The Utah Jazz were involved in a tremendously big trade deal on Wednesday night, acquiring Russell Westbrook from the Los Angeles Lakers as part of the three-way package.
But Westbrook wasn’t the target the Jazz had their eyes set on and they don’t even intend to have him play.
Instead, CEO of basketball operations Danny Ainge loaded up on more draft picks.
The Jazz have assembled a massive package of assets — including 15 unprotected or lightly protected first-round picks through 2029 and a young core of Lauri Markkanen, Walker Kesslier, Collin Sexton and Ochai Agbaji and $60M-plus in potential cap space.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 9, 2023
The team now has 15 unprotected or “lightly protected” first-round picks through 2029.
Ainge and his crew have been quietly putting together an enormous amount of picks that will last them for years.
For the foreseeable future, they will be involved in every NBA Draft and will improve their roster more and more every year.
These picks will be even more impressive because they will go alongside the strong core of Lauri Markkanen, Walker Kessler, Collin Sexton, and others.
The Jazz are already a promising team and the fact that they have nearly 20 draft picks makes them even more promising.
Since joining the Jazz, Ainge has been doing expert work in the front office and has been involved in some of the biggest trades across the Association.
It all started last summer when they sent away Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell.
Each of those deals fetched them unprotected first-round picks.
Since then, every trade that the Jazz pursue doesn’t just involve players, but the draft selections they want so much.
The future for this team is becoming increasingly bright.
As for the present, the Jazz are 11th in the West with a 27-29 record.
They started 2022-23 as the best team in the conference but have slowly slid down to where they are now.
This season might not end as they wanted but the upcoming years are full of potential due to all these draft picks.
NEXT: The Jazz Could Help The Nets Unload Controversial Star
Great article, just change the conclusion:
This season might now end, just as they wanted, with the upcoming years full of potential due to all these draft picks.