Utah
Could the Utah Jazz Really Land LeBron James If They Draft Bronny?
Bronny JamesJeff Haynes/NBAE via Getty Images
In an NBA draft that has reportedly been described by multiple league executives as “the worst draft they have ever seen,” eyes, posts and analysis have naturally drifted to second-round prospect Bronny James.
The son of LeBron James averaged 4.8 points and shot 36.6 percent from the field as a freshman at USC and then measured in at 6’1.5″ without shoes at the draft combine, but at least one team may be interested in picking him just after the first round.
“The [Utah] Jazz have expressed interest in bringing Bronny in for an individual workout and could be interested in him with the 32nd pick,” Yahoo Sports’ Krysten Peek wrote. “The franchise has been patiently rebuilding behind the leadership of Danny Ainge, and bringing in Bronny with the hopes of luring a superstar like LeBron could be the jump owner Ryan Smith is looking for to add a spark to the Jazz.”
In April, Ainge (the team’s CEO) said Utah would go “big game hunting,” and a ploy to attract LeBron would certainly qualify as that.
But it’s fair to wonder how realistic that pursuit would be.
It’s no secret that the Jazz don’t play in one of the league’s big or glamour markets. That makes attracting any free agents (or trade demanders) tough. And if LeBron were to decline his player option or ask L.A. to move him, he’d instantly be the biggest name available, despite the fact that he turns 40 next season.
It’s easy to see why Utah would be interested. Few athletes in the history of sports attract as much as attention as LeBron. And he’s currently smashing preconceived notions about the effects of age on a star.
With 25.7 points, 8.3 assists, 7.3 rebounds, 2.1 threes and a 41.0 three-point percentage, LeBron was arguably one of the 5-10 best players in the league this season.
Beyond drawing more eyeballs to the organization, which boasts LeBron’s former teammate Dwyane Wade as a minority owner, he and Lauri Markkanen would make for a potentially devastating one-two punch on offense. Walker Kessler has the potential to be a bona fide defensive anchor behind them, too. Keyonte George showed some potential as a combo guard.
But does all of that add up to contention in the ultra-competitive West? Would it put James any closer to his fifth title than the Los Angeles Lakers already do? Even if it does, would the difference be meaningful enough to take LeBron out of L.A., where the TV and movie industries are and where LeBron has established roots for over half a decade?
If we’re being honest, the answer is almost certainly no.
So, back to the original report. Would Utah having Bronny on the roster trump all of the above for LeBron?
A year-and-a-half ago, he told ESPN’s Dave McMenamin: “I need to be on the floor with my boy. I got to be on the floor with Bronny.”
“Either in the same uniform or a matchup against him,” LeBron added. “I would love to do the whole Ken Griffey Sr. and Jr. thing. That would be ideal for sure.”
For months, that was interpreted as both LeBron wanting to be on the same team as his son and as a potential opportunity to lure James away from the Lakers. And that interpretation seemed pretty reasonable in the wake of this year’s elimination by the Denver Nuggets. Right after L.A. lost Game 5, The Athletic reported that the Lakers had a “willingness to draft James’ son Bronny in June.”
Of course, they don’t pick until the 50s, which opens the door for most of the league, including the Jazz, to take Bronny before L.A. can. And if he follows an up-and-down showing at the combine with some strong individual workouts with teams, more teams than Utah might talk themselves into taking a flier on him.
The height measurement raised some eyebrows (in part because he was listed at 6’4″ in college), but Bronny also had a 6’7.25″ wingspan. That’s good for a guard and even comparable to some wings. And there were only five players who topped his 40.5-inch max vertical leap.
He backed up those encouraging marks with a team-high 13 points in his second combine scrimmage.
Again, if that earned him some workouts and he does well in those, the Jazz might not be the only team willing to take a shot on him (and the potential of adding his dad to the roster).
But there are a lot of ifs, ands and buts throughout this text, including LeBron sort of downplaying the idea of teaming up with his son a few months after the ESPN interview (though he still maintained that it was his goal in those comments).
The biggest caveat, at least for Utah, may be the team’s prospects for getting LeBron his fifth title.
Barring some other dramatic move, a LeBron-Markkanen-led rotation probably wouldn’t leapfrog the Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves, Oklahoma City Thunder and Dallas Mavericks. Several others in the West should bounce back (like the Memphis Grizzlies) or are on the rise (like the Houston Rockets), too.
We could level the same criticism at the Lakers, who just got knocked out in the first round, but they came with the all the glitz and glam of L.A.
In short, every team but the Lakers should only be thinking about drafting Bronny for Bronny. He will be his own player, and organizations should focus their interest on that player.
If he does enough during the workout phase of the pre-draft process to get selected, great. If not, there’s no reason to dangle him like a carrot for a player who’s nearing the end of his career.
Utah
Here’s who will lead Utah Valley University as its next president
Jon Anderson will be charged with moving the Orem school forward following the death of conservative commentator Charlie Kirk on campus last year.
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) Incoming UVU President Jon Anderson poses for a photo with his family after an event announcing his selection at Utah Valley University in Orem on Friday, July 17, 2026.
Utah
Beaver County residents set up thousands of sandbags ahead of flashfloods
BEAVER COUNTY, Utah — A massive community effort is underway as volunteers and Beaver County crews distribute thousands of sandbags to protect homes from the potential path of floodwaters.
After the Cottonwood Fires, residents have been waiting for weeks for relief to come in the form of rain, though officials now warn it may come all at once with an increased risk of flooding and debris flow.
Emergency Service Director Les Whitney believes that the fire has left plenty of debris to bring trouble for residents.
“We got a lot of water. We’re bringing debris with it, so tree branches, tree limbs, logs, lots of different size firewood, and that’s all in the creeks. We’re worried about that plugging up our bridges and stuff, so we have heavy equipment and excavators located in strategic places so that we can keep those bridges open,” said Whitney.
An estimated 140 homes and condominiums were spared from the flames, but remain in the paths of floodwaters.
Residents can also pick up sandbags at the Beaver County Sheriff’s Office or at the Beaver County Rodeo Fairgrounds.
Utah
Utah man arrested again for allegedly abusing dog twice in three months
EAGLE MOUNTAIN — An Eagle Mountain man currently on pretrial release in 4th District Court who is accused of abusing his dog has been arrested again for allegedly punching the same animal.
Keith Reaves Davis, 43, was booked into the Utah County Jail on Wednesday for investigation of aggravated cruelty to an animal.
Utah County sheriff’s deputies were called Wednesday afternoon to a grocery store on a report that a man was beating his dog after it had gotten off its leash and was stopped by a bystander, according to a police booking affidavit.
“I reviewed security camera footage from the grocery store, and an individual matching the description of the suspect was seen holding the dog in the air by one paw and repeatedly striking the dog on the right hind leg area. I observed the male strike the dog several times before dropping the dog from approximately 1-2 feet. The strikes appeared to be as hard as the male could hit,” the arresting deputy wrote in the affidavit. “The dog did not cry out or whimper as if the dog was accustomed to the abuse.”
When questioned, Davis “admitted to striking the dog because it was not behaving,” the affidavit states.
An animal control officer who responded to the scene to take custody of the dog noted it was the same dog he had taken from Davis exactly three months earlier during another animal abuse investigation.
In that case, Davis was charged in 4th District Court with aggravated cruelty to an animal, a class A misdemeanor; and public intoxication, a class C misdemeanor, after deputies received a tip from a neighbor that a dog was being abused at Davis’ home, according to charging documents. When questioned, Davis “acknowledged hitting his dog as punishment,” the charges state.
Deputies also reviewed videos that the neighbor had filmed. The neighbor told investigators “there was blood from the dog on the ground of the garage and (the neighbor) can hear the dog screaming as if it’s being hurt. Deputies got the videos from the (neighbor) and you can hear very loudly the dog screaming and crying with a lot of loud banging noises. In one of the videos, you can hear the dog sounding like it is being choked by a collar and is grasping for air,” a police booking affidavit states.
Davis’ next court hearing in the April case is scheduled for July 28.
In their latest booking report, sheriff’s deputies note that they “believe further harm will be inflicted on this dog if it is released back to the male a second time,” and have recommended the dog not be returned to Davis.
The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.
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