Here are some trade ideas the Jazz could do, and should consider. Utah receives Yanic Konan Niederhauser and a 2031 2nd round pick.
As of writing this article, the Utah Jazz are 10th in the lottery standings. As you probably know, the Jazz only keep their pick if they are in the top 8 of this draft.
Yes, the Jazz schedule is rough, but this is an epic draft, and you can bet a lot of these teams above the Jazz may throw in the towel a lot sooner than expected. They’re also all run with an impressive level of incompetence. Utah can’t do what it’s done in the past and wait too long to improve their standing or they could find themselves in the 9th and 10th spot again. The problem with that this time is they don’t keep their pick in those scenarios.
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Here are some trade ideas the Jazz could do, and should consider.
Utah Jazz and Los Angeles Clippers
Utah receives Yanic Konan Niederhauser and a 2031 2nd round pick.
LA receives Svi Mykhailiuk.
This is a huge win for Utah, which receives a young prospect in Niederhauser and a second-round pick. The Clippers, who don’t own the rights to their pick this season, gain a proven shooter and veteran in Mykhailiuk who can immediately help their offense with spacing and shooting.
Utah Jazz, Atlanta Hawks, and Sacramento Kings
I was trying to think of a trade that could net the Jazz a great pick no matter what they do, as well as improve their own. The reason some of these teams win the lottery is that they have the best chance of winning. Here’s a trade that could net the Jazz two top 5 picks in this historic draft and possibly 3. Here’s how it works.
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Atlanta Hawks receive Lauri Markkanen
Sacramento Kings receive Trae Young
Utah Jazz receive Zach LaVine, Pelicans 2026 first, Sacramento 2026 1st
The hardest thing for the Jazz is finding a trade that nets them a pick that doesn’t immediately depreciate once the trade is complete. I personally am a fan of the trade that gets the Jazz picks and players from the Pistons. How good will the picks be? Once the Pistons have Markkanen, their team improves, and the Jazz get picks that may or may not depreciate.
In this trade, Utah gets the Pelicans’ pick that is currently better than their own. Utah also gets the Sacramento Kings pick, which is likely to end up in the top 10 after this. They then also improve their own pick by moving Markkanen and getting a losing player in LaVine. Hardy is really good and likely gets the best version of LaVine, but there’s just never been a situation where LaVine has improved, and defensively, he doesn’t improve the Jazz. For Sacramento, they’d have to be excited about a star in Young. For Atlanta, they get a for sure star in Markkanen that can play alongside Jalen Johnson and make them a legitimate threat in the East right away.
On top of this, Markkanen gets what he’s always wanted: a chance to make the playoffs with a potential contender.
Source: Utah News