NBA Trade Deadline And The Moves That Impact The Jazz

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – The NBA trade deadline has come and gone and with more than a dozen deals completed, the Utah Jazz will must reexamine how they fit in the Western Conference landscape.

The Jazz made a small trade themselves, acquiring Toronto Raptors sharpshooter Matt Thomas in exchange for a second-round pick by way of the Golden State Warriors.

Thomas has career averages of 4.1 points, 1.2 rebounds, and 0.5 assists, but shoots a blistering 45.7 percent from the three-point line in 67 career games adding to the Jazz deep threat attack which ranks first in the NBA in threes made, and second in three-point percentage.

Breaking: The @UtahJazz have acquired guard Matt Thomas from the @Raptors. #takenote https://t.co/lxNe7vqDHB

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) March 25, 2021

The Jazz already have perhaps the deepest guard rotation in the NBA with two All-Stars in Donovan Mitchell and Mike Conley. Reserve Jordan Clarkson is the frontrunner for the NBA’s Sixt Man of the Year Award, while Joe Ingles is one of the league’s most reliable veteran reserves.

On a low-cost, non-guaranteed deal next season, Thomas gives the Jazz a strong value to keep up their three-point shooting attack if they find themselves in a salary-cap crunch after giving both Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert $200 million contracts last offseason.

Outside of Thomas, these are the deals that are most likely to impact the Jazz for the remainder of the year.

NBA Trade Deadline Reaction https://t.co/QZtHV550LV

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) March 25, 2021

Jazz And The NBA Trade Deadline

Aaron Gordon Trade To The Nuggets

Perhaps the biggest move of the deadline that will impact the Jazz is the Denver Nuggets trade for Orlando Magic forward Aaron Gordon. Gordon was the fourth pick in the vaunted 2013 NBA draft one spot ahead of where the Jazz drafted Dante Exum.

In six and a half seasons with the Magic, Gordon has averaged 12.9 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 2.5 assists, while bringing positional versatility on both ends of the floor.

Though Gordon has never reached his full potential as a playmaking forward, he has seen his shooting and assist numbers climb to career-highs in year seven in Orlando.

A reminder of the nastiness that Aaron Gordon is bringing to Denver 😤pic.twitter.com/Hfme4zSx9o

— BroBible (@BroBible) March 25, 2021

The Nuggets sent veteran guard Gary Harris, rookie RJ Hampton, and a future first-round pick to the Magic to acquire Gordon.

Harris has played sparingly this season and has dealt with ongoing injury issues over the last few years. Hampton is a long-term developmental prospect that didn’t fit the Nuggets championship timeline.

Gordon adds some credibility to a struggling Nuggets defense that has had to rely on Michael Porter Jr. and veteran big man Paul Millsap, neither of whom are capable of staying with the best wings in the NBA at this point in their careers.

However, the forward is far from the lockdown defender his reputation seems to imply.

Jazz forward Bojan Bogdanovic has averaged 19.1 points and shot 51 percent from the floor and 44 percent from three in 17 career matchups with Gordon.

Bojan Bogdanovic has averaged 19.1 points and shot 51 percent from the floor and 44 percent from three in 17 career matchups with Aaron Gordon.

— Ben Anderson (@BensHoops) March 25, 2021

Kawhi Leonard averaged 27.8 points and shot 55% from the floor and 53% from the three-point line in his one playoff series against Gordon. LeBron James has career averages of 22.3 points, 9.7 assists, and 6.8 rebounds in 14 career games against the Nugget’s latest acquisition.

Overall, Gordon adds depth to the Nuggets’ questionable frontcourt, and Denver paid a relatively low cost to land him, but NBA fans hoping for a shift in the power in the Western Conference may be underwhelmed by the final result.

Clippers Acquire Rajon Rondo

In one of the more surprising moves of the day, the Los Angeles Clippers traded longtime sixth man Lou Williams back to the Atlanta Hawks for veteran point guard Rajon Rondo.

Rondo has a history of playing to the level of his teammates which was illustrated by his 3.9 point per game average in 27 appearances with the Hawks this season shortly after playing a key role in helping the Los Angeles Lakers win the championship last season.

The veteran averaged 8.9 points, 6.6 assists, and 4.3 rebounds in 16 postseason games for the Lakers last season and brought steady leadership alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

Rondo to the clippers…. best trade today

— Draymond Green (@Money23Green) March 25, 2021

That’s the player the Clippers hope they are getting in exchange for Williams and two future second-round draft picks.

Williams has seen a sharp decline in his numbers this season, dropping to 12.1 points per game in under 22 minutes per game. Despite his history as a Sixth Man of the Year candidate, it’s clear Williams best days are behind him, and his defensive shortcomings were going to be even more apparent in the postseason with the decline of his offensive contributions.

This was a smart move for the Clippers and gives them a valuable veteran in the backcourt with a proven track record in the playoffs that could be a difficult matchup for Donovan Mitchell and Mike Conley.

Trail Blazers Trade For Norman Powell

The Portland Trail Blazers added another lethal scorer to their backcourt with the acquisition of Norman Powell from the Raptors.

Powell has had a breakout season in Toronto averaging 19.6 points per game while shooting nearly 50 percent from the floor and 43 percent from the three-point line.

Portland sent out former Jazzman Rodney Hood and promising guard Gary Trent Jr. in the trade, losing some depth and size, but adding a more proven scorer to the roster.

Norman Powell dropped a CAREER-HIGH 43 PTS on 78% (14-18) shooting against Detroit!#WeTheNorth | @Raptors pic.twitter.com/948HgRApRH

— NBA Canada (@NBACanada) March 18, 2021

With a player option next season of just $11 million and a somewhat depleted free-agent market, Powell is almost guaranteed to opt-out of the final year of his contract and seek a financial windfall this summer.

The Blazers don’t have much in the way of cap space this offseason, so this may be a short-term rental, but the same could have been said for both Hood and Trent Jr. who can become free agents this summer.

Powell gives the Blazers another dangerous scorer to pair with Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum, elevating them into the conversation with the Jazz as perhaps the deepest backcourt in the NBA.

However, he does little to aid their defensive woes where they rank second to last in the NBA in defensive rating.

Auditioning Powell may give the Blazers flexibility this offseason should they choose to part ways with McCollum in exchange for a more proven front-court piece, and even if not, he’s a short-term upgrade over Hood and Trent Jr.

Mavericks Land JJ Redick And Nicolo Melli

The Dallas Mavericks acquired JJ Redick and forward Nicolo Melli from the New Orleans Pelicans in exchange for James Johnson, Wes Iwundu, and a second-round pick.

Rumors emerged yesterday that Redick would likely be bought out if a trade couldn’t be agreed upon, but New Orleans was able to land Iwundu through next season and a second pick instead.

Redick is shooting a career-low 36 percent from the three-point line but should benefit greatly playing off the gravity created by Luka Doncic in Dallas, and vice versa. The Mavericks were inexplicably silent during the last offseason and needed to improve the roster around Doncic to build upon their seventh seeding in the Western Conference.

The Mavericks got better with this trade, but it shouldn’t have a major impact on the Jazz other than taking Redick off the buyout market where they were rumored to have interest.

Rockets Send Oladipo To Miami

Though the Houston Rockets seem to be headed towards a long and painful rebuild, trading guard Victor Oladpio for a treasure chest of assets could have had a major impact on the West going forward.

Instead, the Rockets landed Kelly Olynyk, Avery Bradley, and a future first-round pick swap from the Heat that may not yield much return.

With the Rockets not wanting to win games, and Oladipo unlikely to re-sign with the team this offseason moving the guard made sense. However, Houston acquired Oladipo as part of the bigger blockbuster James Harden trade that saw the Rockets send Caris LeVert to Indiana for the expiring deal.

This trade preserves the Rockets’ salary cap flexibility this summer, but the return for Harden who is playing at an MVP level in Brooklyn continues to look worse by the day, and this didn’t help.

Ultimately that’s good news for the Jazz as the Rockets’ future becomes murkier.

Raptors Don’t Trade Kyle Lowry

Perhaps the biggest impact the Jazz will feel comes from the biggest trade that didn’t get made. Raptors guard Kyle Lowry was the best player available at the trade deadline and was rumored to be sought after by both the Lakers and Clippers, though neither team was able to complete a deal.

Lowry is averaging 17.4 points, 7.5 assists, and 5.6 rebounds while shooting near 44 percent from the floor and 39 percent from three.

This might be the most impactful thing that happens to the Jazz this deadline. https://t.co/ptKccOQ8pZ

— Ben Anderson (@BensHoops) March 25, 2021

The veteran is a proven playoff star, helping lead the Raptors to their first championship two seasons ago alongside Kawhi Leonard.

Had Lowry been moved, he would have further cemented the LA teams as the favorites in the West, but as is, the Jazz are far better served to see him stay put in the East.

In the latest episode of the Jazz Notes podcast, Ben Anderson and Sarah Todd reacted to the biggest trades across the league. Listen in the player below.