According to Shams Charania, the Utah Jazz have traded for Jaren Jackson Jr.
Also included in the trade are John Konchar, Jock Landale, and Vince Williams Jr.
Utah sends Walter Clayton Jr., Kyle Anderson, Taylor Hendricks, Georges Niange, and three picks. What are those picks?
They include the most favorable 2027 first-round pick between Utah/Cleveland/Minnesota, the Lakers’ 2027 first, and the Phoenix’s 2031 first.
So how good are those picks?
That Utah/Cleveland/Minnesota pick and the 2031 Suns pick are probably the best of the three. Cleveland might be the worst of those three, but they’re in the East, so they likely won’t drop off much. Utah will be on top of the West next season with this new addition and Walker Kessler coming back so even their own pick is likely in the 20s. The Suns have looked much more competent this season, and so maybe Utah is not thinking it’ll be as good as they hope. Reports are out there that LeBron James is leaving the Lakers, which, oddly enough, probably helps the Lakers, who can bolster their roster around Luka Doncic. The 2027 draft isn’t a great one, and that pick is top-4 protected, so it’s not much of a loss at all.
It’s a reminder that you can never have too many picks because they are the currency of trades and if you don’t have picks, you can’t make moves like this.
Quick take
At first glance, it’s a shocking, unexpected trade. Utah has been trending in the right direction this season, moving toward a top draft pick. Now they add a top-tier starter that will help in all the ways they need it, especially defensively.
But the biggest question is, what does this mean for the current season? It’s a great trade in a vacuum, but in a way, it makes keeping their pick even more important. Utah will now be over the cap and won’t have room to bolster the roster on top of what they have. There are small additions they could make with things like the mid-level exception, but they need to keep their team full of young players to make sure this isn’t a short-term window. According to Tony Jones, Utah plans to keep the pick.
This is great news and means Utah is likely to continue doing what it can to rise in the lottery standings. It might be a lot of rest for Jaren Jackson Jr. coming up.
Utah now has the Walker Kessler signing to focus on, as well as making sure they get as high in the lottery standings as possible. It sounds like there was some serious interest in Kessler, but this probably ensures the Jazz keep him because they can match any offer with restricted free agency. Get ready for a frontcourt of JJJ and Walker Kessler!
This makes for a pretty exciting day for Jazz fans. The tank should, and most likely will, continue. But now is the time to start getting excited for consistent winning for the Utah Jazz starting next season.
