The Utah Jazz recently made a big in-season move with no players involved.
Given the current form of their squad, the Utah Jazz are expecting to be a lottery team once again with a 10-32 record through 42 games played this season. Over midway through their schedule, they are the No. 15 team in the Western Conference, which is dead last in the standings.
There is only one team in the entire league with a worse record than the Jazz, that being the six-win Washington Wizards.
That being said, the Jazz are certainly focused on the future rather than current results on the hardwood, so compiling young talents and draft capital is their primary focus at the time being. They recently just made a massive in-season trade, too, which landed them an immensely valuable draft pick with no players involved.
In an attempt to build more long-term comfort, the Jazz traded three lesser first-round picks to the Phoenix Suns for the team’s 2031 first-round pick, which is unprotected.
Who knows what the Suns will look like by 2030, considering they are now depleted of assets and have one more big trade in them. By landing multiple first-round picks, Phoenix is expected to make a move for Jimmy Butler, pairing the aging star with Kevin Durant — also an older superstar — and Devin Booker.
With the Suns already struggling with depth on their roster and one aging superstar, the future could be bleak in Phoenix, though they are all-in for a title-contending squad now.
Utah is looking to capitalize on the situation. They’re currently rebuilding themselves, though they should be much-improved by the time their Suns’ pick is able to be used, which makes it all that much more valuable. According to Jazz general manager Justin Zanik, the pick is the “most valuable asset” right now.
Suns owner Mat Ishiba doesn’t believe in a rebuild. He is keen on paying whatever price to roll out a contending squad. Eventually, assets run out and the second apron poses such issues that building is no longer possible.
The Suns will run out of assets or the capability to acquire a superstar player without reloading their assets and tearing their team down to some extent. For that reason, Jazz general manager Justin Zanik believes that the team’s 2031 first-round pick is immensely valuable.
“The way it makes sense for us is that we now have another shot at a pick that has a lot of variability. The three picks we traded have no chance to be the No. 1 pick, and this one does,” Zanik said.
“It balances out what we want, but we’ve always talked about bites at the apple or more swings in the draft, but it also is about the quality of the swings, and this is, in my opinion, the most valuable asset on the market right now.”
Zanik has a point, the team could rebuild for the next few years and be a contending team or playoff team by 2031, and the Suns pick could land them the top prospect in said draft.
It’s a comfortable position for them to be in considering what Phoenix could be as a club by then, once their current ‘all-in’ plans fade.
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