SALT LAKE CITY — It's a busy draft week in the NBA, even busier than normal. And while they're not involved in most of the news, the Utah Jazz will be impacted by what's going on around the league. Here's a breakdown of what's going on.

Celtics trade No. 1 overall pick to Sixers

This is the first time that the number one overall pick has been traded before the draft since 1993. In the end, the Boston Celtics traded the first pick (essentially the rights to select University of Washington guard Markelle Fultz) to the Philadelphia 76ers for the rights to this year's third overall pick and a future first round pick.

How does that pick work? Well, Boston will get the 2018 Los Angeles Lakers pick, so long as that pick is No. 2, No. 3, No. 4, or No. 5. If it's not, then the Celtics will get the better pick between the 2019 Kings and the 2019 Sixers, unless that pick is the first overall pick in 2019. Then, they'll get the worse of the two selections.

The upshot: while Boston traded down to get a worse pick in this draft, they now have another marquee pick in the 2018 draft.

That gives them the possibility of using those future picks to trade for either Jimmy Butler or Paul George, while still keeping cap space open to re-sign Gordon Hayward.

You see, had they used this year's picks to trade for Butler or George before July 1, they would have to dump salaries on another team of multiple impact players. It would have taken Avery Bradley, Jae Crowder, Jaylen Brown and Marcus Smart, or some similar combination, that they would have had to dump on another team before being able to sign Hayward.

Now, they could essentially do the trade and signing simultaneously. Once Hayward signs, they could immediately flip, say, Bradley, Brown, and next year's Lakers pick for Butler or George. That would give them a formidable core of Isaiah Thomas, Hayward, Butler (or George), a power forward signed for the mid-level exception, and Al Horford, with Marcus Smart, Terry Rozier, Jae Crowder, and whoever they draft with the No. 3 pick still coming off the bench. That team has one of the best starting lineups and one of the best benches in the league.

That's why I actually sort of believe that the Celtics have turned down Chicago's request of this year's No. 3 pick for Butler: if they trade that straight up now, they wouldn't retain the free agency room this summer to sign Hayward or the other potentially available big-name free agent, Blake Griffin.

So what to do if you're a Jazz fan? Well, the best thing might be to root for the Cavaliers to acquire those marquee players. If the Cavs can acquire George, then the Celtics path to the NBA Finals becomes even more difficult, and Hayward's reasons for leaving Utah diminish somewhat.

D'Angelo Russell traded to Brooklyn

In a surprise, the Los Angeles Lakers traded D'Angelo Russell and Timofey Mozgov to the Brooklyn Nets for the 27th pick and Brook Lopez. For the Lakers, this represents a pretty ugly failure. Mozgov's contract, signed less than a year ago for $76 million on the stroke of midnight, just cost them their former No. 2 overall pick for them to dump.

How does this impact the Jazz? Well, Brooklyn had been rumored as a destination for George Hill, though it was never really clear how serious that interest was. Brooklyn, though, undoubtedly would have been the team that had the most cap room to offer Hill a large contract.

"I told him, if he gets a crazy offer somewhere else, and we helped him get that offer, you're not going to get one poor thought, much less word, if he goes elsewhere," Jazz general manager Dennis Lindsey said about Hill in May. But now, it looks less likely that he'll get that crazy offer.

That, in conjunction with Philadelphia trading for No. 1 overall pick Markelle Fultz, also a point guard, means that the market for premier point guards like Kyle Lowry and Hill has dried up.

That means it's much more likely that those players stay with their respective teams, who can offer them a contract that goes above the salary cap limit thanks to holding their Bird rights.

Related topics