Utah Jazz: Did Rockets-Suns trade hurt team’s bid for No. 2?

Could the Houston Rockets’ move to deal Ryan Anderson to Phoenix affect the Utah Jazz’s ability to overtake them in the Western Conference? Maybe.

Given Donovan Mitchell‘s ascent to stardom, as well as the opportunity for internal improvement with he, Royce O’Neale and even older players like Rudy Gobert and Ricky Rubio, the Utah Jazz hype train has been running full-steam ahead recently. Just last week, The Ringer opined that Utah could be the West’s No 2, and they’re not alone, either.

Some of that can be attributed to the Jazz’s stock rising, but the Houston Rockets’ ho-hum offseason has undoubtedly been a factor as well. Adding Carmelo Anthony, while losing the likes of Trevor Ariza and Luc Mbah a Moute has been viewed as a net negative by many, which could open the door for the Jazz to leapfrog them.

All that may have changed on Thursday night, however.

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the Rockets are set to send big man Ryan Anderson and second-round pick De’Anthony Melton to the Phoenix Suns in exchange for former No. 8 overall pick Marquese Chriss and combo guard Brandon Knight.

In doing so, they’ve rid themselves of the $41 million still owed to Anderson over the next two years. More than that, though, they may have actually improved themselves in the process.

Of course, there’s also a chance they’ve further degraded themselves, but hang with me on this one.

Knight is coming off an ACL injury that cost him all of his 2017-18 campaign in Phoenix. He’ll also face stiff competition for minutes in a backcourt bench brigade that already boasts Eric Gordon and Michael Carter-Williams. That said, if he can be 85 percent of the player he was, he’ll bring something to the table for last year’s No. 1-seeded squad.

Three years ago, he put up 20 points and five assists per game for the Suns. Many expected him to return to the starting five for Jazz assistant turned Suns headman Igor Kokoskov next season.

He could also become a nice trade piece.

Meanwhile, Chriss has been somewhat of a disappointment after getting drafted amid much fanfare in 2016. However, he’s still just 21 years old and has put up 14.4 points, 8.2 boards and 1.5 blocks per 36 minutes in his two years as a pro.

If he could ever match his massive potential, this deal could end up being a major steal for Houston. If it’s not already.

At worst, Chriss’ freakish athleticism and seven-foot-one wingspan will make him a better bench play come playoff time than Anderson, who didn’t sniff the floor at various junctures during the 2018 postseason. Against the Jazz, for example, Ryno appeared in just three of the five games in the series, playing 21 total minutes.

The Rockets were outscored by 13.3 points per 100 possessions in those minutes.

In the end, the Jazz band’s pursuit of a top playoff seed will depend just as much on them as it will the competition. With a topflight D (maybe the best in the NBA) and an improving offense, Quin Snyder’s crew has the tools to accomplish big things in 2018-19. However, actually making it happen is going to be an equally large task.

The events of Thursday night just reaffirm that fact.