Everyone has had a few days to digest the insanity of the Luka Doncic trade. Although the Utah Jazz may have been a superfluous detail in the deal, they deserve some attention regardless. Their participation got some attention, though, understandably, not a lot.
Their trade for Jalen Hood-Schifino got some grades. For anyone looking for The J-Notes' take on it, check out Travis Hughes' thoughts here.
Outlets like The Ringer, Yahoo Sports!, CBS Sports, and USA Today didn't even bother discussing the Jazz's side of things, and it makes sense why. They were a footnote in this deal, and there were much more pressing details to go over. However, other outlets did, though some didn't go into much detail.
The Athletic talked about it just a little, but they didn't even give it a grade. Instead they went with a pass/fail. In summation they explained that "this is what bad teams with cap flexibility are supposed to do: absorb contracts and get some picks in the process." They didn't get a letter grade but they got a pass.
The other Jazz grades were on opposite ends
The Jazz didn't get much mention from SB Nation, but they applauded the Jazz for their efforts in the deal. They explained why they gave the Jazz an A for their part.
"The Jazz got involved in this trade to take on Jalen Hood-Schifino’s salary and picked up two second round picks for their trouble. Perfect Danny Ainge move. No notes."
The Sporting News also applauded specifically Danny Ainge for taking advantage of the situation, though they acknowledged it wasn't much. For the following excerpt, Utah was given a B+.
"This isn't a great haul for the Jazz, but they get a high grade for making the deal work. Danny Ainge saw the drama unfolding in front of him. God bless him for allowing it to happen."
Bleacher Report was less forgiving of them, saying that not trying to get Doncic when they had the chance makes them look bad. They summarized it as a "missed opportunity." Because they then acknowledged that maybe because Utah never knew they had the opportunity, he gave it a D+ instead of an F-
Spoiler alert: The Jazz did not know.
The Jazz only got involved as a matter of making everything work from a financial standpoint. If the Lakers or Mavericks win a title in the next few years as a result of this trade, odds are, no one will bring up how the Jazz (technically) helped them.
But the record will show that they played a part in the perhaps the craziest deal that ever went down.