Why The Utah Jazz Do The Deal

The Utah Jazz are not getting seven unprotected first-round picks for Donovan Mitchell. In all likelihood, General Manager Danny Ainge knows this.

Again, he’s using a negotiating tactic. Setting an unreasonably high price is intended to make the other side feel like they’re getting a bargain when you finally land on a fair trade.

On a related note: this is a fair trade. The Jazz are getting a metric ton of draft capital here. Between this deal and the Rudy Gobert deal, they’ll be perfectly set up for the future.

They also get to take fliers on some interesting young players here. Cam Reddish has fallen well short of his potential in this league so far, but he’s still got plenty of time to turn his career around. Meanwhile, it appeared as if Obi Toppin was already doing so towards the end of 2021-22.

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If either hits their ceiling on the Jazz, that’ll be an added bonus. After all, we all know what the Jazz are really after here: as many draft picks as the Knicks can stand to part with.