The Utah Jazz got bold at the deadline, selling off two of their players Simone Fontecchio and Kelly Olynyk for some late-draft picks. Fontecchio was dealt for an early second-round draft pick, while Olynyk was traded for a very late first-round draft pick. It's very likely that the two picks will end up falling mere spots from one another when it's all said and done.
We already covered the Fontecchio trade and how right now it looks very bad for the Jazz, and that caused us to look at Olynyk's play for the Toronto Raptors and honestly, that deal doesn't look good for Utah either. Fontecchio and Olynyk were two of the team's best two-way players, and each provided a unique facet to the offense. For Fontecchio, it was his ability to score from deep at a higher clip than others, while Olynyk was able to do everything on offense. Maybe not as well as others, but no one person could do as many things as he could.
So when both got traded, many hoped the picks would turn into something useful, but considering rookies rarely ever turn into core players, the odds that either pick conveys into something better than Fontecchio and Olynyk aren't good. Especially for the level of production, each man is producing..
We've talked about Fontecchio already, but Olynyk is also having a second run with the Raptors. In 16 games with the Raptors, Olynyk is shooting 51% from the floor, 36% from three, and 79% from the free throw line while averaging 11.8 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.6 assists all while playing center for them.
The Raptors see value in Olynyk and have given him a new contract since arriving in Toronto. This may be to later trade him next season to a contender, or due to the team believing they're looking at a quick turnaround with all the moves that were made this season. Regardless, Olynyk's production and the fact the Jazz only got a very-very-late first-round pick suggests a huge mountain for any potential rookie to have to overcome to justify this move.