According to Michael Grange, the Utah Jazz outbid the Toronto Raptors for Jaren Jackson Jr. during the trade deadline.
From Grange:
leading up to trade deadline in February, the Raptors were working hard to try and make a deal that would land them Jaren Jackson Jr. from the Memphis Grizzlies before he was ultimately traded to the Utah Jazz in a package that included three first
round picks, according to multiple league sources. The sticking point was finding someone to take on Jakob Poeltl’s four years and $104 million the 30-year-old has owed to him.
It’s a good thing that the Raptors made the signing for Poeltl because it likely helped make sure that Jackson would be on the Jazz. There are always stories that come out after trade deadlines, and this is one of them. A little luck appears to have helped the Jazz with this trade. Let’s hope the luck also carries over to the upcoming lottery night.
This is also a good example of why you need to be careful with giving out big contracts to non-all-stars. Utah is in the midst of deciding on a contract with Walker Kessler. Interestingly, Kessler wants more than what the Raptors gave to Poeltl. Kessler is a better player than Jakob Poeltl, but he’s not an all-star, and $30M a year for a rim-protecting center is a tough pill to swallow and could give the Jazz real headaches down the road if Kessler doesn’t live up to the money. Now, if Kessler can continue to develop different aspects of his game, it changes things. But you could argue that Kessler and Poeltl are pretty similar players. Now that Utah is competing for as many wins as possible, the decisions they make have much bigger consequences, they have to get things right. Otherwise, you have unintended consequences down the road you can’t foresee right now.
