Former Utah Jazz coach reveals why he thinks the players are upset about the trades

Gordon Chiesa is a former Utah Jazz assistant coach, having coached under Jerry Sloan for most of Sloan's tenure with the franchise. He has a pretty impressive mind for the game and a sense of what works and what doesn't. When it comes to the ability to read a room and deduce why things have gone the way they do, Chiesa can honestly say he made a living off of such things.

A truly great coach of his time, Chiesa doesn't coach much anymore but instead is one of Salt Lake City's most called-upon pundits to break down the Jazz's current goings-on. He recently went on ESPN 700's, the Billy Reily Show (via Sports Illustrated) to talk about the team's struggles, who were at the time of the interview 0-2 following the NBA Trade Deadline.

The topic of conversation revolved around the idea that the Jazz players who didn't get traded were potentially upset about the team's sudden and shocking change of direction at the deadline. Chiesa didn't hold back, explaining that the guys that were traded were very well-liked by the teammates who remained in Salt Lake City, saying;

“Kelly Olynyk, besides being a very good player — he's popular. His teammates liked him. They liked him off the court, and as a floor mate, they loved the way he played. Fontecchio, that guy played hard and made shots, and you get the feeling he has a spirit about himself. Ochai Abaji was a younger player, but I'm sure the younger players liked him as a guy they can relate to."

Chiesa isn't wrong, either. This is a team that had great chemistry, which was how they were able to turn around their season so impressively. Now, the front office destroyed that chemistry for the sake of a few mid-tier draft picks that likely won't help in the long run.

If the franchise isn't able to capitalize on guys like Lauri Markkanen and Collin Sexton and end up trading them, then this will be seen as one of the moments in time in which the franchise fumbled this era of Jazz basketball.

Let's hope that doesn't become the case.