Don't speed up the timeline: How the Jazz should navigate the trade deadline

Should the Jazz be buyers?

NO.

...Oh, did you want me to elaborate? The Jazz have spent the last two years accumulating draft picks from other teams in return for their best players. They used to be a veteran team, but elected to pursue a rebuild when their team felt stuck. Moving forward deliberately will be key to long-term success. Losing now is not a big deal, as long as the team's future looks bright.

Imagine my surprise when I read this statement about the Jazz's potential as a Dejounte Murray suitor from Bleacher Report:

"Even though the Lakers and Hawks have had pretty extensive conversations about a trade for Murray, according to Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium, the Jazz could easily outbid Los Angeles for Murray, and they should."

- Bleacher Report

With the recent resurgence of Collin Sexton and the promising performance of Keyonte George, giving up future draft capital to bring in a player like Murray could be detrimental to each point guard who would lose minutes to make space for Murray. Why make a veteran addition when that seems to work against their current trajectory? The Jazz have shown interest in another veteran: Hornets forward, Miles Bridges, per Yahoo Sports.

"The Jazz are also one of several teams who’ve called on Charlotte Hornets forward Miles Bridges, league sources told Yahoo Sports, along with Detroit and Phoenix. Bridges would have to be consulted prior to any deal, as he received trade veto rights when he signed a qualifying offer from Charlotte."

- Yahoo Sports

Looking past Bridges' unsettling off-the-court history, he is a decent player who could be a shot-in-the-arm addition to enhance the Jazz's rotation. But that isn't the point. By giving up players and draft picks to upgrade the roster, the Jazz would be trying to artificially speed up the timeline of their success. To speed things up would be premature for a team that is still contructing its foundation. Pushing for a top-six seed could be possible, but would be completely to the rebuilding efforts.

Winning is fun. Watching our favorite team win the championship is every fan's dream (I can only dream--being a lifetime Jazz fan). Conversely, losing is often not fun. When the Pistons broke the NBA record for consecutive losses in a season earlier this year, the city of Detroit didn't exactly throw the team a parade. But sometimes, losing in the present is a necessary growing pain for a team that hopes to win in the future.

The Jazz are cooking up something special. I love their young core, and I think that some players have the potential to lift the Jazz to title contention. By shipping off their assets to upgrade with a veteran player, they may win more games in the short term, but their long-term potential could be stunted. That isn't worth it for me.