This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2017, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The Golden State Warriors may have won the 2017 NBA championship without Kevin Durant. They wouldn't have won Monday's Game 5 of the NBA Finals without Andre Iguodala.
Iguodala's 20-point effort in the Warriors' 129-120 defeat of Cleveland was a reminder of how the franchise's surge began — with the Jazz as co-conspirators. It all started with the July 2013 trade that enabled Golden State to acquire Iguodala from Denver in a three-team trade that signaled Jazz general manager Dennis Lindsey official tear-down of the roster, leading into rebuilding.
In the process, the Jazz enabled Golden State to improve to a degree that has resulted in two NBA championships. Iguodala was named the MVP of the Finals in 2015, and the rest of the league may be chasing the Warriors for a long time after their latest title.
Yet that trade is a reminder of how far the Jazz have come in four years. It's funny, how certain events resonate in my business. I remember where I was when the trade was reported — in a hotel room in Tempe, Ariz., during a tour of the Los Angeles Angels farm system, on my way to join about a dozen people in watching the entry-level team play in the Arizona Summer League.
The trade brought Richard Jefferson, Brandon Rush and Andris Biedrins to Utah as part of Golden State's salary-dumping strategy to make room for Iguodala. The Jazz were allowing Paul Millsap and Al Jefferson to leave via free agency, while sending veteran guard Randy Foye to Denver and guard Kevin Murphy to Golden State in the trade. Five draft picks, including first-round choices from the Warriors in 2014 and '17, would play a role in the Jazz's rebuilding process.
So would their own first-round pick in 2014, as they posted a 25-57 record that season and earned the No. 5 pick. The irony is that semi-tanking effort rewarded them only with Dante Exum, whose career has been undistinguished, partly due to a knee injury that caused him to miss a full season.
With one of those picks from the Warriors, the Jazz took Rodney Hood at No. 23 in 2014, and he has worked out reasonably well. But if the Jazz were hoping the Warriors would fade and make their 2017 pick more valuable, that didn't happen. It's the No. 30 choice next week, reflecting Golden State's top record in the regular season.
One more note from the Finals: Jefferson was the leading scorer among the four former Jazz players, although he couldn't repeat his title-winning effort with the Cavaliers. Jefferson totaled 29 points in five games, while Cleveland teammates Kyle Korver (22 points on 7-of-19 shooting) and Deron Williams (five points on 2-of-16 shooting) struggled. Ian Clark, who played parts of two seasons with the Jazz, earned a ring by scoring 19 points in four games for Golden State, although he didn't play in Game 5 via coach's decision.
kkragthorpe@sltrib.com Twitter: @tribkurt