Estimated read time: 5-6 minutes
SALT LAKE CITY — There had been some speculation ahead of the NBA trade deadline that any moves the Utah Jazz would make were likely to net the team upgraded rotation pieces for this season rather than additional draft capital.
Yeah, about that.
The deals that CEO Danny Ainge and general manager Justin Zanik made on Wednesday and Thursday were pretty much the exact opposite of that.
So, what gives? Why send out three rotation pieces — including the only two real wings on the roster — for a handful of end-of-bench guys, a flyer on a young future prospect, and a late first-rounder and early second-rounder in the 2024 NBA draft?
Let's take a look at the various considerations in play:
Favorable finances
"Flexibility" is the relevant buzzword du jour.
It's no secret that the Jazz want to retain forward Lauri Markkanen for the long term, and that a renegotiate-and-extend contract move has been discussed. Trading Simone Fontecchio to Detroit should help make it happen — and help potentially add to the core around "The Finnisher."
After a rough adjustment to the NBA last season, Fontecchio took some real strides forward this season as both an outside shooter and a perimeter defender. He had clearly outplayed the $3 million salary he was making this season, and, as a restricted free agent-to-be, is likely in line for a not-insignificant raise this summer. But, as a 28 year old, it could be argued that he'd reached his ceiling and Utah's front office was wise not to be the one to give him his coming payday.
As it stands instead, Utah will go into this summer with a bunch of salary cap space, enabling them to re-work Markkanen's deal while still having the flexibility to put some additional pieces around him.
Roster considerations
Jazz fans have wondered all season long why Taylor Hendricks — selected No. 9 overall in the '23 draft — has not been part of the team's rotation aside from a two-week stretch when injuries made it unavoidable.
It's probably fair to say that Hendricks had plenty to learn in terms of on-court awareness and also lots of room to develop his ball-in-hand skillset. From all accounts, though, he's made big strides while being largely assigned to the G Leagues Salt Lake City Stars, and is ready to see more consistent minutes with the parent club — minutes that likely wouldn't have existed if Kelly Olynyk was still around.
That being the case, sending Olynyk to Toronto has the dual effect of opening a rotation spot for Hendricks while also getting a useful asset for a player who was set to become an unrestricted free agent.
Including young wing Ochai Agbaji was the opportunity cost for getting a 2024 first-rounder back in the deal. While it may seem as though the organization is giving up early on Agbaji, who was initially thought to be an important part of the return in the Donovan Mitchell deal, there appears to have been growing concern about, well, his lack of growth.
The former Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four has undeniable athletic traits and is an easygoing locker room presence, but he never really did much to warrant an expanded role in coach Will Hardy's rotation. Yes, he's an excellent transition defender, but he has not made an impact as a systemic defender, he's regressed as an outside shooter, he struggles as much as Hendricks to put the ball on the floor, and he's a near-zero as a playmaker.
Might he improve down the line? Sure, it could happen — he's still only 23 years old — but all the opportunity in the world was there for him to grab a spot, and he couldn't. That's why another future first-round pick holds more appeal.
In terms of the instant impact to the rotation with the pieces acquired, all of Kevin Knox II, Kira Lewis Jr., and Otto Porter Jr. are former lottery picks, but the former two are young guys who've never really done anything to stand out, while Porter is a 30 year old who's a fringe NBA roster guy at this point. If anything, these deals could facilitate the Jazz finally giving a shot to yet another 2023 draft pick, Brice Sensabaugh.
The play-in/draft pick conundrum
It goes without saying that the team wants to take steps back toward contention, but is qualifying for the play-in tournament this season a definitive benchmark to that end? Maybe not. That's why, for the second year in a row, we've seen the front office make trade deadline moves intended to bring about a midseason backslide.
Last year, sending out Mike Conley, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Malik Beasley, and Jarred Vanderbilt helped negate some of their unexpected early-season success and propel them back into the top 10 of the draft.
Now, the Jazz owe their own 2024 first-round pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder for a 2021 deal to get Derrick Favors' salary off their books following a misguided reunion.
The protections on the pick, however, mean that if it lands in the top 10 of the draft this year, the Jazz would keep it, and it would convey to OKC in 2025. (For what it's worth, the pick also has a top-10 protection in 2025, and a top-eight protection in 2026; and if it hasn't conveyed by then, it just goes away altogether.)
So, it's entirely feasible that the front office simply decided to punt on a meaningless stepping-stone play-in, and dealt away three rotation guys without bringing any back in order to bolster their chances of adding another top-10 pick to the roster this offseason.
Adding another late first, a very early second, and also getting a look at Gabriele Procida — a 6-foot-7, 21-year-old guard playing in Germany right now — is just a bit of a bonus for pulling the plug on a season that wasn't going to yield meaningful playoff games anyway.
