Jazz snap 8-game losing streak with win over Magic, but locker room feels impact of trade


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SALT LAKE CITY — John Collins was about to head out of the locker room before Saturday's 113-99 win over the Orlando Magic when it hit him that he'd be doing his pregame shooting alone.

Patty Mills, his regular pregame shooting partner, was on his way to Los Angeles after being traded to the Clippers.

"Those are the small things you don't think about," Collins said.

A relatively small trade on Saturday morning felt a little larger in the Utah locker room. The Jazz moved Mills and Drew Eubanks for the expiring deals of PJ Tucker and Mo Bamba, cash and a 2030 second-round pick.

Neither Tucker or Bamba will make it to Utah, sources said. The Jazz will hold onto Tucker's salary until Thursday's trade deadline in case they need it to facilitate other trades; and if no deal comes to fruition, he will be waived. Bamba will also be waived following the trade.

Yes, that means Utah isn't done trying to make moves.

For the Jazz, Saturday's deal comes down to this: They got a second-round pick for the relatively low price of $1.8 million and gave themselves some more dead salary to move during the final week of trading season. Was that enough value for rescuing the Clippers from the luxury tax? Maybe, maybe not.

It made sense on the business side of things, but it was, once again, a blow for the locker room that has grown quite accustomed to mid-season shake-ups.

"Both of those guys are representative of everything that we want to stand for," Jazz coach Will Hardy said, who had relationships with both Mills and Eubanks long before they got to the Jazz this summer.

Most of the team found out about the trade when Eubanks sent a message in the group chat thanking the team and explaining how much he enjoyed being in the locker room for the first half of the season.

"We all felt the same way," Johnny Juzang said. "Two great locker room guys."

To be a veteran presence for a young team was tha main reason that both Eubanks and Mills were signed this past summer. Hardy wanted Eubanks to help toughen up Walker Kessler in the paint.

Kessler is averaging career-highs in points (11.0) and rebounds (11.3) and is leading the lead in offensive boards.

"He doesn't shy away from being physical," Kessler said of Eubanks. "Going against him and competing against him every day definitely helped me get better."

Brice Sensabaugh met Mills through a jersey number discussion with Mills hoping to be able to wear No. 8. Sensabaugh ended up giving Mills the number he wore during a rookie season, but that started a special bond between the guards.

"He's always got good energy, just had little pointers for me that he dropped here and there," Sensabaugh said. "I always try to listen to that as much as possible."

Sensabaugh said he would stick with No. 28 even now that MIlls is gone.

Hardy credited Mills and Eubanks' worth ethic and how their ability to give themselves to the group. Neither player played consistent minutes, but he said that didn't stop them from preparing the same way.

"They have enough humility to know that it's not about them every day," Hardy said.

Maybe Saturday's game was an indication that some of that mentality had rubbed off on their now-former teammates.

The Jazz held Orlando to 33% shooting and 22% from the 3-point line. Utah allowed just 36 points in the paint and limited All-Star Paolo Banchero to 9 points on 4-of-19 shooting.

"We understood that they're not the greatest 3-point shooting team, and they love to get downhill, be physical," Collins said. "They have a lot of great guys that get downhill. So I feel like the emphasis was on myself, (Lauri Markkanen), Walker (Kessler), the big fellas down there to protect the paint and set a tone."

The Jazz had six players reach double figures, led by Collin Sexton who had 22 points and eight assists.

"It's a great team win," Hardy said. "I thought the group was really physical tonight. I thought we matched the physicality, or we met the level of physicality that's needed when you play a team like the Magic."

The win put a bow on a strange day for the Jazz. It started with a goodbye message from a teammate and ended with the team snapping an 8-game losing skid. There aren't many normal days in the NBA, but Saturday was just a bit more strange.

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