Inside The Jazz

Insider Dishes Details on Failed Jazz Trade Attempt

It appears the Utah Jazz were close to upgrading the roster at the trade deadline.

Art Cummings

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With the 2024 NBA trade deadline now in the rearview mirror, the chatter concerning the Utah Jazz being buyers at the trade deadline can be put to bed. The Jazz had plans to upgrade the roster and add draft capital at the trade deadline, but it never came to fruition. 

However, the rumors were hot and heavy leading up to the deadline, thanks to NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN. Wojnarowski spoke on the matter on his podcast, The Woj Pod, on the morning of the trade deadline. 

“They [Jazz] could come out of this week with a better team and more draft picks,” Wojnarowski said.

The Jazz ultimately did add more draft capital, but playing for keeps will need to wait at least another year. The subject of how close Utah was to becoming buyers was discussed when Jazz beat writer Tony Jones of The Athletic joined the Jackpotting Around: A Utah Jazz Podcast.

“The Jazz were in on a guy that, I absolutely 100% cannot say the name, if they had made that trade they would have been a buyer,” Jones said. “It was not Dejounte Murray. The Jazz never got past an exploratory conversation for Murray. There was a guy; it would have been a buy, and he was pretty off the grid. He’s a really good player. The Jazz were about 60 to 65 percent down the road to that, and it just kind of fell apart. There was a lot of stuff that had to happen. That was the only buy trade they were in past Tuesday. Everything else was in sell mode. If they would have done that trade it would have been interesting times for sure.”

The insight coming from Jones was interesting, to say the least, considering all the tank talk regarding Utah wanting to get back its top-10 protected pick first-round pick. Utah will retain that selection if they finish in the bottom 10 of the league. If not, the pick goes to the Oklahoma City Thunder.

But according to Jones, the Jazz had their sights set on a player who would have been an upgrade to the starting lineup and, interestingly, wasn't on anybody’s radar.

“I would say that he wasn’t a star, but he was better than a starter,” Jones said. Nobody had linked that guy to the Jazz at all, and it would have been out of left field.”

This certainly had Jazz fans buzzing on social media, discussing who this mystery player could be. We may not ever find out who it is, or the Jazz could potentially try to reconvene with the team they were in talks with during the offseason.

The Jazz were active on the phones leading up to the trade deadline. Due to the amount of cap space and assets they have going into the offseason, there is no reason to expect that to stop. With Utah still rebuilding, Jazz fans can expect more rumors moving forward, and all bets are off with Jazz CEO Danny Ainge steering the ship. 

Stay tuned

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Art Cummings
ART CUMMINGS

Art Cummings is in his first year as a contributor at The Frozen Rope: Inside The Jazz. Art has covered the Utah Jazz via his podcast Jackpotting Around. 

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