Utah
Utah Jazz May Target Cooper Flagg’s Duke Teammate
Following a full tank to secure the best odds in the NBA Draft Lottery, the Utah Jazz still ended up with the fifth overall pick.
Despite finishing with only 17 wins, which was the lowest in the NBA, the Jazz still fell short of the first overall pick. The league changed the lottery system in 2019, and ever since then, the worst regular season team has failed to win the lottery.
Regardless, the Jazz hold a top-5 pick and an opportunity to bring in elite talent to a roster that desperately needs it. Utah was banking on winning the Cooper Flagg sweepstakes all season, but they may have to fixate on one of Flagg’s teammates instead.
A new report from NBA draft analyst Krysten Peek for Hoops HQ suggests the Jazz, along with the Charlotte Hornets, are interested in Kon Knueppel with their first-round pick.
“Teams like the Utah Jazz (No. 5) and Charlotte Hornets (No. 4) are showing interest in the versatile guard (Kon Knueppel) and like his ability to seamlessly slide in alongside a star, ball-dominant player like Cooper Flagg and still find ways to positively impact the game,” Peek wrote.
Knueppel was a sharpshooter at Duke and connected on 40.6% of his tries from three-point land in his freshman season. In 39 games started, Knueppel averaged 14.4 points, four rebounds, 2.7 assists, and one steal.
Standing at 6-foot-7, Knueppel has the height to translate to the professional level as a shooting guard. He showed out in the biggest moments and averaged an insane 55.6% from three in the NCAA tournament in March.
As of now, the Jazz are employing Collin Sexton as the go-to shooting guard. If they want to bring in a better shooter, Knueppel could be the answer if the Hornets pass on him.
As Peek mentioned in her report, the Jazz are interested in how Knueppel played alongside a star player in Flagg. If the Jazz want to complement Lauri Markkanen with another offensive threat, Knueppel would 100% be the guy for the job.
Markkanen has been involved in plenty of trade rumors over the past few years, but he signed a long-term deal to stay in Utah last summer. Drafting Knueppel might convince Markkanen that the team is headed in the right direction and keep him planted in Salt Lake City for a few more years.
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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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