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SALT LAKE CITY — Walker Kessler sat in front of his locker, with his usually boyish grin looking like it's never been further away. The Utah Jazz had just been routed 143-118 by the Minnesota Timberwolves, but the result had little to do with his emotions.
It was the fact that when he looked to his right, he didn't see Mike Conley; or when he walked to the back of the locker room, he didn't pass Malik Beasley or Jarred Vanderbilt.
"Obviously, (Conley) is a very, very talented player," said Kessler, who appeared close to tears. "I learned a lot from him. They're all great guys. We get close to them, but it's the NBA, so I understand. Those are my guys, my brothers. It's just part of the business, but I will definitely miss them."
Kessler has been asked a lot this season about his "Welcome to the NBA" moment; he found another on Wednesday. One moment he was teammates with three guys; the next, he was watching them pack up and leave.
The Jazz finalized a deal in the lead up to Wednesday's game that sent Conley to Minnesota, and Beasley and Vanderbilt to Los Angeles in exchange for a top-four-protected pick in 2027, Russell Westbrook, forward Juan Toscano-Anderson, and center Damian Jones. It's expected that Westbrook will be bought out before he ever plays a game in Utah, though.
The players heard about the rumors throughout the day, but things didn't become real until about an hour before tipoff. The players said some quick goodbyes; and suddenly, the Jazz were down three players.
"It was kind of weird; that's all I can (say to) explain it," Jordan Clarkson said. "Just a weird feeling. We joke about it and talk about it, but seeing stuff actually happen, it's surreal."
And it clearly took a toll on the Jazz, which was obvious during and after the game. It certainly seemed the Jazz were shellshocked following the abrupt departures of three teammates and their undisputed locker room leader in Conley.
Anthony Edwards had 31 points and Jaylen Nowell had a career-high 30 for the Timberwolves, who scored 84 points over the course of the second and third quarters. Minnesota went 23-of-43 from 3-point range to pace the team to an easy win; it's difficult to win a game under perfect circumstances when a team is that hot, and Wednesday's was far from perfect.
Clarkson said he didn't think the performance was any indication of how the Jazz can play the remainder of the season; and he's probably right. Things won't be that bad again, but the team will, no doubt, miss Conley.
The veteran player mentored Collin Sexton, who eagerly followed Conley around practices and shootaround practices to soak up knowledge; he coached Kessler on the art of the NBA pick-and-roll, and now the rookie is a starter; even the young veterans like Clarkson and Lauri Markkanen came to him for advice.
"He was like Yoda, he had so many stories and such a very enlightened way about him that you just listened to him," Clarkson said.
Conley even gave an NBA rookie head coach someone to lean on.
"He's a great sounding board for me," Jazz coach Will Hardy said. "He has been somebody that you can count on in terms of not only an understanding of what's going on in the game, but an understanding of where we are in the season and what the team needs. His experience as a player is something that I lean on a lot.
"It helps that we're the same age and both have young families and are in similar stages of life, so we've done a lot of bonding and had a lot of great conversations just about balancing that part to balancing the NBA world and kind of the time constraints and different things that come with that, and being a husband and a father and all that stuff. He's everything you want as a first-year head coach."
And everything an organization would have wanted with a young team; that's why Wednesday's move was so tough for the Jazz players. The reasons were clear on why Utah made the deal: It got them another first-round pick and gave them a ton of cap space for the summer. Utah ultimately decided that value was worth giving up its leader in the locker room.
"I really, honestly, don't think y'all understand how hard it is," Rudy Gay said. "So I can sit here and talk, but I don't think any of you guys are moving your families anywhere. It's definitely tough, but it's something we sign up for, and this is part of the league. Me knowing Mike, he's gonna make the best of any situation. He's a positive guy. He's been a guy that's kept me sane for the past year and a half, so I know wherever he is is going to lift up their locker room."
That will now be in Minnesota, where an old friend is eagerly waiting. Conley and Rudy Gobert combined to form one of the best pick-and-roll duos in the entire NBA during their final years in Utah before Gobert was traded.
"I'm excited. I love Mike. I love the way he plays the game," Gobert said following the trade. "I love how he makes everyone on the court better. His professionalism, the way he plays to win, his selflessness, and I love him as a person, too."
After Wednesday's blockbuster deal, do the Jazz players think the team is done dealing?
"Shoot, I don't know. We fly out at 9 a.m. (to Toronto)," Clarkson said. "It would suck to be traded at customs. Got to go to customs and gotta get back on the plane. I'll just leave it at that, cuz I hope nothing else happens."
