It was a busy deadline for the Utah Jazz — just probably not in the way many expected.
While most observers around the league expected the team to move on from their big-name veterans like Collin Sexton, John Collins, and Jordan Clarkson in exchange for future pieces, instead, the Jazz made a series of minor moves that ultimately resulted in the team acquiring five second-round picks and a 24-year-old bench forward.
The trail of transactions reads as follows:
• Last summer, the Jazz used their roster space by signing Drew Eubanks and Patty Mills to small veteran deals.
• On Saturday morning, the Jazz traded Eubanks and Mills to the L.A. Clippers for P.J. Tucker, Mo Bamba, and a 2030 second-round pick.
• On Saturday night, the Jazz traded $55,000 to each of the Dallas Mavericks and Los Angeles Lakers in order to take on Jalen Hood-Schifino’s contract, and receive two 2025 second-round picks, one from each team. Relatedly, the Jazz waived Bamba to fit Hood-Schifino on the roster.
• On Wednesday, the Jazz traded Tucker to the Miami Heat, receiving Dennis Schroder from the Warriors in a multi-team trade. The Jazz also received a 2031 second-round pick.
• On Thursday, the Jazz expanded Wednesday’s deal, sending Schroder to the Detroit Pistons for K.J. Martin, Josh Richardson, and a 2028 second-round pick. Hood-Schifino was waived to fit both incoming players on the roster.
The Jazz will waive Richardson and keep Martin on the roster.
In all, the Jazz received five second-round picks for Eubanks and Mills' short-term contracts, as well as taking on small salary deals that don’t extend into next season.
(Rick Bowmer | AP) Utah Jazz center Walker Kessler (24) and Philadelphia 76ers forward KJ Martin (1) battle for a rebound during the first half of an NBA basketball game Thursday, Feb. 1, 2024, in Salt Lake City.
Here are the details on the second-round picks:
• The 2025 L.A. Clippers second-round pick (received from the Lakers in the Hood-Schifino deal).
• A complicated 2025 second-round pick that could be any of four teams' selections, but will almost certainly be Dallas' second-rounder. (The official details, for those deeply interested: take the most favorable of Detroit’s, Golden State’s, and Washington’s second-round pick in 2025 — likely Washington’s. Then compare that to Dallas' second-round pick. The Jazz receive the least favorable of the two.)
• A 2028 second-round pick that will be the least favorable between Utah, Detroit, and New York’s selections in that draft.
• A 2030 second-round pick from the Clippers. (The Jazz already owned the rights to swap second-rounders in 2030, but the Eubanks/Mills deal gave them the pick outright.)
• A 2031 second-round pick that will be the most favorable of the Miami Heat and Indiana Pacers' selections in that draft.
They also received Martin, and will give him a chance on the roster. Martin is the 24-year-old son of 2000 No. 1 overall pick Kenyon Martin who spent 15 seasons in the NBA, most notably with the Denver Nuggets. KJ Martin, meanwhile, spent the first three years of his career with the Houston Rockets. He last played with the Sixers this season in 24 games, starting seven. He averaged six points and three rebounds in 20 minutes per contest with the Sixers, who largely dumped him for salary cap relief.
Finally, the Jazz also pulled off a three-for-one pick swap back on Jan. 21, sending three of their least favorable first-round picks in 2025, 2027, and 2029 for the Phoenix Suns' unprotected first-round pick in 2031.
But with all of these deals and activity occurring around the team, what’s notable is the trades that didn’t occur. Veterans Collins, Clarkson, and Sexton remain with the Jazz, with the team not receiving offers it liked for those players.
The Jazz have been resting those players for strategic games this season, losing games and maximizing the number of ping-pong combinations they’ll receive in 2025’s NBA Draft Lottery. The franchise hopes to receive the No. 1 pick and, along with it, Duke freshman phenom Cooper Flagg.
