Jaren Jackson Jr. joins Jazz
They said we were done trading tons of first-round picks for NBA players, but that was because the last guy this happened to was Desmond Bane.
No offense, Desmond Bane.
Jaren Jackson Jr., however, is worth several first-round picks. Even from a terrible team like the Utah Jazz. However, Memphis didn't make the terrible team, Utah, trade all its own picks back in return.
The two-time All-Star sleds to Utah in exchange for three first-round picks, potentially zero from the Jazz, plus Kyle Anderson, Taylor Hendricks, Walter Clayton Jr. and Georges Niang.
Clayton Jr. was the No. 18 selection in the 2025 draft, the Wizards chose him on Utah's behalf and dealt him to the Jazz that evening. Washington originally earned that pick from Memphis, in February, for taking on the tax-crashing contract of Marcus Smart, and I wonder if that's ever happened before. Memphis acquired the player, it didn't re-acquire the player, but Memphis did re-acquire the selection?
Teams trade for their own lost picks infrequently, I cannot recall a time where a club traded for the player chosen by the pick they once gave up in an utterly unrelated transaction. This summer I'm probably going to drink a lot of caffeine and attempt to find out, do subscribe, encourage my madness.
