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NBA trade deadline day can sometimes be one of the most intense and insane days in the NBA world. We’ve seen massive blockbuster trades go down on some deadline days, and others come and go with no real drama. Depending on your team, this year’s deadline day had it’s up and downs.
For the Jazz, there was some speculation that Justin Zanik and the front office might try to make some smaller moves to help bolster their squad for what seems to be their best chance at a title, maybe ever. There were some whispers going around Twitter that the Jazz might try to bring in another veteran like JJ Redick, or try to flip some draft picks or deeper rotational players for another impact role player.
Was heavily speculated that Redick would be bought out and snapped up by Brooklyn or Utah, teams Dallas probably wouldn't have been able to out-woo to get him. Unclear whether there were other trade bidders, but Mavs in a sense circumvented the buyout market and Pels got assets.
— Brad Townsend (@townbrad) March 25, 2021
As the deadline approached, the Jazz did indeed make a move. They sent a future second round pick to the Toronto Raptors for sharp-shooter Matt Thomas.
This move helped the Raptors clear a roster spot for another trade between the Blazers, and gave the Jazz some added depth to an already-elite shooting squad. We started to see trades going down moving some better players for similar prices, including a good friend of Rudy Gobert’s, Evan Fournier.
FWIW....
— Andy Larsen (@andyblarsen) March 25, 2021
The reason that Boston could take on Fournier's salary was that they had a large Traded Player Exception after giving away Gordon Hayward this year... basically a coupon for them to take back an expensive player in trade.
The Jazz couldn't do this deal for 3 2RPs. https://t.co/Y5TNlwDrBo
After extending Gobert and Donovan Mitchell this offseason, the Jazz really have their hands tied in terms of bringing on additional salaries, which is why they couldn’t really chase guys like Fournier without giving up additional assets.
Trade deadline confirms: Jazz will be a luxury tax team this year. New owner Ryan Smith ponied up to keep this Jazz team together.
— Andy Larsen (@andyblarsen) March 25, 2021
Jazz owner Ryan Smith going into the luxury tax his first year on the job is really telling. This man has money, and this man means business. He’s keeping together a squad that is high on the NBA mountain top right now, with the league’s best record. Staying relatively quiet at the trade deadline send the signal that the Jazz are confident in their current roster. They realize this window they might have to make a run and grab an NBA Championship is bigger now than they’ve seen in a very long time. This Jazz team is the deepest roster they’ve ever had, but are they the best? Without a deep playoff run and possibly an NBA Finals appearance, it’s probably hard to say. The Jazz front office is sticking with this squad, and we’ll see how far they go.