Grade the trade: Jazz acquire All-Star point guard in proposed deal

After two straight seasons where they missed the playoffs, the Utah Jazz are looking to return to their former glory as a perennial Western Conference playoff contender. Fans in Salt Lake City had become accustomed to winning throughout the latter half of the 2010s and early part of the 2020s, and CEO of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge is of course eager to put the Jazz back on the map.

We all knew that the 2022 offseason would mark a huge change in Utah when the organization opted to trade both Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell. With the two stars that built the Jazz into a powerhouse gone, it was time to move into a time of rebuilding.

But even after moving off their two best players, Utah never completely bottomed out and remained in the play-in range, winning 37 and 31 games in the past two seasons respectively. In doing so, they were able to take time to evaluate their current crop of talent and figure out what exactly they had to work with moving forward.

Now that the front office has done that, it seems they could be looking to make some big moves in the near future. According to HoopsHype NBA Insider Michael Scotto, Jazz owner Ryan Smith would like to add more star talent to the roster, and Danny Ainge has reportedly been "aggressively" monitoring the trade market.