Current Edition: International


Golf

Opinion

Tennis

Olympics

Sports Business

Culture

Motorsports

MMA

Women's Hockey

Boxing

Utah Jazz draft primer: Rudy Gobert, trade talk, buying into the draft and more

Nov 4, 2021; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert (27) controls the ball against Atlanta Hawks forward John Collins (20) during the first quarter at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports
By Tony Jones
Jun 23, 2022

Follow our live coverage of NBA Draft 2022.

As we enter NBA Draft day — with all due respect to Kevin Costner — the Utah Jazz front office is doing what you may call a juggling act.

At this time of year, most franchises are chin-deep in draft preparation. But at this moment, executive Danny Ainge, general manager Justin Zanik and the remainder of Utah’s brain trust are multi-tasking. The Jazz need to hire a head coach, a search that’s continued this week. The Jazz have been swamped with trade conversation in an attempt to fortify their roster, with some of their very best players at the center of talks. And, oh yeah, the draft is tonight, which seems like it could turn into a league-wide carnival of wheeling and dealing.

Advertisement

Where does Utah fit into all of this?

It’s not a secret that the Jazz need to get better on the court. And there’s been plenty of talk around Rudy Gobert, Utah’s all-star center, with multiple teams remaining viable options, according to sources. The Jazz are certainly open to trading Gobert. But, they aren’t going to give him away. Gobert’s value to Utah is immense. It might dwarf his value on the open market. For those reasons, a trade package centered around Gobert is certainly possible, even as soon as Thursday. But it isn’t guaranteed.

Utah has held conversations concerning finding a way into Thursday night’s draft, multiple league sources tell The Athletic. Whether something materializes from there, also remains to play out. But the Jazz are trying, and they are dangling many of the players in their core in order to conceivably find a match.

It’s a simple game for the Jazz at this moment.

Being a trade team is the best and possibly only avenue the Jazz have to improve the roster. They project to have a little more than $6 million of room available to them in free agency, via their midlevel exception. That may get them some veteran help, but it won’t garner a true game-changer. So the Jazz are a trade team, one similar to the Atlanta Hawks, as we head into Thursday night.

Utah currently has no picks. But even if the Jazz don’t find a way to get into the first round, sources say they are open to trying to find their way into the second round. Sources also indicate the Jazz have a lengthy list of players compiled from workouts and interviews at the NBA’s Draft Combine that they are prepared to offer Exhibit 10 deals to by the end of the draft, in order to entice undrafted free agents. That will also make their Summer League roster more important than usual. Utah actually has projected spots that guys can possibly play their way into.

Advertisement

Utah’s variance for a draft night where it enters with zero picks is as wide as can be. There is a chance that the Jazz make multiple trades by the end of the draft, and that the roster looks significantly different than it looked when the day started. There is a chance that Utah’s roster looks much the same as it did when the day started, and the only real significant change will be who’s coaching the team.

The latter is probably less likely than the former, sources say.

The Jazz are a team motivated to change itself. They want to get bigger and more athletic on the perimeter. They want to get a little younger in some spots. They want to improve significantly on the defensive end, where the perimeter is concerned. And, they would like the runway for Donovan Mitchell to become the point guard to have a little more clarity.

Can all of that happen in one night? Can it happen in a week? Or even by the end of the offseason? Probably not. But the Utah front office has committed itself to attempt to change the roster. It’s just a matter of whether anything materializes that can fit.

What’s interesting is that a lot of the league doesn’t have a ton of cap space heading into this summer, which could pave the way for a ton of trades on Thursday. Some of that helps the Jazz. It takes two to tango. So, there have been a bunch of conversations from motivated teams. What could hurt the Jazz, especially in Gobert’s case, is that there are multiple high-level centers on the trade market, including Myles Turner in Indiana and Deandre Ayton in Phoenix. When you have a saturated market, the demand isn’t there. If Gobert remains in a Jazz uniform, this ultimately may end up as one of the reasons why.

More than anything, the Jazz are trying to improve, maintain their standing in the Western Conference and keep their fledgling title hopes alive. Teams around them are improving. On Wednesday, the Portland Trail Blazers traded for Detroit’s Jerami Grant, giving Damian Lillard a terrific two-way forward to work with. On Thursday, the Blazers will have the No. 7 pick in the draft to dangle for another high-impact veteran. So if the Jazz don’t want to slide in the Western Conference, they have some work to do.

Advertisement

What happens if they don’t make a move and decide to bring back the bulk of their core?

Then, the race for the Jazz becomes what can they do around the margins of their roster? And, whatever they decide to do around those margins — we will get into more of that next week as free agency approaches — those moves have to work out flawlessly.

A few summers ago, the Jazz signed Jeff Green and Ed Davis, solid veterans who should have helped significantly. Neither did. Last summer, in order to fortify this current core, the Jazz signed Rudy Gay, a solid veteran who should have helped significantly. Instead, Gay struggled with injuries and ineffective play all season, and by the playoffs, he was taken out of Quin Snyder’s rotation.

These are all thoughts that the Jazz have to work out and answer for themselves internally. But, it all starts with Thursday night’s draft. And by the end, we should have our first hint on what Utah’s roster will look like going forward.

(Photo of Rudy Gobert: Dale Zanine / USA Today)

Get all-access to exclusive stories.

Subscribe to The Athletic for in-depth coverage of your favorite players, teams, leagues and clubs. Try a week on us.

Tony Jones

Tony Jones is a Staff Writer at The Athletic covering the Utah Jazz and the NBA. A native of the East Coast and a journalism brat as a child, he has an addiction to hip-hop music and pickup basketball, and his Twitter page has been used for occasional debates concerning Biggie and Tupac. Follow Tony on Twitter @Tjonesonthenba