Utah Jazz front office whiffed on the James Harden deal

The Utah Jazz may have missed on a golden opportunity by sitting out the James Harden trade.

On Monday night, as the Utah Jazz were in transit after their loss to the Denver Nuggets, a Woj bomb exploded – James Harden was dealt from the Philadelphia 76ers to the Los Angeles Clippers, as has been rumored for months.

As previously discussed in this space, there was an opportunity for the Utah Jazz to get involved. And it appears now it would have cost less than anyone thought.

The Oklahoma City Thunder stepped in as the 3rd team for the Harden deal, and didn’t have to give up a young star player, young prospects, bad contracts or any expiring deals.

All the Thunder did was to move a 2026 1st round pick, with protections, to the Philadelphia 76ers. In return, they received a 2027 pick swap from the Los Angeles Clippers, in a season that the Clippers will most likely be in the lottery.

The Clippers’ best players – Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Russell Westbrook and James Harden – will all be 36 or older at the conclusion of that 2026-27 season. And with their injury history, none of them are likely to be All-Star caliber by 2027.

Currently, the Clippers have none of that quartet under contract beyond 2024-25 (Leonard, George and Westbrook have player options for that year, while Harden is on an expiring deal this year).

So what does that all mean for the Utah Jazz?

It means we could have easily parted with one of the four 2027 first round picks we own:

Cleveland (unprotected)

Minnesota (unprotected)

LA Lakers (protected 1-4)

Utah Jazz (own pick)

By doing so, we could have received a 2027 pick from the LA Clippers in a swap, which could be significantly more valuable than any of the ones we currently own.

Or perhaps any of the treasure trove of other 1st round picks we have would suffice if the 2027 picks were not desirable enough for the Philadelphia 76ers.

Did Danny Ainge drop the ball here? Having 4 picks in 2027 and changing one of them out for a potentially more valuable one seems like an easy move to make.

This trade had been off and on for months, and OKC likely stepped in at the last minute as there were no previous rumors of them being involved. But that’s the kind of deal that Danny Ainge is usually involved in – the Westbrook trade last February being a prime example.

It certainly feels like a missed opportunity to this writer for the Utah Jazz to pick up something valuable for very little in return.