2) Jazz acquire the fabled “Knicks Pick” for scraps; February 19, 2004
Utah trades Keon Clark and Ben Handlogten to the Phoenix Suns for Tom Gugliotta, two future first-round draft picks and a second round draft pick.
It’s hard to believe, but the pick that was used to bring eventual All-Star Gordon Hayward to Utah was acquired all the way back in 2004. Back when the Jazz were still trying to figure things out in world after Stockton-to-Malone. For context, Hayward was in middle school when the deal was made.
This one probably tastes sour given how Hayward’s Jazz career ended. Still, it stands out as one of the ultimate “something for nothing” moves.
The Jazz moved Clark, a failed experiment who had been banished from the team, and Handlogten, a likable and hard-working player, if not an NBA-level talent, for the pick that eventually became Hayward.
The Suns had originally acquired the pick from the New York Knicks and, although it was loaded with protections, the one-two punch of Scott Layden and Isiah Thomas (with help from injuries to Allan Houston and Antonio McDyess) pretty much ensured that the Knicks would suck forever. And so the countdown began.
Year after year, the Knicks stumbled through embarrassing seasons. Finally, in 2010, the jig was up — the pick was unprotected. The fabled Knicks pick finally belonged to the Jazz.
Although the lottery didn’t quite work out in their favor and the pick fell to No. 9, the Jazz were still able to snag Hayward. It was the ultimate long-term play for the Jazz