Latest / The Sean O'Connell Show / Kevin Reynolds on joining the Utah Jazz beat, Ace Bailey's immense potential, Lauri Markkanen's injury + more

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Kevin Reynolds on joining the Utah Jazz beat, Ace Bailey's immense potential, Lauri Markkanen's injury + more · The Sean O'Connell Show

• 0:07
  Speaker 1: This is the Sean O'Connell Show. You were home of
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: the best inside of your hutes. Let's get back.
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: To WOC from the Murdoch Chevrolet Studio of ESPN seven
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  Speaker 2: hundred and FM. Ke Sean O'Connell Show on ESPN seven
• 0:26
  Speaker 2: hundred and ninety two one FM.
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: Welcome to our number two.
• 0:29
  Speaker 2: Welcome in Kevin Reynolds for the first time on the
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: show as the new Utah Jazz reporter from the Salt
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: Lake Tribune.
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: Kevin, Welcome to the show. How are you?
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  Speaker 3: Thanks for having me man, Yeah, I'm good. How are
• 0:42
  Speaker 3: you good?
• 0:42
  Speaker 2: Hey? I got to ask you a question that has
• 0:44
  Speaker 2: nothing to do with basketball.
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: First, do you have a middle name? What's your middle initial.
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  Speaker 3: G G? Yeah?
• 0:52
  Speaker 1: Yeah, Okay, Kevin.
• 0:53
  Speaker 2: We can because we called Andy Larson Andy Blarson because
• 0:57
  Speaker 2: of his Twitter so maybe we'll have to you Kevin Greynolds.
• 1:02
  Speaker 3: Okay, yeah, I don't know if it works as well.
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: It doesn't work as well.
• 1:07
  Speaker 3: Andy kind of had the middle name market cornered. I'll
• 1:10
  Speaker 3: give him that, Yeah, so I'll just find my own thing.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, you're gonna you're not gonna be able to use
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  Speaker 2: that bit, unfortunately.
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  Speaker 3: I'm Yeah.
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  Speaker 2: Well, welcome to the show and congratulations. I mean, it's
• 1:21
  Speaker 2: what a cool thing. When you got the news, what
• 1:23
  Speaker 2: was your reaction.
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  Speaker 3: Just a lot of excitement. This is very new for me,
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  Speaker 3: you know. I I know, I've grown up kind of
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  Speaker 3: around college football in college basketball and covered those two
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  Speaker 3: sports pretty much my entire time as a when I
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  Speaker 3: was covering sports. And so for me, the NBA is
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  Speaker 3: all new and the Jazz is certainly gonna be all new,
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  Speaker 3: and it's going to be a learning curve. But I'm
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  Speaker 3: excited to learn something different than I've really ever been around.
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  Speaker 3: So I'm excited for that.
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  Speaker 2: Well, let's start off with a convoluted situation in the
• 1:55
  Speaker 2: NBA where the league is keeping an extra close eye
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  Speaker 2: on everything that the Utah Jazz, especially since they have
• 2:01
  Speaker 2: fined the five hundred thousand dollars for the conduct detrimental
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  Speaker 2: with tanking and whatnot, and then Lowry Marketin's injury comes
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  Speaker 2: under a certain amount of scrutiny. There was some confusion
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  Speaker 2: on the way that things were reported around that. But
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  Speaker 2: he did have the MRI, So what were the results,
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  Speaker 2: what's the prognosis?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, I think ESPN reported yesterday that the
• 2:26
  Speaker 3: right hip impingement is going to be evaluated again in
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  Speaker 3: about two weeks and that they will kind of take
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  Speaker 3: another look at it. And talking to people around around
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  Speaker 3: the Jazz and we talked to a little bit a
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  Speaker 3: little bit of the NBA, the NBA side of it too,
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  Speaker 3: and saying like maybe it was a little bit overblown
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  Speaker 3: in terms of how much the NBA is really looking
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  Speaker 3: into this right now in terms of every the standard
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  Speaker 3: protocol is for whenever somebody gets an X ray or
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  Speaker 3: an MRI that all every single image that is taking
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  Speaker 3: is sent into the league and updated into the player profile,
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  Speaker 3: and that the league can take a look at it
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  Speaker 3: if they want, can't take a look at it if
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  Speaker 3: they want. So I think that's kind of where my
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  Speaker 3: understanding is at at the moment. But definitely I think
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  Speaker 3: probably you're gonna have to do more refording and probably
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  Speaker 3: more stories on going FORWIDA. I don't know.
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  Speaker 2: So as we continue to evaluate what this Utah Jazz
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  Speaker 2: franchise is trying to do with guys like lowry marketing
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  Speaker 2: in order to protect their pick.
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  Speaker 1: And you know, there's some legitimate injuries.
• 3:30
  Speaker 2: I shouldn't say some, they're all legitimate injuries, but there's
• 3:33
  Speaker 2: been some severe injuries. Now you've got this kind of
• 3:38
  Speaker 2: gray area where your best player is going to exist
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  Speaker 2: in and where your second best player is currently existing.
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  Speaker 2: How how much do we have to as a fan
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  Speaker 2: base dial into the strategy here, and especially the relationship
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  Speaker 2: between the Utah Jazz and the NBA, because you don't
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  Speaker 2: want that to get strained ahead of an NBA draft lottery.
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  Speaker 3: Yeah. Yeah, I mean I think for the Jazz, I
• 4:02
  Speaker 3: think it's all everybody's looking towards twenty twenty six as
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  Speaker 3: the time to really compete, and I think it's important
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  Speaker 3: to keep those those main guys ready to go and
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  Speaker 3: healthy for the next year. And so I mean, I
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  Speaker 3: think obviously the core of this team is going to
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  Speaker 3: be Lowry Jared Jackson junior, you know, whoever they whether
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  Speaker 3: that's Walker Kessler as a as a third option, I'm
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  Speaker 3: not sure. We'll find out kind of what where the
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  Speaker 3: contract plays out. And then Heyante and Ace Bailey as well,
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  Speaker 3: so and then you know, if they however the end
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  Speaker 3: of the season works out, but if they can keep
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  Speaker 3: that top eight protected pick, then you add that in.
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  Speaker 3: But yeah, I think twenty twenty six is definitely going
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  Speaker 3: to be the most important part or the most important thing,
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  Speaker 3: and competing for the next couple of years when Jared
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  Speaker 3: Jackson is under contract and Larry Market is under contract.
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  Speaker 3: Kind of this this three year window, maybe four year window,
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  Speaker 3: because I think Jaron Jackson has a player option right
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  Speaker 3: for the fourth year. So yeah, I mean, listen, it's
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  Speaker 3: still something I'm learning about. So I don't have all
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  Speaker 3: the answers right now, and I'm asking just as many
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  Speaker 3: questions as everybody else because I need to find out
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  Speaker 3: the answers. I need to find out the answers too well.
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  Speaker 2: As you go through this process, which player on this
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  Speaker 2: Utah Jazz team is most intriguing for you? You got
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  Speaker 2: to learn all of them, You got to know more
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  Speaker 2: about all of them than we know right now.
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  Speaker 1: But who's the most interesting one for you right now?
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  Speaker 3: For me, it's Ace Bailey for sure, because obviously a
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  Speaker 3: really high draft pick out of Rutgers. But I just
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  Speaker 3: think the upside is so intriguing for him because of
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  Speaker 3: you've seen flashes of his ability to really impact games.
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  Speaker 3: Twenty five points against the Spurs in January, even even
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  Speaker 3: a game last night, like the first quarter, where you
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  Speaker 3: can see you can see the obvious scoring ability, and
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  Speaker 3: you can just you know, obviously there's room to grow defensively.
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  Speaker 3: Obviously it doesn't happen every night, and it's not super consistent.
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  Speaker 3: And he's a nineteen year old guy. And I talked
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  Speaker 3: to Steve Pichel Rutgers as head coach for a story
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  Speaker 3: wrote this week and kind of just asking about who
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  Speaker 3: he thought in this draft. Well, first, was the perceptions
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  Speaker 3: around Ace correct and he and he said no. And
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  Speaker 3: then the other part is he said he thinks the Ace,
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  Speaker 3: because of his age, because of his size, because of
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  Speaker 3: his scoring ability, might be the best player in this draft.
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  Speaker 3: So obviously there's a long way to go for him
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  Speaker 3: to get there, but at the same time that that
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  Speaker 3: potential has to intrigue you, and then also kind of
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  Speaker 3: seeing where that fits into the puzzle of a contending
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  Speaker 3: jazz team, because if Ace Bailey can be very, very
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  Speaker 3: good for the Jazz, think about how much size there
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  Speaker 3: is on this on like a starting five with Jared Jackson,
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  Speaker 3: Larry Market and Ace Bailey, Walker Kestler, you know, the
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  Speaker 3: TVD on him, but right like you can just imagine
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  Speaker 3: those four guys playing all together. If Ace Bailey is
• 6:45
  Speaker 3: kind of able to put this all together and kind
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  Speaker 3: of quickly. I think it's definitely an intriguing lineup.
• 6:51
  Speaker 2: What do you think the TBD, how is that deed?
• 6:55
  Speaker 2: Where's the determination with Walker Kestler's future.
• 6:59
  Speaker 3: Yeah, hard question for me to answer right now, just
• 7:02
  Speaker 3: because you know, I've not talked to Walker and I
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  Speaker 3: don't know enough really, I'll be honest about this team
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  Speaker 3: right now to give you a great answer on that.
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  Speaker 3: But you know, I've read Andy's reporting, I've read you know,
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  Speaker 3: the athletic supporting, I've read everybody else is reporting on it.
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  Speaker 3: I just don't have a ton new to give you, unfortunately,
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  Speaker 3: so I feel kind of bad, But you know, that's
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  Speaker 3: that's something I'm going to be reporting out and I
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  Speaker 3: think we're all going to be talking about as we
• 7:25
  Speaker 3: go into the summer, and hopefully i'll have a better
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  Speaker 3: answer for you then.
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  Speaker 2: In general, if they can bring that back right, we're
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  Speaker 2: talking about the three like towering people in the front court,
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  Speaker 2: and the NBA is a league that has been indexing
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  Speaker 2: further and further toward the back court in a lot
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  Speaker 2: of situations because of the three point shot and its importance.
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  Speaker 2: So that unique look could truly be that very unique
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  Speaker 2: and something that's hard for other teams to deal with
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  Speaker 2: when you look at the rest of the NBA, the
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  Speaker 2: rest of the West especially.
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  Speaker 1: Do you think it works.
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  Speaker 3: I think it definitely could. And because I do think
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  Speaker 3: you're right, I think it is so unique and we've
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  Speaker 3: seen so many teams, you know, from Steph Curry on,
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  Speaker 3: you know, just put so much, you know, emphasis on
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  Speaker 3: scoring guards and I think but I also think that
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  Speaker 3: the weird part about this, You know how big this
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  Speaker 3: roster can be, or the frontcore can be. If you
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  Speaker 3: have Ace Bailey out there, I mean, you do actually
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  Speaker 3: have some scoring with the size, and so I think
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  Speaker 3: that's what's intriguing about this. And you have Kiante continuing
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  Speaker 3: to grow and then you put him put him around
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  Speaker 3: maybe another score and then you can still get the
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  Speaker 3: benefits of a team that can shoot and can score.
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  Speaker 3: But at the same time, just improve defensively because that's
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  Speaker 3: another part where this team I think needs to to
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  Speaker 3: get better at. Obviously from where they are right now
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  Speaker 3: is on the defensive side of the ball and can
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  Speaker 3: they protect the rim? And that's where Jaren Jackson, I
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  Speaker 3: think it's really good. Walker Kesler could be really good there.
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  Speaker 3: And we've seen defensively, he's been pretty good since he
• 8:59
  Speaker 3: came in league, and so I think that that combination
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  Speaker 3: of if face Bailey can score Cante George, we've seen
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  Speaker 3: him take a huge jump this year, and add that
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  Speaker 3: in with the rim protection, then I think you can
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  Speaker 3: get a very unique and competitive, competitive lineup quickly.
• 9:17
  Speaker 2: Kevin Reynolds is our guest here on the Sean O'Connell show,
• 9:19
  Speaker 2: newly minted jazz beat writer and reporter at the Salt
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  Speaker 2: Lake Tribune. The upcoming NBA Draft lottery is obviously massively
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  Speaker 2: important for the Utah Jazz. Last year's was as well,
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  Speaker 2: and last year it was disappointment. You fell as far
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: as you could fall. Now, Ace Bailey has worked out
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  Speaker 2: quite nicely. So I don't think people feel the same
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  Speaker 2: sort of negativity toward what the pick has become that
• 9:43
  Speaker 2: they did about what the pick was when it was announced.
• 9:47
  Speaker 2: But the same possibilities are all out there with this
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  Speaker 2: upcoming draft lottery. I guess the stakes are even higher
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  Speaker 2: because you don't want to lose that pick to Oklahoma City.
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: But let's assume that they don't do that, and now
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  Speaker 2: we're talking about a loaded NBA draft where Darren Peterson
• 10:03
  Speaker 2: has been controversial for some Camboose has been incredible. Obviously,
• 10:07
  Speaker 2: Aj Debonsa has a lot of local connections, and there's
• 10:10
  Speaker 2: a ton of hope that somehow he could fall into
• 10:13
  Speaker 2: your lap for the Utah Jazz and then of course
• 10:16
  Speaker 2: you could end up four or five again.
• 10:18
  Speaker 1: And if that's the case, I.
• 10:21
  Speaker 2: Think they're still really good players available, but it's gonna
• 10:24
  Speaker 2: probably be perceived as another disappointment. How how do we
• 10:29
  Speaker 2: properly quantify or put into words the magnitude of this
• 10:34
  Speaker 2: upcoming draft lottery and whether or not the Utah Jazz
• 10:37
  Speaker 2: can make it work.
• 10:39
  Speaker 3: Yeah, I think it's I think it's critical. And I
• 10:41
  Speaker 3: mean I remember last year because I mean obviously I
• 10:44
  Speaker 3: wasn't covering the Jazz full time, but I remember talking
• 10:47
  Speaker 3: to fans and we did a story on how fans
• 10:50
  Speaker 3: were flying out to Japan in preparation to kind of,
• 10:54
  Speaker 3: you know, get some good luck for the Jazz. And
• 10:56
  Speaker 3: obviously it doesn't work out. And uh, you know, now
• 10:59
  Speaker 3: that another crack at this with the draft lottery, and
• 11:03
  Speaker 3: we will assuming they get a top eight pick, Like
• 11:05
  Speaker 3: can that be a top four pick? Can that be
• 11:07
  Speaker 3: a top three pick? I'm not sure and I do
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  Speaker 3: think a top three pick, though, or even a top
• 11:11
  Speaker 3: four pick would have changed the trajectory of like how
• 11:14
  Speaker 3: good this team can really be, because you know, I've
• 11:16
  Speaker 3: covered AJ Debondsa since he was in high school and
• 11:19
  Speaker 3: since he moved down to U Top Prep in Saint George,
• 11:22
  Speaker 3: and I mean, he's a really good basketball player, and
• 11:24
  Speaker 3: you can see how he's been used at b YU
• 11:27
  Speaker 3: and kind of how it can translate. And one of
• 11:29
  Speaker 3: the things about Kevin Young, I mean, this is something
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  Speaker 3: that I know probably better than you know the whole drafter,
• 11:35
  Speaker 3: the whole you know NBA right now, but just in
• 11:37
  Speaker 3: terms of BYU and college basketball, how Kevin Young has
• 11:40
  Speaker 3: used AJ, I think translates extremely well to the NBA.
• 11:43
  Speaker 3: And we've already seen a blueprint for it with Yegor
• 11:46
  Speaker 3: last year going to the Nets and kind of it
• 11:49
  Speaker 3: immediately translating and some of the shooting. I think also,
• 11:53
  Speaker 3: I'm not as concerned about if if you're looking at AJ,
• 11:55
  Speaker 3: because for me last year covering Yegor, it was he
• 12:00
  Speaker 3: wasn't a great shooter last year, and he becomes a
• 12:02
  Speaker 3: forty three point shooter high thirties this year for the Nets,
• 12:05
  Speaker 3: and we saw him coming to the Delta Center and
• 12:07
  Speaker 3: shoot really well and kind of found his found his
• 12:10
  Speaker 3: groove down the stretch of the NCAA tournament because of
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  Speaker 3: the way Kevin Young coaches. So with AJ, I think
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  Speaker 3: everything else is there. Maybe the shooting is a little
• 12:18
  Speaker 3: bit of a question mark right now in terms of
• 12:20
  Speaker 3: three point shooting, but I do think that translates. And
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  Speaker 3: I think, you know, he's the leading leading score of
• 12:25
  Speaker 3: the nation. So if you can get a player like that,
• 12:27
  Speaker 3: if you can get a player like Boozer, if you
• 12:29
  Speaker 3: can get a player like Darren Peterson, obviously it changes
• 12:32
  Speaker 3: everything in terms of you get an immediate, immediate contributor
• 12:36
  Speaker 3: right away, and you know, we'll see, but you know,
• 12:40
  Speaker 3: nothing's guaranteed in the draft lottery, as the as the
• 12:43
  Speaker 3: Jazz stands know quite well.
• 12:46
  Speaker 1: Is there a way outside of the draft? Right?
• 12:49
  Speaker 2: I mean, I guess trades we saw one that all
• 12:51
  Speaker 2: of us are are pretty optimistic about. But is there
• 12:55
  Speaker 2: another alternative for the Utah Jazz in your mind, just
• 12:58
  Speaker 2: as a sports fan, to develop this roster into being
• 13:02
  Speaker 2: a playoff roster, a Western Conference contender, because you have
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: not been traditionally sought after as a free agency destination necessarily,
• 13:11
  Speaker 2: but this is a new era of ownership in Salt
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: Lake City is a much different town than it was
• 13:16
  Speaker 2: in the past.
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  Speaker 1: So where do you.
• 13:19
  Speaker 2: Stand on the ability to build this roster through anything
• 13:21
  Speaker 2: besides the draft?
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  Speaker 3: Yeah, I mean, if I didn't live here and I
• 13:26
  Speaker 3: wasn't familiar with Utah, I would have, like my gut reaction,
• 13:29
  Speaker 3: would have said, yeah, it's probably difficult to attract free agents.
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  Speaker 3: But one of the things that when I was talking
• 13:35
  Speaker 3: to AJ and all those guys down in Saint George
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  Speaker 3: last year, two years ago at this point, but when
• 13:41
  Speaker 3: they came down, one of the intriguing questions I had
• 13:45
  Speaker 3: for them and what we were talking about in kind
• 13:47
  Speaker 3: of our in our meetings as a newsroom is does
• 13:51
  Speaker 3: a guy like aj de Bonza coming to BYU and
• 13:54
  Speaker 3: BYU producing NBA talent kind of changed the trajectory a
• 13:58
  Speaker 3: little bit of how free agents were, just the familiarity
• 14:01
  Speaker 3: with Utah for free agents and high profile NBA draft prospects,
• 14:04
  Speaker 3: because now you're seeing at the lower level, at least
• 14:07
  Speaker 3: you know, in college BYU and Utah like the state
• 14:11
  Speaker 3: of Utah becoming a place where high level basketball players play.
• 14:15
  Speaker 3: And also you have the Big twelve teams coming in
• 14:17
  Speaker 3: and there's a ton of NBA guys and they're playing
• 14:19
  Speaker 3: in Provo and Salt Lake, you know, every single year,
• 14:23
  Speaker 3: And so does that change. I think that's more of
• 14:25
  Speaker 3: a long term thing. I don't think that changes overnight.
• 14:27
  Speaker 3: But if Aj is a really good basketball player and
• 14:29
  Speaker 3: he plays in the NBA for a long time, which
• 14:31
  Speaker 3: I think he will, you know, and having him and
• 14:35
  Speaker 3: Yegor and whoever else Kevin Young puts into the NBA.
• 14:39
  Speaker 3: You know, Rob Wright is a really high profile prospect.
• 14:41
  Speaker 3: I don't know how good of an NBA guy he is.
• 14:43
  Speaker 3: Richie Saunders, you know, I think we'll probably play in
• 14:46
  Speaker 3: the NBA at some point. Can can that familiarity translate
• 14:51
  Speaker 3: to maybe Utah becomes more of a of a familiar
• 14:55
  Speaker 3: destination for a free agent? Listen, I don't know if
• 14:58
  Speaker 3: that's a that's a that's but it's something I've thought about.
• 15:01
  Speaker 3: It's something I've asked about, and that's something that I've
• 15:03
  Speaker 3: had conversations about. And we'll see, We'll see what happens.
• 15:06
  Speaker 3: But as BYU becomes more hopeful, high profile, particularly putting
• 15:10
  Speaker 3: out in basketball, at least, I definitely think that maybe
• 15:14
  Speaker 3: people take a little bit more notice outside of this
• 15:16
  Speaker 3: state that really haven't had to consider Utah in terms
• 15:19
  Speaker 3: of basketball at all before this.
• 15:24
  Speaker 2: Who is the gold standard for the Utah Jazz organization
• 15:28
  Speaker 2: to follow? From an NBA standpoint, You know, you can't
• 15:31
  Speaker 2: do it like the Lakers. You probably don't want to
• 15:34
  Speaker 2: do it like the Niggs. There are differences for market
• 15:37
  Speaker 2: size and things like that. If they call you and say, hey, congrats,
• 15:40
  Speaker 2: you're the new beat writer. We want you to actually
• 15:43
  Speaker 2: tell us how to run our organization. What team would
• 15:46
  Speaker 2: you say, do it like them?
• 15:49
  Speaker 3: Well, first I would say I I don't know if
• 15:52
  Speaker 3: I have enough information to say that. But at the
• 15:54
  Speaker 3: same time, and me like, I'll take the example of
• 15:58
  Speaker 3: another Beat writer who is on our staff, Jason Battakia,
• 16:01
  Speaker 3: who covers Utah. I mean, he raised about the Oklahoma
• 16:03
  Speaker 3: City Thunder where he's from. But another small market team
• 16:06
  Speaker 3: that obviously won a championship recently and uh and and
• 16:10
  Speaker 3: did it in in kind of their own unique way.
• 16:13
  Speaker 3: But you know, I'm intrigued how this this franchise is
• 16:16
  Speaker 3: going to do it because I do think to your
• 16:18
  Speaker 3: point a little bit earlier, like this roster is a
• 16:20
  Speaker 3: little bit different than we've seen, like the the emphasis
• 16:23
  Speaker 3: on how on the rim, protection of the front court,
• 16:25
  Speaker 3: and you know, having such huge size across the board
• 16:29
  Speaker 3: as on a starting lineup. That's a little bit different
• 16:33
  Speaker 3: than than you know, the Golden State Warriors for sure
• 16:35
  Speaker 3: or something else. So you know, I think you time
• 16:38
  Speaker 3: might have their own formula to it, and we'll see.
• 16:41
  Speaker 3: But my gut reaction, I guess I would tell you
• 16:44
  Speaker 3: the Oklahoma City Thunder just just because that's uh, that's
• 16:48
  Speaker 3: what Jason would tell you too.
• 16:50
  Speaker 1: For sure.
• 16:51
  Speaker 2: It's the defending champs, not a bad one to model
• 16:53
  Speaker 2: yourselves off of. That's definitely true. Kevin, thanks for your
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: time today. Appreciate you.
• 16:58
  Speaker 3: Yes, thanks man, I appreciate it.
• 17:00
  Speaker 2: Kevin Reynolds's Utah jazz reporter for the Salt Lake Tribune.