Utah Jazz Mailbag: What Will Happen At Trade Deadline?
Jan 21, 2025, 3:38 PM
ATLANTA, GEORGIA - FEBRUARY 27: John Collins #20 of the Utah Jazz reacts against the Atlanta Hawks in the first quarter at State Farm Arena on February 27, 2024 in Atlanta, Georgia. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
(Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY – Welcome to the Utah Jazz mailbag where this week we look at the rapidly approaching NBA Trade Deadline.
Each week we will send out a prompt on X and BlueSky asking for the questions you have about the Jazz.
Then, we’ll respond to as many as we can in that week’s mailbag.
Jazz Mailbag: What Will Jazz Do At The Trade Deadline?
How many trades do you think the Jazz make before the deadline and who are the players who are most likely to ship
— Key Lime Pie 🍰 (@jazzbeargryllz) January 21, 2025
Question: How many trades do you think the Jazz make before the deadline and who are the players who are most likely to ship?
Answer: It’s hard to believe, but the trade deadline is on February 6, just over two weeks away from now.
This iteration of the Jazz front office has been extraordinarily active at each of the last two deadlines, sending out a total of seven players midway through the season.
With that in mind, I would expect the Jazz to be working the phones over the next 16 days to see what’s available on the trade market, and how they can improve their team long-term.
Now, it is important to recognize that the Jazz are in a significantly different spot at this year’s deadline compared to the last two, and as a result, they may alter their approach.
In 2023, the Jazz had a near .500 record at the trade deadline, an aging Mike Conley on the roster, as well as the expiring contracts of Jarred Vanderbilt and Malik Beasley.
Rather than chase the Play-in Tournament, the Jazz moved those three players (along with Nickeil Alexander-Walker) for a lightly protected first-round pick from the Los Angeles Lakers, Juan Toscana-Anderson, Damian Jones, and Russell Westbrook who was waived shortly after.
After back-to-back losses, the @utahjazz own the worst record in the West, are tied with the @raptors for the second-fewest wins in the league, and have the toughest remaining schedule over the final 41 games.
— Ben Anderson (@BensHoops) January 21, 2025
Last February, the Jazz again were bordering on a .500 record, had the expiring contracts of Kelly Olynyk and Simone Fontecchio, and needed to drop far enough out of the playoff race to make sure they didn’t convey their top-10 protected first-round pick to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
The Jazz flipped Olynyk and Ochai Agbaji to the Toronto Raptors for Otto Porter Jr., Kira Lewis Jr., and a first-round pick, while sending Fontecchio to the Detroit Pistons for the draft rights to Gabriele Procida and a second-round pick.
This season, the Jazz’s only true expiring contract is Patty Mills at $2.1 million, and at 10-31 on the season, they aren’t in any danger of conveying their top-10 protected first-round pick to the Thunder.
Additionally, as they’ve shown throughout the season, they’re happy to feature the youngest players on the roster for extended minutes, even if it means leaving the veterans on the sidelines.
Thus, the Jazz shouldn’t have any true urgency to force trades, either to avoid losing a valuable expiring asset for nothing, winning too many games, or risk upsetting a veteran player in a contract year by sending them to the bench.
NBA STANDINGS UPDATE ‼️
▪️ CLE gets NBA-leading 36th W
▪️ BOS is 3rd team to reach 30 wins
▪️ MEM wins 3rd straight, 0.5 GB from #2 HOUDownload the NBA App for more: https://t.co/pBKIAWOrdI pic.twitter.com/v9eJp69OWL
— NBA (@NBA) January 21, 2025
However, that doesn’t mean the Jazz don’t have several tradable assets, including could be expiring contracts.
Drew Eubanks ($5 million), Svi Mykhailiuk ($3.5 million), and Johnny Juzang ($3.1 million) all have non-guaranteed contracts beyond this season, meaning a team could acquire them with the freedom to waive them on the spot, or waive them this summer and avoid taking on any long-term money.
Teamed with Mills expiring deal, the Jazz could have between $2.1-$13.7 million in expiring contracts to send out in trade, which may be enticing for cash-strapped teams looking to get out of long-term deals.
The Jazz also have several talented players who are capable of helping teams looking to improve their rosters in John Collins, Collin Sexton, and Jordan Clarkson.
Both Sexton ($19.1 million) and Clarkson ($14.3 million) have one year of guaranteed money on their contracts beyond this season, while Collins owns a player option worth $26.5 million next year.
So what does that mean?
First, the Jazz shouldn’t feel obligated to make any moves in the next two weeks that they aren’t absolutely sure will help the roster in the long term.
I recognize fans always have interest at the trade deadline in making moves, but if the Jazz simply sit out this cycle, and John Collins picks up his player option in June, they’ll have roughly $71 million in expiring deals starting July and running through February 2026.
— Ben Anderson (@BensHoops) January 21, 2025
Outside of Mills’s veteran minimum contract, and Collins’s player option, the Jazz can hold onto every player on their roster without losing value this summer.
That’s an advantageous spot to be in, and a luxury they haven’t had each of the last two years.
Second, there’s an argument to be made that the Jazz should sit out of this year’s deadline, and wait until the summer to make moves using these assets.
Within the NBA season, teams are only able to carry a maximum of 15 guaranteed contracts on their roster.
In the offseason, that jumps to 21.
That means while most teams may only be able to make a player-for-player trade at this deadline, they’ll be able to take three or four players back in exchange for one during the summer without exceeding the roster limit.
And, consider this.
If the Jazz hold onto all of their players through the deadline, and Collins picks up his player option, they’ll enter July with roughly $71 million in expiring contracts at their disposal throughout the 2025-26 season.
Related: Utah Jazz Draft Pick Asset Tracker
Those expiring contracts teamed with a slew of young talent, and a treasure trove of draft picks is the formula that teams need to make blockbuster trades in the NBA.
Ultimately, while recent history has indicated that the Jazz are likely to be active at the trade deadline, they have leverage this season that they haven’t in years past, and may benefit from sitting out this trade cycle entirely.
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Ben Anderson is the Utah Jazz insider for KSL Sports and the co-host of Jake and Ben from 10-12p with Jake Scott on 97.5 The KSL Sports Zone. Find Ben on Twitter at @BensHoops, on Instagram @BensHoops, or on BlueSky.
