Has the excitement worn off yet, Utah Jazz fans? Probably not. That extends beyond the fact that the Jazz just got one of the NBA's best two-way bigs, but also because they've hardly ever made trades like this. They've had some big mid-season additions in the past, but Jaren Jackson Jr.?
It's a pretty heavy investment, as his salary explodes by even more next season, but it's one that makes all the sense in the world to Utah. He fits what they need to a tee, which should make everyone excited. With that out in the open, trading for Jackson also means something else: Austin Reaves ain't coming to Utah.
Before the Jackson trade, Utah was expected to enter this offseason as a major cap space team, and the one player who had routinely come up as their primary target was Reaves. He not only fits their timeline, but he would give them yet another excellent option on offense.
However, with Jackson on Utah's payroll now, that saps all of the available cap room from Utah, so Reaves will no longer be an option unless he is willing to take a paycut or, somehow, the Jazz and Lakers agree to a crazy trade.
It was a nice thought for a while, but the bototm line is that the Lakers had the inside track on re-signing Reaves. With all the LeBron James uncertainty (personal prediction: he'll amscray from LA this summer), they have extra incentive to keep Reaves, and he has gone on the record saying that's what he wants to do.
So Utah would have entered the offseason with hope, but not with the best likelihood of winning the Reaves sweepstakes. With Jackson, they don't have to worry about that.
Jackson is better for Utah than Reaves would have been anyway
Look, Reaves is a fantastic player. He's been one of the NBA's most impressive player development stories in the 2020s. He would have given the Jazz's offense another dimension. However, another pure scorer was something the Jazz didn't truly need as though their lives depended on it.
But with Jackson, yup, they needed someone like him. A few weeks back, Anthony Davis was floated as a Jazz target because of how many needs he would fill for the team. The only drawback would, be of course, his injury woes.
Welp, the Jazz went out and got diet Anthony Davis. Jackson may not and probably never will be on the level of Davis, but he hasn't been as injury-prone and covers a lot of the same ground Davis does. He's not the shot creator Davis is, but he doesn't have to be.
He's a floor-spacer who won't be asked to do too much offensively. Utah's defense has been dreadful since pretty much the moment they traded Rudy Gobert. Comparing Jackson and Reaves as players is apples an oranges, but if you ask who would fit better with the current Jazz roster, it's Jackson by a mile.