It’s the hope that kills you.
In the summer of 2022, when the Utah Jazz traded away franchise stars Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert, it was because they hoped for true greatness. They hoped for more than first-round exits, more than playoff also-ran status. With no cap space, no future draft picks of note, and no other compelling pieces to trade, Mitchell and Gobert were their only major items of value, and so they were shipped out the door.
But the hope wasn’t that the Jazz would be out of the playoffs for long.
So the Jazz acquired players that fit into that timeline of a rebuild that would last just two or three years. In the Mitchell trade, they acquired Collin Sexton, and gave him the largest extension they were allowed to under NBA rules. Despite his obvious warts, the reasons the Cavs were willing to dump him, they hoped he’d make good on his potential as a 24-year-old and help the Jazz’s next competitive team. Worst case, they hoped they’d be able to trade him to some other team later for good value.
The next summer, with the cap space acquired in the Gobert trade, the Jazz took a flier on John Collins, acquiring him for basically free. They hoped, despite the obvious warts, the reasons the Hawks were willing to dump him, that he’d make good on the potential he showed as a young player, and at 26 years old, could be a part of the Jazz’s next competitive team. Worst case, they hoped they’d be able to trade him to some other team later for good value.
(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Utah Jazz guard Jordan Clarkson (00) signs a ball as the Utah Jazz host the Oklahoma City Thunder, NBA basketball in Salt Lake City on Friday, April 11, 2025.
They also extended Jordan Clarkson. Though he was 30, they hoped, despite the obvious warts, that he’d be able to help the Jazz’s next competitive team. Worst case, they hoped they’d be able to trade him to some other team later for good value.
Meanwhile, there was hope that the Cavaliers and Timberwolves would scuffle with their new stars. The hope was that the Jazz would luck into acquiring a top unprotected pick, just as Danny Ainge’s Celtics did to get Jayson Tatum via the ill-fated Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce trade years ago.
If that didn’t happen, then they hoped to get one of the elite young stars of the NBA — Luka Doncic was frequently mentioned — via trading all of those picks away, a strategy Ainge famously called “big game hunting.”
If no team jumped at those offers, the Jazz hoped they would find a star through sheer quantity of picks, that the magic that got them Mitchell at No. 14 or Gobert at No. 27 would strike again.
It was relatively clear that this strategy wasn’t panning out at the beginning of last season. But the Jazz still had one linchpin hope: that if they tanked out the whole season, they’d be rewarded with lottery luck and get No. 1 draft pick Cooper Flagg. With Flagg and his evident NBA-ready stardom, the whole puzzle could still come together.
But when the Jazz fell to No. 5 in the lottery, all hope was lost.
This summer, we’ve seen the consequences of that.
Ownership made sweeping front office changes, hiring a new president of basketball operations in Austin Ainge, parting ways with vice presidents and scouts.
As the calendar turned to July, the team traded away Sexton for negative value. (The Hornets actually got a first-round pick when acquiring Jusuf Nurkic’s contract just five months ago as he was so overpaid, while the Jazz gave up a second-round pick of their own in sending Sexton out.)
They then waived Clarkson, keeping most of his salary on the books while he plays for another team, the New York Knicks.
(Bethany Baker | The Salt Lake Tribune) LA Clippers guard Norman Powell (24) shoots as Utah Jazz forward John Collins (20) defends in NBA action at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City on Thursday, Feb. 13, 2025.
Then on Monday, the Jazz completed the trifecta, sending Collins to the L.A. Clippers and receiving Kyle Anderson and Kevin Love back. They were able to get a second-round pick out of the deal, so it’s not a total loss. It’s also certainly not an ideal use of $26 million of cap space for two seasons.
In retrospect, nearly every one of the Jazz’s bets was a longer shot than they figured. We know the Jazz’s odds of getting Flagg were minimal, just 14%, but what were the odds of Sexton or Collins becoming an All-Star? The odds Clarkson would actually live up to that contract? The odds they could actually convince Dallas to trade Doncic to them? It’s hard to say they were much better than that 14%.
The goal of the Jazz’s moves over the last week is not to make the team better. They plainly don’t.
The goal is to reset the Jazz’s foundation.
For so long, the Jazz had been hoping that this rebuild could be a quick one, and had been taking shortcuts to accomplish that goal. Extending Sexton and Clarkson, trading for Collins, inauthentically sitting players so they might have a hope at Flagg, going “big game hunting,” all of this took away from the rebuild that would have to happen barring strokes of massive luck.
All of this made it impossible to truly build back up.
But after this month’s moves, there’s no doubt about it: That hope is dead.
Now, the teardown is almost over.
Now, the rebuild can actually begin.
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