No one really needs a lecture on why the Utah Jazz made a smart move trading for Jaren Jackson Jr. when they had the chance. What's been the real surprise is how well the trade has aged even if it's only been eight months since the deal was agreed to. Walter Clayton Jr.'s swift fall from grace is proof of that.
It's recently come out that Memphis is looking to trade Clayton to cut their roster down to 15, though in all fairness, he's not the only one. Regardless though, it doesn't seem as though the Grizzlies truly value Clayton, which makes trading for JJJ look smarter, but it also is a reminder of the mistake the Jazz corrected when they traded Clayton.
Utah didn't just draft Clayton. For anyone who remembers, they traded up for him. They did this in part because they wanted to part ways with Collin Sexton and Jordan Clarkson while also trying to make it clear to Keyonte George that his future with the team was not a sure thing after his disastrous sophomore season.
The only hangup is that Clayton was honestly meh in his half season with Utah. The fact that his stock has only gotten surprisingly worse since then only further shows that the Jazz made a mistake that they luckily rectified pretty quickly.
They clearly made the most out of it too
Not many teams can say they turned a draft bust into a franchise cornerstone, but the Jazz can. Imagine the scenario that they keep Clayton, but may have had to dump him the same way they just did with Cody Williams over a month ago.
That would have been two wasted first-round picks. One being a former lottery pick and the other being a first-round pick they traded up for in the first place. But luckily, Utah got ahead of the problem even when they weren't really meaning to in the first place. What originally was intended to be acquiring a game-changer turned into the chance to make the most out of what could have been a lost opportunity.
Over the next few years, JJJ is probably not going to be remembered most for the fact that acquiring him stopped the Clayton situation from becoming the disaster that it appears to be in Grind City. In fact, not many will remember that part. However, it will be a fun little detail to know that he helped the Jazz quickly erase a bad decision before it became one.
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