The Rookies’ First Press Conference 🎙️ | UTAH JAZZ

The Rookies’ First Press Conference 🎙️ | UTAH JAZZ

we’re really excited to uh introduce these guys to you um our our goal as an organization is to just get players that love the game that love to work and obviously have the talent to go with that um we think all three of these guys uh are are just add to that list of our other players on our roster um this is a this is a huge day this represents so much work and sacrifice from not only these guys these guys have worked their tails off for many years sacrificed so much to get here but also their families who are in attendance there’s so many drives to the gym and rebounding late at nights and and this is this is this is the culmination of a lot of that at least the first step of a of a great journey um so congratulations to these guys we’re um we’re so pumped this was a dream scenario for us these are guys we targeted before the draft with high potential high character and we we couldn’t be more excited open it up for questions please announce your name and outlet sarah Todd Desireette News ace uh these should be simple questions feedback um one was there any point that you considered not coming to Utah no not at all i mean just blessed to be in this position I am not a lot of people can sit in these chairs and have great teammates as I got on that came on with me so I’m just blessed to be here uh Ryan Miller from ksl.com uh Clayton with the trade they made today or reportedly made today it opens up a little bit of more space at the guard line is that something that excites you um
for sure but I still think you know we got a lot of great guards here a lot of guys that can get on the floor so uh definitely some work to put in still there’s a couple john Associated Press ace um when you look at what the Jazz have on the floor and your skill set what do you feel like you bring to this team where you can make an immediate impact
uh I got great energy i mean I can do everything from rebounding from defense to scoring to passing so I could say I could bring it a lot in different ways hey uh Dana Green with ABC4 um 18 years old uh it’s tough for young players to come right into the NBA do you think you can make an immediate impact despite your age and just one year of college experience
absolutely what makes you so mature to be able to do that
uh in the gym they nice all the hard work I put in I believe in it john were you uh were you surprised that you had fallen down to 53 did you expect to go higher than that on draft night uh I think I you know that was a little bit outside of my range but at the end of the day I was super excited to be here and I’m just so happy I’m you know here with the Jazz who’s the person that broke the TV and we still we still haven’t figured that out yet but uh yeah Lenard Davis KUTV uh this one’s for John at 24 years old maturity is necessary to succeed in the NBA what lessons have you learned in your college journey that has prepared you for this moment
yeah I think I had a lot of adversity and just had to work my way up is what I’ve been you know the last guy on the bench and then also the guy at the top of the scouting report so I think I’m someone that can um understand all types of roles on a team and um I understand how to you know just face adversity and just keep trying to get better each day all right this one’s for Walter um as an NCAA champion what characteristics are you confident in about yourself that your new teammates will gravitate to as you build these new relationships with them
oh yeah for sure um just understanding what come with winning you know uh all the things that go on on the court and off the court so just uh just happy to get here you know build some chemistry with these guys and uh put the work in for uh Walter first of all do you like the nickname Walt Lake City
i got a little bit more work to put in before we start starting that also uh just your experience going through that NCAA tournament and the exposure you got and playing on that big stage how is that going to translate to playing on the big stages of the NBA yeah for sure uh obviously March Madison is a big stage but this even bigger stage you know uh best uh basketball league ever so um I’m just thankful you know to be in this position and uh I’m ready to get to work
eric Sparopoulos with Utah Jazz.com question’s for Austin um at his postdraft media availability Brad Stevens had a lot of praise for for you and and this draft class just what does it mean to hear that and to have his support as you’re starting to lead this organization
oh Brad’s a great friend and a mentor um didn’t he take a shot at me also i think um no there that’s very kind of him uh obviously he’s he’s a great friend and we stay in touch a lot so but um we obviously went through a lot of the draft prep together so we shared a lot of the same opinions as we went through this so it’s no surprise
uh this is for Ace and Walter actually John as well um Walt first of all do you go by Walt or Walter
walt walt okay um and then I guess we’ll start with Ace what’s been your uh first 24 hours like here in Salt Lake and did you come right to the gym off the plane yeah for sure I did uh I was excited to see what the practice facility was like um it’s a great it’s a great scenery soon as I got off the plane I didn’t think the mountains was real i mean it was so beautiful it was just seeing that scenery just being in that position just getting off that plane just meeting the coaches it was just all great yeah for sure uh mountains is definitely beautiful uh weather has been telling everybody weather a bit warmer than I expected you know from what I’ve been hearing so uh it’s beautiful you know I’m glad to be here yeah like they said about the mountains uh and the city looks you know amazing and everyone’s been here you know welcoming us so uh feels like feels right
we all had we all dinner last night that was fun
did you go to the ice game
yeah I did i had to uh you know I had to make it up there i was excited to uh see that I can make at least one day what does the rest of your summer look like is it summer league and then do you anticipate staying here in Utah and working with Jazz coaches or staying closer to home what how do you plan it out
um definitely going to be here for sure putting a lot of uh wait room in getting to know my coaches and my teammates so I’ll be doing probably both just working out here most of the time we haven’t done the full plan yet but there’ll be some of each and then Austin can you talk about the Colin Sexon trade no
okay well um coming off of a championship and coming I mean all of you have probably won a lot of games throughout that’s how you end up here right and you’re going onto a rebuilding team where like wins might not be coming as much as you’d want them to how do you kind of plan on dealing with not winning at the level that you’re coming from
um yeah i don’t plan on it um I’m going to be honest i think we got a lot of great talent here obviously a lot of great young talent i think uh once we mesh well we’ll be able to put some uh wins in that column all right this one’s for Ace you went viral when you said uh that statement during that interview you got no weaknesses and more than two strengths uh love that man where does that confidence come from from such a young age
i mean I trust my work i mean I countless hours in the gym i mean everything that I do so I trust it i mean everybody make mistakes god didn’t put us here to be perfect so just trust myself and just trust my process ben Anderson KSL Sports Austin all of these guys can be described as like difficult shot makers um was that an emphasis in the draft and what is the role of just having difficult shot makers in today’s league putting the ball in the hole is a big part of the game for sure but um no we’re these guys can play on both ends um right uh we’re looking for the best combination of all the skills we can um yeah but these guys can can put the ball in the hole john your last college game uh 37 points against BYU was there any uh conversation with Austin or Ryan or anything about uh um just losing to their alma mater
uh yeah I asked him a couple questions last night about BYU uh I hate I hate that I had to lose to them but you know it’s it’s all up now

Hear from Austin Ainge plus 2025 Utah Jazz draftees Ace Bailey, Walter Clayton Jr. and John Tonje.

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