Rebuilding an NBA team requires finding a young superstar to build around. Tanking only matters if you are able to land that star. For the Utah Jazz to shake free of their years-long cycle of losing and crack open a window to a brighter tomorrow, they need to find a way to land that young star.
Utah hoped that goal would be achieved this year in the NBA Draft Lottery. A 17-65 record was enough to give them the top slot in the lottery, but an absolutely wild night of improbabilities saw four teams leap the Jazz, including the Dallas Mavericks taking the No. 1 pick and the San Antonio Spurs moving up for the third consecutive season to No. 2. Utah dropped all the way to the fifth pick.
A future star can come from any slot in the draft -- just take a look at the final four teams in the NBA Playoffs this season. Anthony Edwards is leading the Minnesota Timberwolves, but he is facing off against No. 11 pick Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. In the Eastern Conference Finals, it's No. 12 pick Tyrese Haliburton taking on second-round pick Jalen Brunson.
Yet it's undeniable that the higher a draft pick that you have, the better chance you have at finding that star player. In the 2025 NBA Draft, most draft analysts agree that there are two elite prospects: Cooper Flagg, who looks like a can't-miss future superstar; and Dylan Harper, a big point guard with the skillset to run a high-end offense.
Picking at fifth means the Jazz won't have a chance to draft either -- unless they can trade up. The Spurs already have a pair of on-ball guards in De'Aaron Fox and Stephon Castle, both of whom the franchise clearly likes and were added in the last year. Will they try to shoehorn another on-ball guard into the mix, or would they be open to a trade that better unlocks the court around franchise superstar Victor Wembanyama?
Let's look at one potential trade for the Jazz to move up and see if the deal would be worth it for Danny Ainge to make.
Building a Jazz trade for Dylan Harper
Historically it has been an expensive proposition to trade up in the Top 5 of the NBA Draft. It has most often happened purely with draft picks; from the Dallas Mavericks trading up for Luka Doncic, to the Philadelphia 76ers trading up for Markelle Fultz, to the Atlanta Hawks trading up to draft De'Andre Hunter, the trade packages are generally made up of future draft picks.
The reason is that teams picking in the Top 5 are often not ready to accelerate their timetable with veteran players. That's not the case for the San Antonio Spurs, who have a Top-10 player in Victor Wembanyama and added another All-Star in point guard De'Aaron Fox. They have the No. 2 pick but are also looking to add veteran talent to propel them forward.
That's why a trade involving Lauri Markkanen could be enticing. He would slot next to Wembanyama and open up the court, both clearing space for the team's shot-challenged guards and giving Wembanyama more space to work inside. His versatility and skill would be a dream pairing next to a gravitational force like Wembanyama.
Here is one version of a package to offer the Spurs to trade up from No. 5:
There are two primary components to this trade. First, the value of trading up from No. 5 to No. 2, which historically has been one premium draft pick with real upside (an expected lottery pick with the chance to hit the jackpot) or two solid first-round picks. That value is provided here with Lauri Markkanen -- for all that Danny Ainge would maintain that he is worth 10 picks and 5 premium young players, his value is probably just slightly above the value of the trade-up.
The second component is matching the salary of Lauri Markkanen to make the trade legal, and that means multiple players have to come back from the Spurs to the Jazz. The beauty of things for the Spurs in exploring trades and the Jazz for this specific trade is that there isn't any bad money on the Spurs' books any longer, so everyone coming back has some level of value.
Keldon Johnson is a solid player being properly paid; the Jazz have taken fliers on such players in the recent past, including John Collins. Harrison Barnes is a well-liked combo forward who would be perfect to flip to a contending team. Jeremy Sochan is secretly a major part of this trade, as he still has a lot of two-way potential to develop into a complementary star. That hasn't happened in San Antonio, and in adding Castle to their core there may no longer be space for Sochan, but he is a real upside swing for Utah to get back in this deal.
Is all of that worth moving on from Markkanen? It's fine to say that this isn't quite enough value for the sharpshooting big man, but the reality is that keeping Markkanen only makes it more difficult to achieve what they truly need: draft picks high enough to land a difference-maker. Picking later in the lottery has not yielded that star yet, be that Cody Williams, Taylor Hendricks or even Keyontae George. Could Tre Johnson or Kon Knueppel or Jeremiah Fears turn into that star at No. 5 this season? Perhaps.
Harper is a much stronger swing, and it would help the Jazz transition into the next phase of their development, playing out another low-win season but with hope in the form of a top prospect. What is difficult to do with Markkanen on the team is much easier with a rookie guard, and it brightens the future.
This is a trade the Jazz should strongly consider making. It's not the obvious overpay that Ainge is used to seeing when he makes trades, but it's enough value for Markkanen and unlocks the next steps for Utah.
As we said in the title, this trade could change everything for the Utah Jazz.