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SALT LAKE CITY — Rumors and speculation, regarding potential trade scenarios, have been circling all around the Utah Jazz for the last few weeks.
Rodney Hood, Derrick Favors, Alec Burks and Joe Johnson have all heard their names circling around in potential trades.
With the trade deadline here, we're going to take a look at some of the biggest Feburary deals in Utah Jazz history.
Feb. 19, 2015 - The departure of Enes Kanter and emergence of Rudy Gobert
Earlier that season, the Jazz and Kanter could not agree on a contract extension. Kanter was further frustrated by a loss of minutes due to the defensive prowess of the emerging Gobert.
Kanter asked to be traded, and several days later the Jazz granted him his wish, sending him and forward Steve Novak to the Oklahoma City Thunder in a three-team deal. The Jazz received rookie forward Grant Jerrett, center Kendrick Perkins (immediately bought out), the rights to Tibor Pleiss, a 2017 second-round pick, and a conditional first-round pick of OKC in 2018.
While this trade does not seem extremely interesting on the surface, it was the initial catalyst for the Gobert era of Jazz basketball. The trading of Kanter opened the door for Gobert to become the center of the future.
Three years later, Gobert is just 25 years old and arguably the best defender and rim protector in the NBA. Meanwhile, Kanter is considered one of the worst defenders in the NBA.
Feb. 23, 2011 - The end of the D-Will era
The then New Jersey Nets were able to land Deron Williams after failing to make a deal with Denver for Carmelo Anthony.
The Jazz sent Deron Williams to New Jersey after his unwillingness to commit to the team past his current contract and after the infamous Jerry Sloan debacle. Many believe that Williams played a major role in the midseason resignation of the Hall of Fame head coach.
In this deal, the Jazz received the pieces to begin rebuilding their team for the post-Williams era.
In exchange for Williams, the Jazz received Derrick Favors (the third overall pick of the 2010 NBA draft), Devin Harris, two first-round draft picks (one of which ended up being Enes Kanter, the other of which was used with another pick to move up in the draft and eventually became Trey Burke) and cash considerations.
Feb. 24, 1994 - The Jeff Hornacek/Jeff Malone swap
When you think of the Stockton-Malone era of Jazz basketball, the first person that you think of that isn’t named John Stockton, Karl Malone, or Jerry Sloan is probably Jeff Hornacek.
While Jeff Malone was a great player for the Jazz and an overall great scorer and shooter, he was not the perfect compliment to Stockton and Malone’s game.
Jeff Malone was also on the wrong end of his career and had seen his production going down when Utah decided to swap him for Hornacek. The Jazz made a deal with Philadelphia to swap Malone and a 1994 first-round draft pick for the 6-foot-4 combo guard.
Hornacek was amazing at playing off the ball. His ability to cut and move mixed with his uncanny ability to shoot helped clear the lane for Stockton and Malone to operate. Hornacek was the perfect complement to the Jazz system and to the pick-and-roll offense of Stockton and Malone.
Hornacek was integral to the success of the Jazz through the rest of the 90’s. He was largely regarded as the third best player on the 1996-97 and 1997-98 Jazz teams that went to the NBA Finals.
Hornacek’s jersey has been retired by the Jazz and hangs in Vivint SmartHome Arena today.
Feb. 19, 2004 - The draft pick that would turn into Gordon Hayward
At the time, nobody knew how significant this trade would end up being for the Jazz.
The Jazz gave away Ben Handlogten and Keon Clark to the Suns in exchange for the old and washed up Tom Gugliotta and two future first-round picks, one of which came from the New York Knicks.
In 2004, the trade probably seemed pretty irrelevant, and if the Jazz wouldn’t have drafted well on June 24, 2010, it probably would’ve been.
The Jazz, however, used that protected first-round pick of New York to draft a young, skinny player out of Butler.
That player out of Butler would eventually bulk up and become an All-Star, become the face of the franchise, and lead the Jazz to their first playoff series victory in seven years.
