The Utah Jazz have been feeling good about themselves for over a half a year even while they were still tanking because they traded for Jaren Jackson Jr. What should make them feel even better is that acquiring him also meant teams whose desperation level, like the Golden State Warriors, couldn't get their hands on him.
ESPN's Anthony Slater confirmed during his appearance on "The Hoop Collective" that the Warriors were looking into acquiring JJJ before the Jazz beat them to the punch, saying, "They were sniffing around that."
It's hard to think of how Golden State could have topped the Jazz's offer - two young players (Taylor Hendricks and Walter Clayton Jr.) and pretty valuable draft capital - but even so, acquiring JJJ forced Golden State to go to Plan B: acquiring Kristaps Porzingis, who is an exceptionally bigger risk than Jackson.
Look where Utah is now compared to Golden State. The Jazz are a team very much on the rise, while the Warriors are very much on the decline. Outside of bringing in solid rotation players like Georges Niang, Golden State is pretty much the same team (which missed the playoffs) as it was at the end of last season.
By beating the Warriors for JJJ, the Jazz have also yet again contributed to Golden State's downfall.
Jazz have played part in Warriors' recent tailspin
Times are getting bleak for the Warriors. While that is just how it works with any NBA dynasty, Utah can take some of the credit for not prolonging their reign over the NBA. They did this when they refused to cave in to Golden State's offer for Lauri Markkanen.
In all fairness, the Jazz were basically asking for Markkanen what they eventually got for Walker Kessler, but even then, why would that not have been worth it for Golden State? Markkanen would have been a perfect fit as Steph Curry's No. 2 in the Bay Area. Not to mention, The Finnisher's prowess as a shot creator and a stretch big would have given Golden State so many options.
So, knowing that the Jazz did not hand over Markkanen to the Warriors - they had no reason to - along with the fact that they beat out Golden State for a two-way star big man the Warriors definitely needed proves the impact Utah has had on the Warriors' downfall.
It's not like that's was Utah's exact intention. The takeaway here is that Utah building the playoff contender they have has also factored into Golden State's collapse. What goes up must come down, as they say.
With all that said, here's to hoping Golden State doesn't return the favor to Utah when they potentially switch sides in this regard years down the line...
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