, who that player would have interacted with on

a regular basis. Was was it the resident advisor who lived on their dorm floor with them? Was it was it the the the residence hall manager or the director

who ran the place. Whether it was you know, people who were in the the advising department, Uh, someone who was you know, one of their teachers, any anybody like that that they could give you a feel for who they were away from the line, and those things really carry, at least with us, they used to carry a lot of weight because that told you what the person was really like when they were out of the limelight of playing basketball.

will never play in the NBA. That comes your way in just a little bit, but Smitty is in studio.

move up three spots. However, as you said last night, if you think that's the guy, if you think you've got the guy, go get the guy, right.

going to make the assumption. And I don't know because I'm not in the room, but they that they had targeted Walter Clayton as a guy they really liked that

they thought might get to them at twenty one. What you do when you're when you're waiting on your pick, when the picks are starting to unfold and you're getting to fourteen fifteen sixteen, you're making phone calls to the teams either in front of you or the or the guys you know around the league that are locked in on what's happening on the spot, to see, Hey, who who are the guys in front of us gonna take? Who are they gonna you know, now, it may be

someone you're very good friends with. It may be a guy that you're really good friends with on another team, and you can call them say, hey, dude, who you guys taking and we're gonna take the Jones kid Okay, okay, thanks, and you know, and then you're you're you're jocking around behind the scenes trying to get all your ducks lined up.

They may have made those calls and in the process found out that one of the teams in front of them at nineteen or twenty had an interest in Clayton or we're going to take him, and so they probably and again this is just this is just an assumption or a guess on my part that they got to that information and they said, we like Clayton enough, we got to jump over a couple teams to get to him.

Otherwise he's not going to get to us. And so they made some a couple of quick phone calls and they got to Washington that it was at Washington, Washington at eighteen and said, hey, you know, are you interested in trading back flop it flip flipping eighteen and twenty one? And I yeah, maybe, Yeah, what do you got? You know, well, we'll get how about we throw it forty three? Yeah that's not enough for whatever? Okay, what what do you think, and that goes back and forth, and that sometimes is

literally a thirty or forty second the conversation. You know, how about throwing marketing in, We'll take marketing in and yeah, we're not doing that, Okay, okay, what about a second round pick next year or whatever? And they quickly come out come up with something that both sides agree to,

and they say, okay, we're good. Yeah, we're good. Okay, we'll do that, and and the jazz I think we're in some kind of measure of that that regard where they said we need to get from twenty one to eighteen because one of those teams nineteen nineteen or twenty either Brooklyn or Miami might take him, and that that

would be my guess. And so they probably looked at it and said, we gotta we gotta get above those guys because one of those teams, we've heard or we understand like him, and he's not going to get to us, okay. And so that's why you do that deal. And if you like the kid enough and you think he's a guy that you really want to bring into your group, and you think it's worth it, that's why you have that stuff in the bank. That's literally what five years

from now, six years from now. That's why you have it, because we don't even know if we're going to be here five or six years from now. You know, we don't care. That's why we have it. If we can use that as enticement to get a deal done now for something that we're sold on, then that's what we're gonna do. And I believe there's some version of that that caused that move to be made.

hung up on trying to get him. And we were picking twenty four and we had surmised and figured out, well, he's not going to get past fifteen sixteen seven, so we have to get above fifteen somehow, And and Dennis went to work and we were working the phones and finally got you know, got to be able to do the trade on the spot at the moment, you know, with Tim Conley and the Denver Nuggets at that time, you know, again, all those things, you know, might happen

to a whole bunch differently, Spence, if just somebody makes a move in front of you, that's different than what you expect. For example, Tim Connley was hoping for Denver to get a certain player at thirteen. That player went went at ten, so he wasn't able to get the player he wanted. So now he was willing to try and do go to play and b because the guy he was interested in was no longer available. Okay, he liked Donovan Mitchell, he didn't think he was quite worth that. Okay,

that's how everybody does their own evaluations. Dennis gets him on the phone. Hey what do you think? He goes, Well, we're waiting to see if our guy is still there. Okay, can I put you on the hold? Yeah, okay, you know, and we're literally on hold for several minutes and then get back. You know what do you think? He goes, Yeah, our guy just went okay, yeah, what do you what are you thinking? And and then and boom boom boom, And a deal like that is literally done in less

than a minute, like on the phone. Uh, you know, how about this? How about that? And you know and uh and they finally agreed on something the flip flop picks and also throwing Trey Lyles, who the Jazz had drafted the year before, and uh, and Denvill liked him some and we liked him some. We still thought he could develop into a decent rotational piece. Uh. But Dennis like Donovan Mitchell enough that he thought that was worth,

you know, the gamble. And Quinn Snyder also was in on that at that at that precise moment, you know, giving the literally thumbs up from across the table that yeah, let's let's uh, let's do that, you know, And so you know, that's how Donovan Mitchell Otherwise, Donovan Mitchell goes to I don't know, Toronto or Indiana or whatever a few picks later, and you know, and history is rewritten. But that's that's sometimes how those things come together and

how quickly they can. They can work in your favor, or they can fall apart and not occur because you know, you don't get a trade done with Washington because they change their mind or you're not offering them enough, so they say, now we're just gonna, you know, roll with what we got. And then they get to number twenty and and what you're saying Miami takes Walter Clayton. We missed by one guy, yeah, son of Now now the Jazz have to go with another guy. So however that

would roll. We we had that a lot of years ago. You know who it was, you know who involved. It was a second round pick and it was forty forty two four something like that, and we want we had zeroed in on Pat Conon. Okay, and Pat Conton went to pick before us to Portland and so and we did the old you know, you know, uh, fist on the table, slam right there, yeah, yeah, you know, and and stuff. So so those things, you know, sometimes can

happen for you and sometimes they work against you. And that's why you you have those boards in place, and that's why you have all your contingencies lined up ahead of time, so you can just read and react like you have to in in in the game of basketball and in football whatever, see what's going on and then do something different on the spot in order to make something work. And that's that's a lot of times what happens during the course of the draft. So let's bottom line this.

ends of the floor. And so that's that's his upside. That's what would be the best case scenario for him is if he if he brings those things and brings that attitude. The guys you mentioned, by the way, all those guys Porter and Lewis and Tracey mcgay. First of all, they're all bigger than this kid. So okay, So everybody had this kid at Rutgers at six' ten and they found out THE nba pre draft camp they measured. Him oh he's six seven and a.

It you, Know Ace bailey is sixth state and a Half Nike Air zoom two's you know or what, yeah, yeah, yeah, YEAH i mean BUT i don't know why they do. It it's it's the dumbest thing is it's it's it's close to this thing we mentioned yesterday about why they don't make the trades. Official at the moment teams agree to him and they, say, oh you, know you, Know utah's taking this, guy but then he's gonna trade him later or, whatever and wizards you're actually with the yeah.

Exactly so so what that IS i don't. Know but, uh but, Yeah bailey is is shorter than than people. Thought so he's gonna play and. Shoes he's gonna play basically at six.', nine okay, you know he's got a good a. Good wingspan he's going to uh if his uh he can play very well defensively because he's a. Switchable guy he's got very good agility and very, good athleticism so he. Can move so he's gonna be one Of those jaden McDaniel. Type. Guys uh he can play

very well on both ends of. The floor the downside, of him if he doesn't reach that area is gonna be that his shooting doesn't get. Consistent enough everybody says he's a very. Good shooter, you know what he Was at rutgers really was more of a. Streak shooter so he had games where he either didn't shoot it well

or didn't. Shoot enough he's not a. Consistent shooter but when he had when he's in a rhythm and he's in a flow and stuff, like that he can get his shut off because he has good mechanics and, he's long so he can shoot. Over people his efficiency was not. That great his decision making sometimes. Was questionable he's Had sometimes he also was very very suspect in his ball handling in, tight spaces, you know and so that that presented problems, at times and so, you know, but hey

we take a. Step back. He's eighteen he's got. Some skills he's got some natural basketball instincts that are very good that are good groundwork and foundation to work. Off of now the coaches, get him they get him in, the gym they start working, with them they see what his aptitude and his appetite is for working hard and trying to develop the weaknesses in, his game and that will tell us a lot about what kind of player he has a chance.

He's smooth he's like a fun player. To watch he's got. Great handles, six two twenty two. Years old the data indicates players that are drafted in that range that are that age don't. NECESSARILY stick, i mean it's a really wild exercise when you just go look at number eighteen picks, in history or how many top ten picks are even on the team that drafted them from five. Years ago like we do this Thing Where austin ainge cracks a mic, and says this is our. Dream scenario we got the

two names we wanted two. Weeks ago we identified these. Two names we walked away.

know how much more he has in the tank in terms. Of, improvement okay what he brings to the table right now is probably, you know enough to get them by uh, you know but again at h at, six two, you know he's, another, short shorter, should say backcourt guy to add to the group That the, jazz have Whether It's chante george at, six Three Or colin sexton at six two sixty Three Or jordan clarkson at. Six' four they have a lot of, smallish type guards uh that are.

In THEIR group and i just think that there they need to somehow, and some regard get bigger guys in the backcourt that can help in terms of stopping, the ball early because that's been one of their issues as. A defensive team they have a very poor defensive team the last couple of years, by all metrics uh and and and two of the things they they could never do is guard the three point because of their lack of length on the perimeter and also their transition defense,

was was horrible and so they. Couldn't stop anybody when people would be throwing the ball up over over the, mid court line they just they couldn't stop them from getting on top. Of the rim so you have to, have athletic guys but you have. To have, length that's.

Something you know the, kind of, thing for example brings into mind A Guy, like ace bailey if he's on the floor and he's one, of those guys he's the guy who can, use his, length his athleticism his agility is quickness to be able to get in front and stop. Balls and transition that's what you. Want to like They must like clayton in terms of his overall ability to, be a winner to bring a solid playmaker, on the floor someone who, plays within himself someone who makes the

right plays most. Of the, time because again they use the first round pick on a six or two guard, who's you know not overly athletic or a dynamic shooter or has some skill that's just, off the. Charts you know so so they must, really like, something you know that they think can help their group in terms, of being successful because that's that just adds another short backcourt guy. To the group they already have your. Points well taken, and you know we'll see how. This plays out and this is.

how do you think rotationally this is? GOING to, LOOK i mean i do feel like There, and AND gordy when i asked in, this last night pushed, back, AND said no i feel like there's A World Where walter clayton junior could take the starting, point guard Job just because i'm Not sold On. Keyante OR isaiah and i wonder what They Do. With colin sexton Their reports that dallas is maybe Inquiring to have colin kind of keep. The,

Ship aflow, Well kyrie's hurt we'll have to. See what happens, and you know when It Comes to ace bailey at the age of, eighteen years old does? He start over If They bring, john collins back who played well for, them last year does He?

lot of guys he wants to move on from. Whatever, that is obviously those, on unilateral decisions a lot of people weigh in on those. Kinds of things but he's the. Ultimate decision, maker you know he's gonna look at that and he's been looking at it from afar through the eyes, of his dad who's been here a, few years now and then he comes in and now he's. Part of it so he has kind of a unique perspective in a couple of ways, in that regard and so he's

gonna he's gonna reshape the roster and there's nothing. That's off Limits, because again spence as, we've said before they had the worst record. In the league they were, by most metrics the worst defensive team. In the league they, can score, okay you know but they have to there's

a lot of holes they. Have to fill and so how these two rookies will, FIT into that i think will be determined by who else they bring in, on the roster who, they shuffle out who who else they bring in either through trades or through free agent signings, in the summer whatever they decide to do to, remake the roster And then in october will have a better feel for what the, roster looks like and then what,

these two guys what their. Roles WOULD be but I would assume bailey would have as an as a number five pick and a guy the type of player they need badly, on their roster that he would have every opportunity to come in and get major, minutes right, away you know at. That three spot and Then, this kid, clayton you know may be a rotational guy coming. Off the bench but also depends who else. Is still there it depends on any kinds of Strides That the isaiah

collier kid takes during the summertime as a as. A Point Guard what keante george has done during the summer to improve him if either one of those guys is still on The, roster Come october but clayton will also have an opportunity at some, point to, show you know how he can stabilize an offense and how how he can contribute, to you know some kind of of sustainable performance and. Improvement going, Forward.