Before the Utah Jazz acquired Jaren Jackson Jr., they were projected to be a cap space team this offseason, having tens of millions to offer the best. But once the JJJ trade happened, that seemingly took all of it, as not only was his contract quite expensive, but the figures in his deal were set to catapult and be on the payroll for the next four years.
Doing so should have eliminated all hope of adding a premier player in free agency, or more specifically, Utah's hope of adding Austin Reaves. Apparently, that might not be the case after all.
Bleacher Report's Eric Pincus revealed during his appearance that the Jazz still have interest in Reaves.
“I’ve heard that the Utah Jazz like Austin Reaves. I don’t think that’s a shock, but I’ve heard that that’s one of the teams that’s interested in Austin Reaves,” Pincus said.
Regardless of what their cap situation looks like now, Reaves would still make sense in Utah, as he would make their offense even more lethal than it already is, as he's one of the NBA's most efficient scorers.
How the Jazz would make that work is anyone's guess
The reason why this notion comes off as a little laughable is because Reaves is slated to get his biggest payday, which he absolutely deserves. He's been such a great story for the Lakers, and his ascension into becoming a consistent 25-point scorer should earn him a max deal.
Los Angeles isn't likely to play games with him after all that he's shown them over the past few years, especially with the ongoing belief that LeBron James will bolt this summer. That by itself would make it hard for the Jazz to pry him away, period, even if they had the money to do so.
But with the JJJ trade, they won't be able to do that, making it harder to see how Utah could make this happen. In fact, it's fair to argue that trading for Jackson may have been Utah admitting they didn't feel great about their chances of getting Reaves in the first place.
What Pincus says here should be taken with a big grain of salt, but if this is legitimate, it sounds exciting despite not being likely. If Utah can add Reaves while still maintaining a core of JJJ, Lauri Markkanen, Keyonte George, Walker Kessler, and Ace Bailey, no one should be against that.
That's not a championship team. That's a dynasty. The only problem is that this isn't 2K.