Trade DL anticipations: New winds or par for the course?

Tanktastic said:

And you're trying to imagine there has to be some "Grand Plan" the Jazz are executing.

There isn't.

Danny already once brought up his successor and retired. He was tempted to return to the NBA, because he could take a wrecking ball to the franchise and do all the big trades. He's 66 and not interested in doing whatever graft awaits the Jazz the next few years.

So Danny wanted to retire, and nepo was hired to replace him. There's no Grand Plan.

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Lol are you serious? You think POBO hires are done without due diligence? Are you living in some historical aristocratic society where recruiting is done based on name and nobility?

You dont hire any executive without having extensive discussions on what his vision and MO would be. Furthermore you dont take any leadership job without knowing what the owner expects of you (unless you are an idiot). Both of these aspects were 100% present in their discussions, since Ryan is a businessman and not some idiot who just inherited his billions. The assumption should be that since Austin is a first time POBO he is NOT in a position where he can do whatever he wants. Thats usually reserved for guys who have long established careers and/or proven track records... while fresh executives have a stronger mandate to align everything they want to do with the owner.

Besides its Ryan Smiths money and team, not DAs. So whatever nepotism is related to the hire, Ryan was the one who pulled the trigger and its his money on the line both short and long term.

Other than Nurkic, I don't think the vets are really helping us win games. I know that Love has had a couple of hot shooting performances lately, but he's such a traffic cone on defense. I know that Svi bothers a lot of yall, but he's just 28, and his style of play has 3 more peak-ish years, which in an eternity in the NBA for a journeyman shooter. I think he's become a useful piece (or useful enough).

That said, if trading one or both forces Hendricks, Williams, and WCJ into the lineup for more minutes, then the FO should 100% do it.

I think that Lauri and Nurk could legitimately need some load management down the stretch. The goal for both of them should be to end the season in full health, and to get through next offseason on a fully optimized program designed for a healthy player.

"Tanking" is obviously a problem that the league needs to address; but it is, unfortunately, sucking all the air out of a larger conversation. That larger conversation is that team building is a process that spans multiple seasons. And, tanking or no-tanking, the Jazz's team-building timeline seems lined up to take the next step in 2026-27. Getting Lauri and Nurk in the right condition for that should be in-view right now.

HermanG said:

Lol are you serious? You think POBO hires are done without due diligence? Are you living in some historical aristocratic society where recruiting is done based on name and nobility?

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Yes, Austin Ainge was hired because he is the son of Danny.

As he was hired to coach the Maine team, as he was hired by the Celtics and now by the Jazz. If he wasn't Danny's son, he wouldn't gotten any of those jobs. That much should be clear to anyone.

I believe no one else was interviewed or even considered, so there goes all that due diligence.

And yes, Ryan Smith can do as he pleases with his team.

If you don't think there's plenty of nepotism to go around, in business, in government, everywhere, and not one iota of it has anything to do with "aristocracy" or "nobility"... I mean, do open your eyes.

KqWIN said:

We'll waive/get rid of some of the veteran contracts. That's about it. The biggest change will be more tanking stuff. It will be especially ugly to make up for not doing it earlier.

Also, it's so funny to me that the misquote of "big game hunting" will forever be a thing.

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Big game hunting in Best Buy parking lot? Is there a Best Buy in downtown SLC?

View: https://x.com/TheDunkCentral/status/2005661543266955488?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E2005661543266955488%7Ctwgr%5E98edaa50a212808dadf4ad8996e858bc21d938fc%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fforums.realgm.com%2Fboards%2Fviewtopic.php%3Ft%3D2468518start%3D1600

I don't personally have any interest in Trae but he's another "star" along with Anthony Davis who is apparently available this deadline.

HeatCheck said:

I don't personally have any interest in Trae but he's another "star" along with Anthony Davis who is apparently available this deadline.

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I have never ever wanted Trae anyways but now with Keyonte playing like a star I have even less interest in him.

The only player we can trade for at a reasonable price right now that could help us win this year AND fits our timeline is Yves Missi. Can't think of anyone else that fits the bill.

We should cut salary right now.

And wait for next year to acquire Anthony Black as Magic can't afford to be a mid second apron team.

A lineup of George/Ace/Black/Lauri/Kess will cause havok in the West for years to come.

Everything suggests the tank is over and the pick's on its way out of town.
Jazz brass must be sold on Lauri, Key, Walker, Ace as the core and on some of the other guys as an affordable supporting cast and/or positive assets (Svi, Nurk, Walter, Brice...).

I think the Jazz might get offers for Nurkic, Kessler and maybe Brice.

I do not expect any "big game hunting" or meaningful additions to the rotation.

I expect we'll trim some fat in the spirit of getting more cap flexibility / draft capital over the next few seasons.

I suppose it's possible we flip Kessler. I just sense his injury + contract status may preclude us from getting the value we would want back for him via trade. Unless he gets an offer that is just bonkers I imagine we'll re-sign him or match any offer sheet in RFA. We're a better team with him, no question, and IMO his salary should be well-beyond what we're comfortable with for a number of years to justify us losing him for nothing.