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SALT LAKE CITY — As the Jazz continue to blow up the roster after a series of disappointing playoff exits, the clear objective is to retool the talent through acquiring draft picks.
The philosophy follows the formula prior management has used for decades with the goal of building a championship contender. Hopefully for the Jazz, with Danny Ainge serving as the lead executive, the latest try will yield the desired results.
But, make no mistake, it comes with a cost that might be particular to small-market teams. In places such as Utah, devoted fans take on intense and personal relationships, even if they're one-sided, with their NBA heroes.
For Jazz fans, especially when the players are home grown, it's practically akin to a family member moving away. To date, the team has traded three fan favorites — Joe Ingles, Royce O'Neale and Rudy Gobert.
Social media reactions indicated fans took the transactions personal. The Jazz discovered the three players, all of whom have only played for one NBA team.
In a story that every fan can recite in great detail, the Jazz plucked the gangly Gobert out of France in a draft-night trade with the Denver Nuggets and saw him develop into an All-Star and the game's most dominant defensive center. Along the way, he pledged allegiance to the Jazz at every turn.
O'Neale and Ingles came as unheralded and undrafted free agents after spending multiple years toiling overseas. O'Neale became a dependable wing defender while Ingles left as the franchise's most accomplished 3-point shooter.
An Australian, Ingles lived as if he were a native Utahn during his nearly eight years with the organization. Ingles, who did a weekly radio segment on The Zone for an unprecedented eight years, and his wife set the standard for being involved with various causes in the community.
To the fans, the players were one of them. Saying goodbye often is hard.
But none of that matters in the business of NBA basketball. The team needs change to improve.
Give Ainge and owner Ryan Smith credit for willing to take a gigantic risk rather than staying the course. Instead of keeping a likely playoff roster mostly intact, the management group is gutting the nucleus.
The blockbuster deal saw the Jazz send Gobert to the Minnesota Timberwolves for four first-round draft picks extending out to 2029, five players and swapping first-round picks in 2026. Immediately, the trade was compared to the deal Ainge made nine years ago in which the Boston Celtics sent several aging players for draft picks that eventually helped select All-Stars Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown.
The moves give the Jazz much-needed draft picks, some of which were traded away in prior deals, and more salary flexibility. Speaking on his Hoop Collective podcast, ESPN's Brian Windhorst said NBA executives thought Ainge pulled a fast one on the Timberwolves, setting the standard for future compensation for other deals.
"What he got for Gobert, which everybody in the league is (complaining) about like, 'Can you believe it? How could they possibly do that?' I mean, I've talked to 10 different people who have (complained) to me about that trade."
Windhorst went on to say: "Not only did they get all that stuff — four picks, three unprotected and one lightly protected — and they offloaded $140 million in salary. ... So now Danny Ainge has moved the game again."
Not that he is even close to being finished. More trades are expected before training camp opens in two months and could extend into the season until the February trade deadline.
Likely next up is Donovan Mitchell, the subject of widespread trade speculation the last two weeks. As with Gobert, the Jazz acquired Mitchell in a draft-night trade with the Nuggets and saw him become an All-Star.
