Next on the Drive, Tim McMahon dropping dimes for your NBA Daily assists.
Van McMahon, Van McMahan batted old Land, Texas flood as tickets, mud He's Man, Van McMahon, Van McMahon the man Man.
The Utah Jazz Summer League team back at action tonight, taking on.
The Memphis Quizz Leaves. The debut of young As.
Bailey happened on Saturday night at the John M. Huntsman Center, and the Jazz also made a trade today. Our next guest was in town, And did you lose my cell phone.
Or did I just miss the call?
Tim, because I know you never come into town without asking me to hang out.
Oh no, I don't know. I had it and I school to it and said, no, I really don't want to see him. So that was that.
Okay, well that's that's really rude. But anyway, how was your truncated Salt Lake City experience?
It was quick, you know, and late on what was that Friday, and out very early on Sundays. There wasn't a whole lot of hanging out, but it was good to see a couple of Summer League games, see a lot of people at those games. You know, chit chat with a variety of folks, you know, the Jazz, from the Jazz and some other organizations. And see East Bailey's debut in the Jazz uniform. Not that it was too spectacular of a show, but the good news is it
was made. And you know, he seems like he is just fine with being a member of the Utah Jazz. He's working hard and then you know, we'll see what that hard work produces.
Wonder because look when it comes to Summer League production and we will talk about the game. It's just like I was a PR intern in ninety seven and watch Greg Gaster tag out played Tim Duncan. This stuff oftentimes means nothing, you know, but I want wonder if you could maybe share some of the conversations illuminate us a little bit as you spoke to people with Utah Jazz about what I perceived to be the noise surrounding whether or not he's originally wanted to be here, or his
reps or whatever. It was, like, can you shed some light on what people in the organization have to say about how the process has been so far.
You know, listen, it was a messy process. I think probably, well not probably certainly unnecessarily so, but again, you know, the Jazz decided to pick him because they had him number one player on the board at the time. They really need to be able to take swings at potential stars when they have a chance to do that. I think things could and should have been a lot smoother in the couple of days after the draft. But he
showed up when he was supposed to show up. You know, he gets off the plane, he wants to get right to the gym. You know, got to the gym, got some more kid. Everything I've heard about his approach since he's been there has been positive. You know, the kids working hard. So I think since he's gotten there, they've been pleased with you know, his approach, with what they've
seen from him, with his attitude. You know, I think that this is an eighteen year old kid who the good news is he will listen, and he will listen, and he will you know, he will do what the adults in his life thinks the right thing for him to do. And then we can get into who those adults are. And you know what, some of that advice has been not great. But I again, I think the good news here is he's going to be a coachable kid.
So and that leads us to the debut.
And again like, and I'm sure you have so many summer league anecdotes about this player who was awesome and didn't turn out to be much in the league, or this player who struggled and turned out to be incredible in the NBA. So I'm not making too much, nor would I ever about what you saw for ACEP through your own prism. What were your takeaways? And then in talking to people, how do you think the organization feel like? It feels like he is holding up so far?
I mean, listen, maybe I'm not going to sit here and act like there was some kind of job dropping debut. I am going to coption against overreacting to a rough shooting night and a summer league opener. I'll remind you of the much anticipated Victor Woman Ya'm a Vegas summer league opener when I forgot was his exact shooting line was, but it was worse than three or thirteen. I think that guy's turned out to be a pretty good player
for the San Antonio Spurs. But you know, honestly, the thing that I was getting, like I talked to Will hardy for a little bit, and will you know the first thing a point and I was, look, you see the link. You see the athleticism. You see his willingness to to rebound and rebound traffic. You see his ability to close big distances defensively. Then you know the fact that he's eager to do that kind of working. His thing was that stuff hasn't talked about enough. Uh, the
offense will come. You know, the kids in a new system, new people around them. You know, four days of tough practices, they're not worried about the three or thirteen. They like the rest of the stuff that they saw. Now, it was interesting. He was bench or you know where you can say he was. He was on the bench, whether he want to say bench or not for the bad sjority of crunch time. And I'm not watching him because you know, obviously there's a lot of people who are
there to see him. And you know this is he's hyped. And he was like, you know, supposed to be a pop three pick and DJ Edge comes out there on the other side, you know, getting twenty seven shots up and playing all those clutch minutes for the seventy six ers with the ball in his hands. Some watching them like is he can pout? He was standing up Jennifers teammates engaged in the game, and they put him in for the last defense possession and he grabbed the biggest
rebound of the game in traffic. So little things like that I saw to be you know, encouraging signs. You know, I don't I think he's going to score some points in the workie, I don't think it's gonna be very efficient. I think there's gonna be a lot of work to do there. But that's fine. They're hoping through four five, you know, six eight years from now he can be a primary score on a good team, and there's a lot of time to grow and develop from now till then.
I mean, look, obviously around here we're very intrigued about Ace and these young players.
But VJ Edgecomb my goodness.
I mean, I think it was easy to see that athletically he'd belong, but I don't know that I And again we're going to caution everybody. This is one summer league game, but pretty impressive. What your court side, what were your takeaways watching Edgecumb.
Yeah, it's the first time I've seen him live. I don't watch a much college basketball, just be honest with you. But I had seen him, uh play for the Bahamas national team Christa Marco, an assistant from the Warriors as the head coach that team and as a buddy of mine, So I was hoping that they were going to qualify for the Olympics. They came up a win short. But you know, that's last summer where obviously he's playing against men, right He's he's playing against pros, some NBA, some overseas.
He's playing on a team that has Eric Gordon, Buddy heel Deandred and like you know, established NBA players, And there were times in those games where he was the best player on the floor. There were times in those games where you know, there is crunch time situations and he had the ball in his hands. So I wasn't I wasn't necessarily surprised to see uh, you know, to
see what he did in the first Summer League game. Obviously, the spacing's much different in the NBA than it is in college, where you know, it was not the best year for him a band it from an efficiency standpoint, But if you're just talking about athleticism, I mean, he can Cook. He's got incredible acceleration, obviously unbelievable leap and ability. I mean even by NBA standards, he's an elite athlete.
We'll see if the long range shooting comes along. You know that that's the biggest hole in his game right now. But man, he can get the spots and he can he can elevate over people, that's for sure.
Jazz also made a draft night move to move up a couple of spots to draft Wall Clayton Junior, who a lot of people I thought Brad Stevens line was funny when he heard the news. He said, I could have told you Austin was going to trade up for him two years ago.
Right, you know, same deal one summer league game.
But because you're the guy asked this, because you have the relationships, what are some of the pieces of feedback the organization has early on about this young man while Clayton Junior, Yeah.
They're they're excited about him, and they're about uh, you know, his toughness, the fact that he comes in he's an adult, right, A fat he's a kid. War Clayton Junior comes in, he's an adult. He's a four year guy in college you know, he won in college and he really his path could not be much more different from Ace Faile. He's in the sense that he wasn't a big time recruit. He went to Siena for a couple of years, came
off the benches first year there. It's just, you know, he went through the whole Rick Patino experience of you know, getting coached for transfer to Florida, helped Florida win a national championship, and obviously, you know they like him. You see what they gave up to move up a few spots to get him, and then the trade for Colin Sexton.
I mean, we can sit and scratch our heads as to why the Jazz had to include a second round pick, But the idea there is, hey, they've got three young guards and those guys are going to get the playing time at those spots here. He's going to have a role immediately come in the league and it's going to be very interesting. I wouldn't be shocked if he's starting sooner than later. I think that's going to be an open competition going to the training camp.
So one of the things that I discussed and you touched on this a little bit with the answer that you gave after the question concerning Ace is if you're a fan of a team, well, hey, it's not great that half your regular rotation is playing in summer League.
But we know the deal with the Jazz.
But really what you want him, as you know, are the Bryce center Baz, the Isaiah Colliers, the Kyle Philipowski's, the Cody Williams. The veterans looking like, uh maybe almost they're annoyed to even be there, but showing that they're willing to step up and be the best players on the floor. So just give me some quick takeaways from the Jazz veteran pieces.
Well, none of those guys have done enough to be annoyed to play in summer League. Sure, sure, you know, you know you start there. I want to see flashes from Cody Williams, and I don't you know, that's just being realistic there. He was also on the bench during plunch time the other day against the six Ers. I I can't say that I can send him out to be a great sign since the Bah. Honesty, man, if you're a third year guy and you're not just dominating
the summer League, I got some concerns there. He was Okay, most of the fit memories when he threw behind the back path that landed in like the third row where the seats are elevated there at the Huntsman Center. Yeah know, I'm I don't know, man, I don't know if he's a guy who's going to be able to carve out a solid NBA career, I would say he's still got a lot of work to do. I think Philipowski was certainly the most impressive of those guys. You know, he
definitely has some offensive skill, some offensives ability. I think that the questionaire is how is he going to be able to hold up defensively? And does he need to be able to play the five to be able to have an advantage offensively? But you know, I think he showed enough in that game to add a little bit of intrigue.
I would say, all right, and now we move over to the latest trade the Jazz have made, tim and ultimately my guess is Kevin Love will be bought out. I don't know about Kyle Anderson, but potentially, and maybe this is just a second round pick, did you get for John Collins in addition to some financial relief and Bobby Martch did a great job as he always does
about kind of educating us there. But Clippers Jazz Heat agrees to a trade where Norman Powell's a Heat, John Collins as a Clipper, and Kevin Love, Kyle Anderson and a Clipper second round pick come the Utah. So unpack this your take on the trade and what do you think comes next?
Well, I think that this really accomplished a few things for the Jazz. Number One, they got worse, Like, let's just be honest, and that's part of the goal. Going to tank games. It's just not going to be good, and they're going to play a lot of young guys in a grown man's league and it's going to be a tough lead. But you know, you hope to see some development. But obviously, you know, getting off all of
their veteran guys was a priority. So they got worse, they got significantly cheaper, and then they did create a twenty six point six million dollar trade exception, which you know, that's that's an asset in and of itself. Obviously you've got a year to use it. I would be surprised if that's something that they're using, uh during the season, unless you know, I guess you never know, maybe that maybe there's a situation where there's significant draft capital attached
or or whatever the case may be. But you know that that's a tool, that's a roster building tool, and probably the most significant thing that they got in this trade, aside from you know, again just moving off Collins and open up minutes for young guys and not having to worry about John Collins accidentally winning some games for him like he did last year. You know, Colins sat out forty two games. Last year, he played forty games. Twelve of their seventeen wins came to Collins on the floor. Yep,
he was He was good last year. He was honest. He was too good for the Jazz And I think he's a nice little piece for the Clippers. I anticipate they'll play him a lot with Lopez in their second unit, and you know, he gives them a you know, he can be a lob guy. He can be a pick and roll lob guy while Lopez spaces and Lopez obviously can cover up some mccollins deficiency on the defensive ends.
I think that's a it's a nice move for the Clippers, given that you know, it was pretty clear that they came to the conclusions they were going to move off of Norman Collins instead of committing to him long term.
So last Jazz thing, then we'll move on. I mean, Tim, as you know last year though, walking line from the front office and Will Hardy himself, they use this moniker over and over. Pups can't raise pups, and that's why they bring in Patty Mills, and that's why they bring in Drew you Banks, and they keep Colin Sexted. You know, Colin Section, Jordan Clarkson and obviously John Collins. Well, pups
are very much raising pups. Now, So big picture, now that the dust is settled, what do you think this season will look like for Jazz fans here in Soliz.
Well, and you know, we'll see if Kyle Anderson's on the roster. He definitely a bet who has had some real significant experience in the league, is a vocal guy, and you know, I don't know how thrilled he would be to be in next situation. I do think he'd be a good influence on the younger guys on the roster, But I mean, hey, we all understand, like this is not going to be a really fun year for Jazz fans.
They need to have another swing high in the lottery next year, especially with that pick being top eight protected that they owe Oklahoma City. And you know, I think this year like they're not going to have to try to lose games, Like look at the Western Conference, it's loaded. It's gonna be a tough year. But I think so
that's double take care of itself. And then you're really you're just looking for growth and development and trying to figure out which of these guys are worth continued to invest in, and which of these guys, you know, are you gonna move on from sooner than later.
I actually had one more thing for you, Tim, because you're the one that reported this. Our buddy Andy Larson followed up on it. And I don't know what Omar Cooper is. I don't know that he's an agent. I don't know if he's a friend. I don't know if
he's an advisor. But according to what you were able to uncover, his son, Omar Cooper Junior was hired to be a guest coach, something that I didn't even know was a thing, and someone at the League office raised some concerns and so this young man was has to find something else to do with his time.
Am I understanding this correctly?
Hired is not the word I would use because it was an unpaid position. But he was going to serve as a guest coach during Summer League, which you know, I think the League office looked at as a favor to whatever you want to call Omar Cooper Senior. I'm not going to refer to him as he refers to himself, I believe as an agent. I'm not going to do that because my understanding is he does not have his certification, so he can't be an agent us your certifide, at
least an NBA agent. But you know, Omar Cooper Jr. Just wrapped up his career at McNee State. My understanding is he's going to be on North Carolina State's coaching staff with Will Wade, the coach who went from McNeice to North Carolina State. You know, But the league officers looked at this, and I don't know what the exact conversation was, but basically said, hey, this is no fishy, it looks funny. We'd rather you not do this. And the Jazz designed to, you know, call off the plan fair.
Enough, fair enough, all right, big picture style as we you know, look, it's still only July.
Plenty of movement could happen.
I don't think Donovan was traded until September or something, maybe late August. So I'm not saying it's done done, but it feels like most of the major moves have been completed. So the landscape of the Western Conference tim and will end on this before set you loose. It still clearly is Oklahoma City, but a lot of teams are going to be a lot better.
I think Dallas is intriguing Denver.
You know, I could keep going, but who do you think really has improved and can at least exist in the space where Oklahoma City clearly still is the team that's going to be expected to dominate once again.
I don't think there's any question that the Rockets of the team that's really in terms of containders, has improved the most this offseason. And then they had a glaring void for a go to guy to bring in Kevin Durant, who at his age is still one of the best scores in the league. You know, they bring in during Finnish Smith to kind of replace Dyllan Brooks is a tough better three, not quite as good the guy Capella. Just to beef up there. Their center rotation. They want
to play dual bigs a lot. They're big, they're tough, they're nasty, they're physical, they rebound the all out the ball, and now they've got a guy they can give it to when they really need a bucket. To me, they are the toughest challenger Dallas. You know, I'm not going to sit here and predict whether Kyrie is going to be able to be himself when he wins and if he comes back this season, obviously, if he can do that,
they've got a chance to be a real threat. I do believe Valentiunis is going to play for the Nuggets this season despite all this stuff going on with the Greek team. I think Denver, with him bringing Bruce Brown back, signing Tim Mardaway junior, they've got the best bench they've had in the Joker era. That makes them a threat. I also really like Cam Johnson as a as a piece there, and I'll tell you look out for the Clippers, like don't don't write the Clippers off. They pushed the
Nuggets to seven games in the first round. Kawhi is healthy now. Uh. You know, James Harden proved that that he can still be a driving force and winning last year. I kind of the way the wind is blowing. I think Prady Dealer's up there after his buyout. That's not a done deal, but that would be my best guess at this point. And you know, and if he's a fourth option on a bargain deal, bucket getter, third fourth option,
you know, he's a pretty good player. They're bringing Brook Lopez like a good defense got better with him backing up Zubos. I think the Clippers are quiet, like quietly. I think the Clippers are one of the teams that needs to be considered as a real challenger to Okay, see, let.
Me take advantage of this real quick and ask you what you're hearing that the future may hold for one of our local legends, Dame Lillard. A lot of conversations. Apparently he's going to rehab home in Portland. But are you hearing is he interested in going home or talking Warriors stocking Lakers?
What do you think the future holds for Dan?
You know what I anticipate happening there is that he's going to rehab at home for a while and then you know, we'll see if he feels like he can come back this season. If he does, like he needs to sign by March first for a team, there'll be a lot of interest in him. You know, obviously we're talking about at the minimum at that point, but he's got one hundred and thirteen million guaranteed coming from the
Bucks over the next couple of years. He can play for the minimum, and you know, if it's one of those situations, my guess it would probably be a one plus one type of deal, probably the team option, and you know, he can sit there and choose, you know what interest to contender he thinks he's the best fit for.
But hey, I could certainly imagine him like saying, hey, I think and come back this season and hopefully give you fifteen to twenty minutes a game off the bench, come playoff time, and a you know, a high score, an ins and offense six man type of role. I could see that happening for a variety of teams. It'd be pretty cool though, if it was in the Bay Area that he's coming off the bench behind Steph for his hometown team, Like, that's something I could definitely see happen.
And by the way, one of the one of the bigger dominoes that hadn't fallen yet. I'm not sure why, but I think Al Horford ends up with the Warriors, and you know, if he does, that's like, that's a pretty significant addition for Golden State.