Jackpotting Around: A Utah Jazz Podcast · Art Cummings and Chad Lowe

Episode 37: Keandre Ashley of Hoop Intellect - NBA Draft Talk

·1 hr 12 min·4 clips

Jalen Johnson, Tyrese Maxey, and Desmond Bane were all higher on Keandre’s board than consensus.

1. Jackpotting Around: A Utah Jazz Podcast centers this episode on Utah's No. 5 pick and Keandre Ashley's draft board. 2. Chad Lowe, Art Cummings, and Keandre Ashley lead the discussion, and Keandre is the creator of Hoop Intellect on YouTube. 3. The episode asks which draft traits matter most for the Utah Jazz when the board includes VJ Edgecombe, Ace Bailey, Tre Johnson, and Kon Knueppel. 4. Keandre says Hoop Intellect began as a way to talk about basketball and improve his editing and Photoshop skills. 5. He describes using library computers, Google Drive, and early highlight videos of Alex Caruso and Jonathan Isaac to build the channel. 6. Keandre says the channel started getting traction with about 80 views, which he treated as progress. 7. He says COVID and the shutdown helped the channel grow as he kept learning from scouting and basketball people. 8. Keandre names Jalen Johnson as a strong pre-draft call because he had him top ten despite character concerns and a slide to No. 20. 9. He also points to Tyrese Maxey, Desmond Bane, and Jaden McDaniels as players he thought should have gone higher in the 2020 draft. 10. Keandre says Sharife Cooper was a miss because he overvalued the passing, while Walker Kessler changed how he thinks about rim protection. 11. Art Cummings says Jalen Johnson and Tyrese Maxey were examples of good calls, but Walker Kessler showed how a low evaluation can miss. 12. Keandre says he no longer attaches himself to a fixed list of "my guys" as much as he did early in his scouting work. 13. He still says he is a big Dylan Harper fan and thinks Harper belongs a half tier behind Cooper Flagg. 14. Keandre also mentions Jameer Watkins as a player he has liked for a while and says more returning players make this class more appealing. 15. On lower-confidence prospects, he says Yaxel Lendeborg returning to Michigan surprised him because he expected first-round interest. 16. Keandre is skeptical of Jaeger DeMaria, saying the lack of shooting and advantage creation makes top-10 projection difficult. 17. For the Jazz at No. 5, Keandre chooses VJ Edgecombe because of athletic tools, defensive playmaking, and enough belief in the shot. 18. He says the conversation feels different from a rebuild centered on one player because Utah needs contributors who can connect the roster. 19. The tone is a scouting debate with detailed examples, quick jokes, and back-and-forth disagreement among people who follow the draft closely. 20. Listeners who want draft evaluations for the Jazz's top-five pick will get the most from this episode, while people avoiding prospect deep-dives may skip it.

As heard by us

A loose Jazz draft chat that turns boards and mock drafts into a focused Trey Johnson discussion.

The Jazz draft conversation starts with some self-deprecating banter, then settles into a solid stretch with Keandre Ashley of Hoop Intellect.

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Why you'd press play

You want Jazz draft talk that feels like a real board session, not a reheated hot take.

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