The Utah Jazz pulled off a pretty shocking late-summer trade by swapping Cody Williams and John Konchar for Josh Green. Why'd they do this? Well, because Green is more likely to be a cog in their rotation. Utah also made a move like this because they straight-up admitted Williams and Konchar weren't going to play if they stuck around.
Williams and Konchar aren't necessarily a waste of roster space, but the problem is, Utah has guys who simply have more to offer than they do. It's fair to suggest that, as hybrid guard-wings, the Jazz have Lauri Markkanen, Ace Bailey, Darryn Peterson, Brice Sensabaugh, Svi Mykhailiuk, and even Josh Okogie likely ahead of them in their depth chart.
It would have been hard for them to get consistent playing time over them. Utah wants to win this season. Williams could be a good player down the line - ESPN's Shams Charania confirmed that Minnesota plans to keep him - but for him to make progress, he would have to play, and that probably wasn't happening in Utah.
Konchar wasn't bad in his brief stint as a Jazzman, but it would have been hard for him to carve out a niche in the rotation with so many players ahead of him.
How much will Green play?
Green is the more proven option than Konchar or Williams, but were the Jazz interested in him or his contract? Green is more of a 3&D player than the recently made Jazz alumni, but his contract is a nice piece to have down the line if it becomes clear they need a better Walker Kessler replacement than Jusuf Nurkic.
The players projected to be ahead of Williams and Konchar before they made the trade? It's hard seeing how that also won't be a problem for Green. Making it harder for him is the fact that he will be playing for a new deal. Like Konchar and Williams, he doesn't really deserve to be buried.
This should make for quite an interesting dynamic for Utah. For the first time ever, Will Hardy has the chance to see what sticks and what doesn't with nothing holding him back this time. Green deserves a fair shot in Utah, but if Hardy give him a leash, it likely won''t be a long one.
By trading Konchar and Williams for Green, Utah definitely helped the roster crunch and got an upgrade in their rotation, but didn't necessarily solve the problem entirely.
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