Advertisement - scroll for more content
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement - scroll for more content
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
Peterson silenced any doubts about his zeal for joining the Jazz immediately after being selected. He stressed in several interviews that night that he felt "super comfortable" during his meeting with Hardy and the Utah contingent at the scouting combine in Chicago. Peterson expressed appreciation that Jazz CEO Danny Ainge, president of basketball operations Austin Ainge, general manager Justin Zanik and vice president of player development Avery Bradley traveled to Peterson's hometown to meet with him days before the draft. Over the course of 17 days and two Salt Lake City Summer League games, the Jazz are confident their rebuild is coming to an end. With Peterson's potential and Keyonte George coming off a breakout campaign, Utah's backcourt has the chance to be special, especially alongside 2025 No. 5 pick Ace Bailey and midseason addition Jaren Jackson Jr. "What excites me the most is being able to be a part of the young core," Peterson said. "It's just a great basketball organization. I think everyone would agree with me, and we've kind of talked about it: It's time to win. So, to be a part of that is like a dream come true for me."
The Jazz knew through the actions of Ace Bailey’s representation that Bailey wouldn’t do backflips if Utah selected him. The Jazz didn’t care. They took him anyway. And that’s exactly what they should have done. Utah is not a destination in free agency among star players. The Jazz, in the past three years, have tried to trade for players, only for their agents to step in and tell them that the player wouldn’t sign an extension. Those are some of the things that Utah’s front office can’t control. ... But the fact that the situation was being talked about forced him to talk about it. “For me, it is my understanding that all of our draft picks will be here this weekend and preparing for summer league,” Avery Bradley said.
“I think there is always going to be outside noise,” Bradley said. “But Ace’s dream was to get drafted, and he’s blessed to have been drafted by the Utah Jazz. We are excited to have him. We are excited to get him here and excited to get him a part of our family, so he can begin to show who he is as a player.”
Andy Larsen: Avery Bradley, Jazz VP of Player Development, on whether Ace Bailey is coming to Utah in the normal timeframe: "It is my understanding that all of our draft picks are going to be here this weekend and preparing for summer league. So, yes."
Advertisement
Carlos Boozer strode confidently through Zions Bank Basketball Center, the Utah Jazz training facility. Once upon a time, he walked this space as a player. Those were his All-Star days. His Olympian days. The days of Deron Williams, Andrei Kirilenko and the late, great Jerry Sloan. The days of Utah’s powder blue uniform. Today, Boozer is back with the organization, and, along with Avery Bradley, is a key cog in a front office tasked with selecting the fifth pick in Wednesday night’s NBA Draft. Utah’s war room will be different for Boozer, not only because he’s no longer a player, but also because the building has undergone renovations since his playing days. And we’re talking about a front office that has transitioned in general managers from Kevin O’Connor to Dennis Lindsey, to Justin Zanik, to Danny Ainge, and now to Austin Ainge.
Whomever the Jazz select with the fifth pick, whether it be Tre Johnson, Ace Bailey or someone like Jeremiah Fears, Boozer and Bradley will have been key figures in that selection. Officially, Boozer is a scout, and Bradley is the vice president of player development. They both have dreams of one day running their franchise in an executive role. However, in this draft cycle, Boozer and Bradley have both been entrusted with key parts of the scouting and recommendation process. “They both have a unique perspective, having played the game at a high level for so long,” Austin Ainge told The Athletic. “It’s something that I have leaned on and relied on. They have a lot of trust.”
However, what Utah lacks is a player who projects to be an All-NBA level talent, the kind of player the Oklahoma City Thunder assembled on their path to a championship. That’s the task of the Jazz this draft cycle. They know they have to find one of those kinds of players, which is why bringing in Boozer and pairing him with Bradley could pay dividends. “I think having the perspective of being a player is helpful,” Bradley said. “Seeing players that could model and resemble some of the players that we’ve played with and have been in locker rooms with helps. What Carlos and I have wanted to do is help Austin and Justin (Zanik) and Danny (Ainge) in the process.”
Gary Washburn: Just caught up with former #Celtics G Avery Bradley, who has now joined the front office of the #Jazz. Said his goal to eventually become a GM.
We finally got confirmation on how big James is exactly. He measured at 6-foot-1 1/2 without shoes, with a 6-7 1/4 wingspan and an 8-2 1/2 standing reach. It’s important to remember that colleges list players’ heights in shoes. While the Trojans added an extra inch to Bronny’s height, they didn’t drastically oversell it. On top of that, NBA teams were working under the assumption that James was in the ballpark of 6-2 anyway. James’ standing reach puts him much more in the ballpark of point guard as opposed to that of a combo or shooting guard. Past players to post an 8-2 1/2 standing reach at the combine include Bruce Brown, Collin Sexton, Terry Rozier and Avery Bradley. James is a bit stronger and stouter than most of those players.
Advertisement
Marc J. Spears: The Utah Jazz say they have hired Avery Bradley as the team’s Vice President of Player Development. In this role his responsibilities will include guiding the collaboration between locker room, front office, and coaching staff, and evaluating personnel.
Sarah Todd: Avery Bradley is joining the Utah Jazz front office as vice president of player development according to team sources. Bradley has been around the team a lot this season and has been traveling with the team recently.
At one point, Brady and Durant went on a walk and Brady advised KD to "look for the best team, best organization, best chance to win, no matter what." Kleiman said Durant took that to mean the Warriors. Maybe Brady was attempting to use some form of reverse psychology, or perhaps he believed that strongly in a roster headlined by Isaiah Thomas, Jae Crowder, Avery Bradley and a rookie Jaylen Brown.