The Utah Jazz are a team of two minds. On one hand, they are clearly good enough to get to the playoffs, at the very least the play-in side of the tournament as is. On the other hand, they could certainly use a helping hand or two to bolster the roster. Enter the NBA Trade Deadline, one of the busiest, most insane times of the year for the world of the NBA.
The Utah Jazz are rumored to be looking to make some moves this deadline that would further improve the team beyond this year. We're talking about long-term investments, at least that's the belief from Ryan MacMahon, who went on the Lowe Post podcast and talked trades, specifically Utah Jazz trades. In his appearance he made mention of the Jazz's intents, saying (via Sports Illustrated)
"They are trying to build a contender as quickly as possible. That's exactly what Danny Ainge, Justin Zanik, and Ryan Smith told me last year. Nothing has changed there. If they land in the Play-In, great, but that is not going to be their goal."
This flew in the face of the news that came on Wednesday, as the Jazz traded away starting small forward Simone Fontecchio to the Detroit Pistons in a deal that brought them back Kevin Knox, Fontecchio's countrymen and fellow Team Italy teammate, Gabriele Procida, as well as a 2024 second-round pick.
Fontecchio was one of the better Three-and-D guys the Jazz had and assuming the move wasn't done with future moves in mind, like landing Mikal Bridges and moving Walker Kessler back into the starting lineup, then the trade doesn't make much sense for a team that is looking to build a contender as quickly as possible.
With names like Jordan Clarkson and Kelly Olynyk rumored to be on the move as well, the Jazz may not be the buyers we thought they'd be after all.