Adrian Dantley, Jeff Hornacek and the five best trades in Utah Jazz history
By Ryan Aston
The Utah Jazz may be one of the NBA’s more conservative teams in terms of deal-making, but the franchise has benefited from some major trades.
It’s official — late August is here and nothing is happening in the NBA. The news cycle is especially dry for Utah Jazz fans. The team had its 15-man roster filled (plus one in Royce O’Neale and a two-way contract for Eric Griffin) more than a month ago.
So, barring a second two-way signing or some crazy, late-summer trade, we more or less know exactly what the team will look like on opening night.
On the other hand, it dawned on me recently that some major moves have actually gone down in August. Three years ago (almost to the day), the Cleveland Cavaliers moved No. 1 pick Andrew Wiggins to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for Kevin Love. That move helped them capture the NBA title in 2016.
Even the Jazz have been party to some late deal-making. In August of ’05, they were involved in one of the largest trades in the history of sports in terms of the number of players involved. All they got out of it was the return of Greg Ostertag, but the point stands!
As such, now is as good a time as any to look at some of the best trades the Jazz have ever made. Despite having a front office with a reputation for being conservative in their maneuvers, the Jazz have scored big-time on multiple trades throughout their history.
As I see it, these are the five best…
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