Jazz Among Teams Who ‘Must Blow It Up’ Ahead of NBA Trade Deadline

The trade season is gaining some steam, and the Utah Jazz are at the front of it.

The pressure is starting to build around the league ahead of the NBA trade deadline, now just a month removed until the looming date finally arrives. It’s a time when many franchises reach a crossroads to take a deep look in the mirror to decide what their next steps are with their roster.

Is it time to be a buyer? Sellers? For the Utah Jazz, some think it might be time to start looking ahead to this summer’s draft rather than trying to contend with the season at hand.

Utah has a 17-20 record at the start of January, good enough for 12th in the Western Conference. They’re in the weird, foggy middle ground in the NBA where the team isn’t bad enough to earn a top lottery pick, but not quite there to make a serious Play-In tournament push. It effectively puts the Jazz in "blow it up” territory.

Greg Swartz of Bleacher Report voiced how the Jazz should be among the few teams who should consider making a bit of a reset, with the status of their draft pick this summer being up in the air as the current standings hold:

"There should continue to be a youth movement around [Lauri Markkanen], one that began with the three first-round picks last summer. Utah only gets to keep its 2024 first-round pick should it fall in the top 10 selections overall (anything else goes to the Oklahoma City Thunder). The Jazz are right on the borderline, with their pick currently projected to fall at No. 11 overall, thus going to OKC...Utah missed out on a top pick in the 2023 draft by being too good for too long to begin the season. There's still time to tank now, but only if players like Clarkson, Collins, Olynyk, and others are traded."

With only a month to go until the deadline hits, the Jazz must pick a direction. While the recent success on the floor has been fun to watch, the long-term prospects of the team state this season rely heavily on how they finish.

Placing 11th in the draft order and allowing OKC to rob that coveted pick cannot be an option on the table. It either needs to be a total commitment to a Play-In appearance (which is an uphill climb in itself), or valuable veteran players need to be shipped off in the coming weeks.

Guys like John Collins, Jordan Clarkson, and Kelly Olynyk all stand out as rumored pieces in trade talks ahead of the deadline. Sending off one or even all of them in return for future capital and/or better draft positioning aligns with the vision Danny Ainge has held since joining the front office.

We saw it with Rudy Gobert. We saw it with Donovan Mitchell. We even saw it with Mike Conley at last year’s deadline. If this team is not built to contend for a championship, it’s time to start taking the steps to get to those heights.

We’ll see how this Jazz front office responds as we approach the looming February 8th cutoff.

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