Jaren Jackson Jr. was back in Memphis Wednesday night for the first time since his surprising trade to the Jazz in February, writes Shreyas Laddha of The Salt Lake Tribune. It felt like a home game in some ways as he received a standing ovation from the fans, many of whom were wearing his former Grizzlies jersey. The game didn’t turn out the way Jackson hoped, as he fouled out in 28 minutes while scoring 15 points and committing five turnovers, but it was still a memorable experience to be back in the city where he spent the first seven-plus years of his NBA career.

“I’m always going to have some emotions when you come back to a place — you have memories for sure,” Jackson said. “I had a job to do and didn’t execute that. Got to go home and regroup.”

The emotions were heightened on Wednesday by a tribute to Brandon Clarke, who died in May. He and Jackson became close friends during their years together as teammates.

“It’s tough,” Jackson said. “That’s my brother forever. He had a great impact on the community here. It’s always going to be tough. Just carry it differently. Great video, though. Great memory. He’s my dog, who’s forever watching us.”

There’s more on the Jazz:

• Utah is counting on Ace Bailey to become a “two-way player,” Laddha states in a separate story. Multiple team sources told Laddha that watching Bailey’s progress on defense was one of the highlights of training camp. “Offense is going to come,” the second-year forward said. “I’m not worried about the offensive end. I mean, I can score. It’s just mainly just focused on the defensive end, just being the two-way player we need.”
• In a video diary, Darryn Peterson states that he expected to be the top pick in this year’s draft until commissioner Adam Silver made the official announcement, relays Marc J. Spears of Andscape. Peterson believes he’s the best player in this year’s class, but added that he was happy to wind up in Utah with the No. 2 choice. He also downplayed talk of a rivalry with AJ Dybantsa. “It’s more of a social media thing [between] me and him,” Peterson said. “When we were at [basketball] camps and that [NBA] Rookie Transition [Program], we spent some time together. Me and him were super cool. But I think it’s cool that we got the little ‘me versus him’ thing going on as well. Just because, why not? The No. 1 pick versus No. 2. But me and him have a great relationship. We’re just two competitors.”
• As the Jazz hope to move into playoff contention, Na’Andre Emerson of The Deseret News looks at whether they can afford to keep their core together. The team currently has a bottom-five payroll, but the five-year, $157.5MM extension for Keyonte George will make the roster much more expensive in the future. Emerson notes that the package of picks acquired from the Lakers in the Walker Kessler deal could eventually be useful in keeping costs under control.