Best trade in Utah Jazz history

[Thee Idiotic Minivan K]

Giricek for sure. Korver was a lot younger back then and made a much bigger impact on those D-Will/Boozer teams than he did in his 2nd stint with us. It's just too bad Jerry didn't really take advantage of his shooting enough.

I don’t know, his impact the second go round was huge.

 

[Scat]

The owner at the time (I'm blanking on the name)

Sam Battistone

 

[hgb]

I sorta think the Rudy and Donovan trades should be counted differently, being draft picks and very much unknowns. I also think the Nique trade is different, since you probably could get more, but got enough to keep the franchise. In that sense, it's the #1 trade for sure, but in terms of _good_trades_ it's obviously horrible.
I think the Clarkson trade is on the rise to be #1, but for me so far it's getting Horny.

 

[whatthe]

I am glad I pushed for it.

 

[TheTrippleThreat]

Rudy and Don are pretty much equal in their grand heist from Denver. I choose The Don though because Rudy was severely under the radar in his draft.

 

[Pastramiking]

Worst is the Gail Goodrich signing/trade that cost the Jazz Magic Johnson.

 

[LogGrad98]

Can hindsight really be used to determine if a given move was good or bad? I mean take a pedestrian view. I choose to go home a different route than I normally do, maybe to pick up some groceries or something. At a stop-sign I follow the traffic laws then some idiot comes barreling through and t-bones my car. Do you look back and say "man going that way was a stupid mistake, how could I be so dumb!" No, not really. At the moment the decision was fine. That is not negated by a negative outcome necessarily. Unfortunate, sure, maybe even devastating and life-changing, but truly a "bad" decision in the moment? I would argue no it was not.

Now, if I knew that intersection had issues, and I had other routes available, or if I behaved carelessly in unfamiliar surroundings now I can say I made a bone-headed move. But just choosing a different route was not a bad decision just because it had a negative outcome.

Take what amounted to forced compensation for signing a free agent when the Jazz signed Goodrich and had to give up 3 picks as compensation to the Lakers, one of which became Magic Johnson. At the time, this was decent for the Jazz who fully expected Goodrich and Maravich to forma a super-duo. It didn't pan out, with an injury to Goodrich who never came back at the same level, and obviously Magic did, so it is viewed as a "turrible" trade, but in the moment it was really not seen as that bad for the Jazz, not to mention the fact that the reason they had to give up the picks was because league rules required compensation for signing a free agent. Imagine if that were the rule now! So really this was very unfortunate, but I do not think you can say it was a bad trade in the moment.

Top 5 free agent signings in Jazz history

NBA History

nbahoopsonline.com

4. Gail Goodrich 1976.

Goodrich was a star with the Lakers, he appeared in 5 all-star games with the Lakers and was a key part to their 1972 NBA championship. So when the Jazz got him there was reason to celebrate. The Jazz were looking to pair Goodrich with Pete Maravich to form one of the most dynamic backcourts in the NBA.

He is without a doubt the most high profile signing in Jazz history. He is the only hall-of-fame player to have ever signed with the Jazz and one of only a handful of former all-stars to sign with the team.

Goodrich was solid for the Jazz, but not great. averaging 14 points and 4 assists in 182 career games. He, Maravich and Truck Robinson combined to lead the Jazz to a then team record 39 wins in 1978 and nearly made the postseason. Injuries and age derailed his time with the Jazz and when the team announced it was moving to Utah he called the NBA quits.

The signing of Goodrich cost the Jazz though, and it cost them dearly. The NBA use to have a policy where a team would be forced to give up compensation to the players previous team for signing a veteran free agent. The Lakers wanted a first-round pick and the Jazz decided to give them their 1979 first-round pick. Following the success of the 78 season it seemed like a good idea, unfortunately, the 1979 season was a disaster and the Jazz finished with the worst record in the NBA. The Jazz were forced to give the Lakers the #1 overall pick in the 1979, the Lakers used that pick on Magic Johnson.

That is how I try to view these trades and transactions. Were there known alternatives better than the ones at the moment. Like with Lyles or even trading up for Burke, when there were other more highly-ranked players still on the board. So in this light, just because Mitchell and Gobert panned out well, for example, does not make the trades any more prescient in the moment. They were good trades in that they got their targeted player, and there isn't a ton of risk moving around a few picks later in the first round. But a player taken late lottery or late 1st round turning into a 50-point scorer in the playoffs or multiple DPOY is very rare, and frankly a lot of luck goes into it.

 

[infection]

Can hindsight really be used to determine if a given move was good or bad? I mean take a pedestrian view. I choose to go home a different route than I normally do, maybe to pick up some groceries or something. At a stop-sign I follow the traffic laws then some idiot comes barreling through and t-bones my car. Do you look back and say "man going that way was a stupid mistake, how could I be so dumb!" No, not really. At the moment the decision was fine. That is not negated by a negative outcome necessarily. Unfortunate, sure, maybe even devastating and life-changing, but truly a "bad" decision in the moment? I would argue no it was not.

Now, if I knew that intersection had issues, and I had other routes available, or if I behaved carelessly in unfamiliar surroundings now I can say I made a bone-headed move. But just choosing a different route was not a bad decision just because it had a negative outcome.

Take what amounted to forced compensation for signing a free agent when the Jazz signed Goodrich and had to give up 3 picks as compensation to the Lakers, one of which became Magic Johnson. At the time, this was decent for the Jazz who fully expected Goodrich and Maravich to forma a super-duo. It didn't pan out, with an injury to Goodrich who never came back at the same level, and obviously Magic did, so it is viewed as a "turrible" trade, but in the moment it was really not seen as that bad for the Jazz, not to mention the fact that the reason they had to give up the picks was because league rules required compensation for signing a free agent. Imagine if that were the rule now! So really this was very unfortunate, but I do not think you can say it was a bad trade in the moment.

Top 5 free agent signings in Jazz history

NBA History

nbahoopsonline.com

That is how I try to view these trades and transactions. Were there known alternatives better than the ones at the moment. Like with Lyles or even trading up for Burke, when there were other more highly-ranked players still on the board. So in this light, just because Mitchell and Gobert panned out well, for example, does not make the trades any more prescient in the moment. They were good trades in that they got their targeted player, and there isn't a ton of risk moving around a few picks later in the first round. But a player taken late lottery or late 1st round turning into a 50-point scorer in the playoffs or multiple DPOY is very rare, and frankly a lot of luck goes into it.

The old theory of striking out on a good pitch vs. hitting a home run off a bad pitch. Of course everyone chooses the home run. But in situations where you don't know the outcome as a result of hindsight, you take the chances with swinging at good pitches and passing on ones that aren't. But, I think the context of the thread is with the advantage of hindsight. Dumping your life savings into bitcoin a few years ago would absolutely have been a stupid decision, but it still can be the best investment in hindsight.

 

[JimLes]

Keep in mind that the value of a draft pick in the late 70s was minimal. Bad teams were trading them for mediocre players left and right, and protection didn't exist as a concept back then. In 1978, 7 out of top 10 picks had been traded to another team(4 were traded to a third team!). In 1979 it was 8 out of 10, and in 1980 it was again 7 out of 10. A few months ago, all 10 top picks were owned by the teams who "earned" them.

Not that everyone being a moron excuses the NO Jazz organization for being extra morons.