Utah Jazz trade for Matt Thomas from the Toronto Raptors

According to Adrian Wojnarowski, the Utah Jazz have traded for Matt Thomas from the Toronto Raptors for a future second-round pick.

So the Utah Jazz do make a trade for a sharpshooting guard. Thomas is shooting 41% in his second year in the NBA. His rookie season he shot 47%. With this move Utah appears to be bolstering their shooting which has been a big reason for their winning record this year.

We had heard from Tony Jones earlier this week that the Jazz were on a lookout for a “perimeter defender” but that doesn’t appear to be the case with this pick.

League sources tell The Athletic that the Jazz are in the market for a defender — a perimeter defender, to be more specific. The Jazz would also like that player to be an above-average shooter, if possible, as shooting is the dominant skill of the roster in its entirety. And that’s where things get more difficult. The Jazz aren’t looking for a surefire rotation guy. They are happy with their rotation, happy with their chemistry and happy with the direction the season is going.

But this does appear to be a solid pickup. Utah sends a second round pick for Thomas who is likely better than anything they might have drafted with their second round pick.

This also provides solid depth to the bench. The Jazz have seen multiple players slump lately including Jordan Clarkson and Bojan Bogdanovic. Having Thomas gives Utah the chance to get some immediate shooting if needed in a pinch.

If this is all the Jazz do it seems like a pretty predictable trade deadline. There’s still hope for a possible buyout of Otto Porter. If Utah has a chance at that, we’ll find out soon.