JR SportBrief interview Caleb Johnson.

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Listen to your favorite shows for free on the Odyssey app, odyssey.com, your smart speaker or in the car with android auto or apple carplay. It's the JR sport brief show here with you on the infinity sports network coast to coast. The NBA draft is done, right?

It's finished. We had quite a few Frenchmen taken in the draft, four players out of Yukon. And of course the biggest name sounds crazy. Selected in the draft is the son of LeBron James. Bronny James selected a number 55 overall in the 2024 NBA draft is done.

There's going to be a lot of people talking about Bronny, including us for the next several months. But here in Atlanta, Georgia, with a Hawk surprisingly ended up with the number one overall pick. They also decided to go with a Frenchman. That was it the right move? What happens next? Does he fit in? Do they keep a point guard?

Do they trade a point guard? What the hell is going on with the Hawks? It's time to have a chat with Caleb Johnson.

Reporter Hawks knows everything covers them all year long for 92-9 the game here in Atlanta, Georgia. Caleb, how are you, man? I'm doing well, RJ. RJ, excuse me.

Wow. What's going on, man? Between both of us.

I don't know. There's a lot going on, Caleb. It's just time. It's been a long couple of days.

I'll be honest with you. Ever since this draft has gotten underway, obviously with the Hawks taking the number one overall pick, you know, people want to talk about it. And so, yeah, no, we're all good to go now.

Absolutely. Well, first, the guy who was selected number one overall, Zachary Risache, what's the deal? You know, I'm here in a city like you. It seems people are kind of hot, cold. People are kind of ambivalent to it. What are your thoughts on what the Hawks did at number one? They are, look, Zachary Risache, I think the comparison here is he's a really good pair of socks.

All right. Now, no one gets really excited over a pair of socks. They clearly hold a very important, you know, role in your fit and everything like that. Like you need them to stay warm. They have a functional aspect of things.

They're just not super exciting or appealing. And that is Zachary Risache. I think that is why, you know, there's a lot of fans of the city of Atlanta that aren't super thrilled over this election. But I think at the end of the day, the Hawks added to a deficiency that this team had. He is a three and D kind of guy. He's someone who they need on ball defending specifically on the perimeter. And Zachary Risache brings that. He's also a very solid three-point shooter. And I think that is something that he can continue to grow in.

You know, it's kind of funny. We talked to him last night after the draft and said, well, who do you think you kind of model your game after? And he said, well, Klay Thompson.

And it's like, okay, well, and he even realized, you know, he's no Klay Thompson at this point. But having those aspirations of a knockdown shooter, as well as for Risache, you know, he is a solid defender on the ball. It's something that this Hawks team really needs. And it also gives them a lot of options like this doesn't kind of bog down a specific position for them. This isn't point guard. This isn't center. And so now they have options with what they can do with the rest of this team. Caleb Johnson is joining us reporter at 92-9.

The game covers the Atlanta Hawks. I'm still trying to get over the fact that you said that this man is like a pair of socks. So, hey, look, he's not, you know, he's not the Jordan sneakers. He's not what everybody's looking at. He's not a really fresh shirt. He's not a hat that everybody's looking at. That's the flashy thing.

He is just the solid, consistent. You need it there. It's there for you. But it's not sexy. It's not exciting.

But it is a very important part of your fit. You know, just yeah, I hear you, Caleb. So when you think about the important parts, we know there is no more important part is nobody who gets paid more money on the Atlanta Hawks than Trae Young. And we understand it only takes you watching, I guess, one game to understand that Trae Young and Ajante Murray, they don't complement each other. This has been a discussion now for the better part of a year, maybe more.

What happens next? I mean, do they keep these two together as we roll through free agency in the summer? Do they dare bring both back? I am starting to get people in line with the idea that it is possible that they bring both of these guys back for the simple fact of they really want a solid return for one of these guys. And I think right now, at least from what I have heard inside the organization, is that they don't feel that the return they're hearing from other people is enough to make a deal happen. So there is the thought that they could go into the season, these guys play better, you know, and the perception around them improves, and then they make a deal. However, I really think it is in everyone's best interest to make a decision now.

I think, you know, if you're picking the better player, sure, it's clearly Trae. Like, I don't think that's a tough decision to make. However, he's been someone who was vocal with US media on exit interview day, and on his own podcast of saying, I want to win now. And I don't think the Hawks are a win now team.

And I don't think anyone else really believes that. So it's, can they convince their star of, you know, just hold on, and we're building something even though that man's been hearing that for six years now? Or do they, you know, move on from him and try to get some sort of a deal? I think they've got to make a decision one way or another with these two. But I just think it's a realistic possibility that they instead look to move someone like a Clint Capella, who's on an expiring contract, look to move a guy like DeAndre Hunter, who's also in that, you know, 20 plus million dollar range, and is now in a position that they just added a new rookie and go from there as a way of getting out of some of their salary.

Kaleb Johnson is joining us covers the Hawks for 92 nine the game in Atlanta, Georgia. When you talk about research and what he's able to do shooting the ball playing defense, we know he's small. Is there a possibility that he kind of gets stashed to the back? I mean, I can't see him playing over some of these forwards.

That's one thing. The Hawks have strong forwards. You know, Hunter is no no pushover. He's a strong guy when he actually plays.

What is what is expected from research? I could see I could see Quinn staring at him going. I got to put him on the bench. I think the thing that they like from him is his is his height.

You know, I mean, the guy is 610. And so I hear you on his frame and the fact that he is and that's something that the GM Landry Fields even alluded to last night when we talked with him is that he needs to fill out essentially and put some muscle on but I think they look at that as a hey every guy entering the draft needs to do that. I mean Landry was also talking about their draft picks from last year, whether it's Kobe Bufkin or Mo Gay is some guys who put on big weight just in the span of a year. So I think this guy is absolutely going to play like and I believe he is going to be a starter just simply from the fact of he is the number one overall pick.

And so I think that's kind of what comes with all of these things. It comes with the attention, the ticket sales, jerseys, all of those sorts of things like those decisions come into play. I think when you are a team that is not looking at hey, we're we're going to win a championship.

I don't think anyone takes the Hawks that seriously. And that's why I think it is it's tough because I think Trey and Risa Shay could play off each other really well, given that Risa Shay is not his own shot creator, but he is great when someone gets him the ball and who better than I think the best passer in the NBA and Trey Young. It's just a timeline difference of can Trey be, you know, essentially convinced to stick around and deal with the team that is not in rebuild, but retool for sure. But but yeah, no, I think Risa Shay is going to play for sure.

They'll deal with the ups and downs. I mean, just he's not as obviously tall as a Wimber or that sort of thing. But you deal with the struggles that you see out of a rookie because like I said, he's number one overall pick. Caleb Johnson here with us joining us from 9 to 9 a game in Atlanta, Georgia. We heard a lot about Alex Saar, who's now a member of the Washington Wizards not wanting to work out or is it representatives just really steering him to Washington. If it wasn't Risa Shay, was there another option at the Hawks kind of wanted to gear towards? I think in a perfect scenario world for the Hawks, if last night if they could have traded down from one to somewhere, you know, two or three, essentially, if they could have traded down got some assets and you know, next year's draft that sort of thing and picked Donovan Clingan. I think they would have loved that sort of a thing because I think this is a team who was trying to add to their assets like because of the trade that you know that got De'Jounte Murray here, because of a trade that got Sadiq Bey here where they gave up five second round picks, but that De'Jounte Murray trade the more, you know notable one that gave up next year's first round pick the pick swap in in 26 and then the first in 27 like all of these different aspects. They don't have their own picks coming up in these next few drafts.

So completely tanking really wasn't on the table, but they I think they wanted to get some assets back the they didn't end up doing that. And so I think that I think there was no scenario in which after Alex Saar declined and you know to work out in person that they were ever going to pick him. It's as simple as I mean I've heard from fans who were like well you take the best available player whether he wants to be there or not. I think you know if you found yourself in a situation with Alex Saar and Trey Young in the city at the same time and neither one of those guys super excited about being there, I think that is just a recipe for disaster.

I think with Alex Saar his big thing was because of his size he is a tall guy but he is not a big guy because of that he wants to play the four and he wants to be a big part of the offense. And I think he saw in Atlanta that that really wasn't going to be as much of the case especially with I mean the four right now is held down by Jalen Johnson. They need someone to take on that five spot and so because of all of those things it seems like Bill Duffy, Alex Saar's agent, wanted to steer them towards Washington which why you would ever steer someone towards that franchise I will never understand but hey more power to them. But this is the second time in recent history that a player has been steered away from Atlanta. It happened with Luka Doncic in 2018 as he was kind of steered away from Atlanta in Sacramento and I think you just kind of roll with it you take your best option and you hope everything kind of works out. Yeah well I know that seems like the the Hawks mode of operation right now as we approach the break quick question for you final one does it look like the Hawks it looks like they're in store for another average season am I wrong in thinking that? I mean that certainly seems the way this thing is headed it's going to be all about what they're able to do this off season like who they move off of and who they keep around because we know that this ownership has not been yet they tell everyone that they're interested they're perfectly fine going into the luxury tax but we know realistically they're not because of that and they want to keep you know their their salaries right now are right there up against that first threshold so because of that and I think they're going to shed some salary whether it is a Clint Capela whether it is a DeAndre Hunter whether it is a DeJounte Murray because of all of these things yeah I don't think they're going to be as competitive because it is going to be all about focusing on on Zachary Risache and the young guys and Jalen Johnson around that timeline and that timeline is you know three four years down the road instead of a team who was wanting to be truly competitive right now and try to try to go win a championship yes Hawks always kind of running in place let's see if they can turn this into something down the road Caleb thank you for taking the time to talk about the number one overall pick I don't know how much attention he's going to get after this this other guy got drafted but where can people follow you and all your work with the Hawks I'm on social media at ATL Johnson 18 and of course like you mentioned 99 the game doing sports lashes they are covering the Hawks as well as hosting a show on the weekends and yeah just you know just and enjoying this your fun time of year we finally got some some news things to talk about hey I hear that well Caleb thank you so much from the time we'll catch you on down the line all right enjoy the rest of the summer all right appreciate it JR no doubt about it that Caleb Johnson from 92-9 the game in Atlanta Georgia covers all things Hawks all year long it's the JR sport reshow here with you on the infinity sports network eight five five two one two forty two twenty seven that's eight five five two one two forty two twenty seven yes Bronnie James is a member of the Los Angeles Lakers selected a number 55 overall we'll talk more about him on the other side of the break but now that the entire draft is done we'll talk about some of the other picks as well you're locked in it's the JR sport reshow here with you on the infinity sports network you don't want to move you don't want to go anywhere because it's not just all about Bronnie James it's the JR sport reshow don't move baseball season is heating up odyssey has you covered with the most entertaining coverage of your team stay locked in and in the know with the local voices you trust as they bring you unfiltered takes recap games react to the latest team news and talk to callers listen to your favorite shows for free on the odyssey app odyssey.com your smart speaker or in the car with android auto or apple carplay.