The Utah Jazz have for the most part handled their rebuild well. There's some moves they would take back in hindsight, like extending Jordan Clarkson or trading Ochai Agbaji, but they haven't made any moves that could have drastically changed the team's entire landscape.
They could have last offseason, but they chose not to. Before agreeing to an extension, Lauri Markkanen had been linked to the Warriors. He would have made a ton of sense from their side of things, but the Jazz's price for him was understandably high.
The Jazz wanted the farm for Markkanen, and the Warriors refused to bite. While the Warriors likely regret that with how their season has gone, the Jazz made the right move by not making the move. Especially since the Warriors have some issues that they need to resolve.
They didn't extend Jonathan Kuminga this offseason, likely leading to restricted free agency where it's not clear what their plans are for him. All of that could have been the Jazz's problem, but they avoided it. Bleacher Report's Andy Bailey explained why the ambiguity surrounding Kuminga's situation makes him one of the most overrated trade targets.
"If (Kuminga) really does want a contract that pays him an average of $35 million annually (as he reportedly does), teams should be wary of giving up real value for him.
"Kuminga is a career 34.2 percent three-point shooter with a low assist rate, steal rate, and block rate. If he maintains his barely-above-average box plus/minus, this will be his first season in the black in that catch-all metric."
Kuminga's young and he's shown that he has a long career ahead of him. He hasn't necessarily shown that he is a building block of a rebuild. There's a lot to like about him, but not a lot to love.
Why this is a sigh of relief for the Jazz
Whether or not Markkanen is long-term fixture for Utah, it's clear that he is an All-Star-caliber player. To some degree, it is a shame that he's not spending his prime with other stars, but he's made it clear how much he loves it in Utah.
That is pretty rare to find. Nothing against Kuminga here, but there's no guarantee he ever reaches Markkanen's level when he hits his peak, and there's no telling if he will become as attached to Utah as Markkanen has been.
One could argue that under Will Hardy's tutelage, Kuminga could become an All-Star. However, should that come at the price of giving up Markkanen while paying Kuminga $30-plus million annually over the next several years when he hasn't proven he's on that level yet?
Maybe Kuminga will be with the Jazz in due time, but they should let the Warriors deal with that drama before deciding to trade for him, and that might be exactly what they're doing. For all the praise the Jazz have received for the moves they've made since blowing up most of their squad, they should also be praised for the moves they didn't make.
And not trading Markkanen for Kuminga as he's up for an extension fits under that umbrella.