It is the JR Sportbreeze show here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. Man, after two days, the NBA draft is done. We got executives who've been given the boot. We have executives who've been putting their foot in their mouth. You don't have to look any further than Denver. We got teams that actually did something they should have done, like the Dallas Mavericks.
We have players who have apparently been unhappy but will still show up. I'm looking at you, Ace Bailey. To take a look at everything that took place this week, now that the draft has concluded, we're being joined by Jake Weinbach, who covers all things NBA, as an analyst and a writer. Jake, how are you, man? Good. How you doing?
Thanks for having me on. Absolutely. Well, now that the draft has concluded, besides Mr. Cooper Flag, what has captured your attention the most? Yeah, there were some teams that had some really good drafts in this class, and I want to start with the San Antonio Spurs. Obviously, the Mavericks were a winner in this draft with Cooper Flag, but the Spurs come out of this draft with Dylan Harper and fellow lottery pick Carter Bryant, two guys I was personally very high on. They should become immediate contributors for this promising team around Victor Wimbunyama.
They really caught my eye. They did not make any offers reportedly for Kevin Durant, so they clearly believe in the young core that they have, and they are clearly on the run here as they try and make a playoff push next season. Oh, Jake, the San Antonio Spurs seemingly always win in the draft.
They certainly know how to go out there and pick them. Is there a team that you take a look at that concluded the draft and left you scratching your head? Yeah, there were a couple teams.
I think you have to start with the Brooklyn Nets. Coming into the draft, they had five first-round picks, and on all five, I thought they kind of stretched on. I don't know if any one of these players that they picked is going to become a franchise player. I think they kind of just took darts at these guys and are hoping that one of them is going to hit, and one could very well hit, but I just thought they could have had a better draft class considering that they were the first team ever to have five first-round picks in the same year.
Damn it, they went out there and used every single one of them. Not too far from Brooklyn, New York, I do want to ask you about the Philadelphia 76ers. They picked up two notable players, Janai Broome, also Vijay Edgecombe. We know about the veterans that are on the team expected by Darryl Morty to go out there and to compete for a championship. With all of the talent that the Philadelphia 76ers already have, albeit injury-prone, how does Edgecombe and Janai Broome potentially fit in if they're healthy and or even hurt? Yeah, Edgecombe should be a guy that can contribute right away. He's an explosive athlete that has promising defensive upside as well. Reminds me a bit of prime Victor Oladipo. I think that is his potential in the NBA. He was prolific at Baylor as a scorer and as a defender, and I think he really has solid potential to become an impact player in this league. And if the Sixers don't resign Quinton Grimes, who they very well might, Edgecombe can start in that two-guard spot right away and really, really become one of these core guys for the Philadelphia 76ers moving forward.
NBA analyst and writer Jake Weinbach is here with us on the JR sport re-show Coast to Coast. Outside of Vijay Edgecombe, looking to make an immediate impact, what other players do you think will see a lot of this upcoming season? Maybe they haven't gotten as much attention over the past two days, but do any other players stand out? For the Sixers? For anybody. A player in particular. For anybody? Forget the whole league, yeah.
Oh, man. Yeah, so many interesting moves in this draft class. I got to get a lot of credit to the Atlanta Hawks and moves that they made to acquire Kristaps Porzingis and then move back from number 13 in the draft to 23 and still getting their guy in Austin Newell while collecting a very valuable 2026 first round pick unprotected from either the Pelicans or the Bucks. Again, that could be a very valuable pick in next year's draft, which is a very deep draft class, so the Hawks are making moves in what will be a wide open Eastern Conference next season, so the Hawks really caught my eye. The Phoenix Suns, got to give their front office a lot of credit too. They were put in a difficult situation, you know, after the Kevin Durant raid, but man, have they done a terrific job rebuilding this roster around Devin Booker. They now have their own young core that includes Jalen Green, Common Malawach, Mark Williams, Rashir Fleming, who was a steal at the 31st pick in the draft, so the Suns, the Hawks really making moves here. I don't know if Phoenix will be competitive in the West. I doubt it next year, but they're really starting to build a culture and a foundation there.
Yeah, I was certainly, that was going to be my next question. When you think about getting Malawach out of Duke and then trading for Mark Williams and then you still have to get rid of Bradley Beal and Devin Booker will be extended. To me, it's a lot of confusion. What are they doing with all of those bigs? Yeah, you know, to be honest, I don't think Phoenix thought that Malawach was going to be there at number 10 and I think they already had a deal in place for Mark Williams before that because they acquired, they literally acquired Mark Williams as soon as Malawach's name was called with that number 10 overall pick. So, maybe it'll work out for them. You know, they're both two promising, still very young centers that can be franchise guys for the Phoenix Suns.
So, we'll see how it works out. Worst case scenario, if one of them isn't a good fit, they can move on via trade. Jake Weinbach is here with us, NBA analyst. I'm still trying to understand why the Toronto Raptors let Masai Ujuri make their draft selections ultimately to figure out that they're not a married couple anymore this morning. What the heck is going on with the Raptors? Yeah, you know, I believe Bobby Webster was the main guy that was kind of in charge of the draft process throughout these last couple weeks, but it was very surprising to see Masai leaving Toronto, but what an incredible career that he had running those operations for the Raptors. You know, built a championship in 2019.
He deserves a lot of credit for building the foundation and the culture there in Toronto. So yes, it was surprising, but the Raptors organization should be forever grateful for everything that Masai Ujuri has done over the last decade for this organization. When you think forward though, you look at the talent that he's brought in. They won a championship obviously in 2019, but bringing in the Brandon Ingrams of the world, the Emmanuel Quicklies, the RJ Barrett's, the Grady Dicks, what happens next?
Like they haven't had success. This iteration of the team hasn't even played together yet. Do you think that whoever runs the team next, I mean, granted he was the president, but he oversaw everything. Do you think they'll make changes with this roster?
I think they'll make changes around the edges. The Raptors are now going to be competing for a playoff spot. They have the talent after acquiring Brandon Ingram last season, and this team is due to make a jump, and they're on the books.
You know, they're very close to the tax threshold. So right now, the team direction needs to be moving forward, not backwards towards more of a rebuild. This team needs to start going for it. Again, they have the talent. They have promising young core. But now it's time to maximize Scottie Barnes and this team to really try and make a playoff push and be competitive in the East again.
Well, Jake, you talk about being competitive. There's an expectation for the Dallas Mavericks to be competitive now that Cooper Flag is on the squad, and we know about the injuries to both, well, definitely to Kyrie Irving. We know about the injury, susceptibility to injury with Anthony Davis. What do you expect from the Mavs this upcoming season?
Yeah, so Kyrie is going to be out for a while, still recovering from that Achilles injury. So keep an eye on Dallas targeting point guard and free agency or on the trade market. They can kind of fill in his footsteps to begin the season. But, I mean, this is a team that has title expectations. You know, if they don't win a championship this season or the next few, then it may be a bust for them. After trading Luka Doncic for Anthony Davis, this team is all in. They have really no future assets left remaining. This is the team that they've built that's going to be expected to win a championship. So expectations will be high. Obviously, they have an amazing trio with Kyrie once he's back healthy, Cooper Flag and Anthony Davis and really good role players that will complement those three stars. And they're locked in for the foreseeable future. So the title window is now for Dallas and that's all that should be expected of them for the next few years.
Okay. Yeah, I think Nico Harrison might be the only guy, you know, hoping and praying hard for that one. When you think about Ace Bailey, so much said over the past week into this week. He shows up, he doesn't show up tomorrow. He's expected to show up. What are your thoughts on how this ultimately has culminated?
It was a really bizarre situation, right? We don't really see this very often. It's rare that his representation is trying to force him to a team that he would desire. That would give him the most clear path towards superstardom.
But I think this is a blessing disguise. I think that Jazz are a very good situation for Bailey of really, really nice coaching staff. Another promising young core there in Utah that he can grow with. So I think it's a good landing spot for him. And I do think he will report to Utah this weekend and play in summer league with the team. But I got to give the Jazz credit for making this pick, even though he made it very clear that he did not really want to be there. They still made the pick because he has superstar potential in this league.
And I think that Ace Bailey is going to be a very, very productive player for a long time in the NBA. In Utah or without. And Jake, final question for you, man. This time?
Well, not even this time. End of the season. Regular season is over. Who do you think has the best chances of being rookie of the year? Is it just Cooper Flagg or somebody going to snatch that from him? Yeah, I have no doubt in my mind that's going to be Cooper Flagg if he stays healthy.
But if you had to throw a dark horse out there. I think Dylan Harper has a good chance. And Ace Bailey is a starting small forward for the Jazz and gets the opportunities that he desires.
I think there's a very good chance that he can blossom right away and challenge Cooper Flagg for that Rookie of the Year honor. OK. Well, it looks like he's going to show up to work tomorrow and kind of get things started on his NBA career with the Utah Jazz. It's the J.R. Sportbree show here with you coast to coast on the Infinity Sports Network. Jake, thank you so much for taking the time and joining us. Please tell everybody where they can follow you and all of your work. Absolutely. You can follow me on X at Jay Weinbach NBA. I post daily with all news, alerts, information, intel, everything covering the NBA. So I appreciate it.
Thanks for having me on and good to be back. No doubt about it that Jake Weinbach.
