Even if they sneak in they will have the 15th/16th pick. Utah will likely be 22/23/24. This year that would be the difference between drafting Huerter or Allen.If they get Conley they could easily sneak in the playoffs... they might have to eat more than just Jackson’s terrible deal... might have to take leuer too. Salaries would also have to match damn near perfectly cuz both teams are inches from the tax.
If they want to eat bad salary they can pick up an extra first from Houston or a handful of other teams... just because they aren’t a FA player doesn’t mean that extra 20-30M in salary is meaningless... they will also likely try to operate at the salary floor next year. If they like Kennard then they should do the Detroit deal but otherwise it’s kinda crappy to move up 6-10 spots... doubt they’d get it unprotected. With Blake and Conley that is a playoff team imo. 15th pick versus 23-25 worth 30M.
And Jackson might suck, but he's an expiring for next year.