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The Utah Jazz as a drafting powerhouse. They have amazing scouts, and make great picks. If there is a player they want at a spot, they make trades to get him there. And moreso, if they see a draft is stocked, they'll get the assets needed in order to get the guy they need. This means they trade for draft picks, and trade draft picks. One thing they haven't really done is 'win' a trade on paper by getting the best player in the trade. This is the old convention and old way of thinking, but it's how most fans see winners and losers.
Let's look at the last 30 trades this franchise has made. How many of them come during the season? How many of them happen with the draft strategy in mind?
| M | D | Y | Team(s) | Leaving Jazz | Coming to Jazz | |
| 1 | AUG | 16 | 2000 | 4 TM | Howard Eisley, Adam Keefe, 2001 1st (Joseph Forte) | Donyell Marshall, Bruno Sundov |
| 2 | JUN | 26 | 2002 | ORL | Ryan Humphrey, Jamal Sampson | Curtis Borchardt |
| 3 | AUG | 5 | 2003 | SAC | 2004 2nd (Ricky Minard) | Keon Clark, 2004 2nd (Luis Flores), 2007 2nd (Stanko Barac) |
| 4 | SEP | 30 | 2003 | HOU | John Amaechi, 2004 2nd (Luis Flores), Trade exception | Glen Rice, 2004 2nd (Pavel Podkolzin), 2005 2nds (Robert Whaley, Dee Brown) |
| 5 | FEB | 19 | 2004 | ORL | DeShawn Stevenson | Gordan Giricek |
| 6 | FEB | 19 | 2004 | PHX | Keon Clark, Ben Handlogten | Tom Gugliotta, 2004 1st (Kirk Snyder), 2010 1st (Gordon Hayward), 2005 2nd (Alex Acker) |
| 7 | JUN | 24 | 2004 | DAL | Pavel Podkolzin | 2005 2nd (Linas Kleiza) |
| 8 | JAN | 21 | 2005 | DET | Carlos Arroyo | Elden Campbell, 2006 1st (Joel Freeland) |
| 9 | JUN | 7 | 2005 | PHI | 2005 2nd (Alex Acker) | 2008 2nd (Ante Tomic) |
| 10 | JUN | 28 | 2005 | POR | 2005 1sts (Linas Kleiza, Martell Webster), 2006 1st (Joel Freeland) | 2005 1st (Deron Williams) |
| 11 | AUG | 2 | 2005 | 5 TM | Raul Lopez, Kirk Snyder, Curtis Borchardt | Greg Ostertag |
| 12 | JUN | 8 | 2006 | TOR | Kris Humphries, Robert Whaley | Rafael Araujo |
| 13 | JUL | 12 | 2006 | GSW | Devin Brown, Keith McLeod, Andre Owens | Derek Fisher |
| 14 | JUN | 28 | 2007 | PHI | Herbert Hill | Kyrylo Fesenko |
| 15 | DEC | 29 | 2007 | PHI | Gordan Giricek, 2010 1st (Trevor Booker) | Kyle Korver |
| 16 | JUL | 23 | 2008 | LAC | Jason Hart | Brevin Knight |
| 17 | DEC | 22 | 2009 | OKC | Matt Harpring, Eric Maynor | Peter Fehse |
| 18 | FEB | 18 | 2010 | MEM | Ronnie Brewer | 2011 1st (Donatas Motiejunas) |
| 19 | JUL | 13 | 2010 | MIN | Kosta Koufos, 2011 1st (Donatas Motiejunas), 2012 1st (Terrence Jones) | Al Jefferson |
| 20 | FEB | 23 | 2011 | NJN | Deron Williams | Derrick Favors, Devin Harris, 2011 1st (Enes Kanter), 2013 1st (Gorgui Dieng), Cash |
| 21 | DEC | 22 | 2011 | NJN | Mehmet Okur | Trade Exception, 2015 2nd (TBD) |
| 22 | JUN | 29 | 2012 | 4 TM | Tadija Dragicevic | Mo Williams, Shan Foster |
| 23 | JUL | 11 | 2012 | ATL | Devin Harris | Marvin Williams |
| 24 | JUN | 27 | 2013 | MIN | Gorgui Dieng, Shabazz Muhammad | Trey Burke |
| 25 | JUN | 27 | 2013 | DEN | Erick Green, Cash | Rudy Gobert |
| 26 | JUN | 27 | 2013 | ATL | 2015 2nd (TBD) | Raul Neto |
| 27 | JUN | 10 | 2013 | 3 TM | Randy Foye, Kevin Murphy | Richard Jefferson, Brandon Rush, Andris Biedrins, 2014 1st (Rodney Hood), 2017 1st (TBD), 2016 2nd (TBD), 2017 2nd (TBD), 2018 2nd (TBD), Cash |
| 28 | JUN | 26 | 2014 | MEM | Jarnell Stokes | 2016 2nd (TBD) |
| 29 | JUL | 10 | 2014 | TOR | Diante Garrett | Steven Novak, 2017 2nd (TBD) |
| 30 | JUL | 22 | 2014 | CLE | John Lucas III, Malcolm Thomas | Carrick Felix, 2015 2nd (TBD), Cash |
So the Jazz have made 8 trades during the season in recent history (recent = from 2000 onwards). MOST of them have been salary dumps for the Jazz (2009 -- Harp, 2010 -- Brewer, 2011 -- Memo), or for the other team(s) (2003 -- Rice, 2004 -- Googs). Rarely is it an in-season trade to get better. And if you look at the last 30 trades few of them (in-season or in the off-season) are.
Most of the trades are either salary dumps or future picks. I don't think the Jazz need any more future picks, but right now the team lacks a true greybeard that the team will listen to who will also take a smaller on-court role. (I see you Chauncey Billups!) You can argue that the Jazz have been winning their trades of late, especially on Draft nights.
The in-season trades, though, don't really make me jump for joy. And for this season, a non-"must win" season, I am fine with no in-season trades. The coaching staff still needs to evaluate who these kids are before deciding on them. Only Trey Burke, Gordon Hayward, and Derrick Favors have been full-season starters before. And only those three plus Alec Burks and Enes Kanter have been big-time rotation players before.
If we're a draft centric team the next step isn't trade guys, it's develop guys. And I feel so deeply that the Jazz are finally doing it right.
Also, the whole post could be summed up as an excuse to post this video.