Utah Jazz receive: F/C Davis Bertans, C Dwight Powell, G/F Frank Ntilkina, 2025 First-Round Pick (Lottery Protected – DAL)
Dallas Mavericks receive: G Mike Conley
Of course, tanking may be a regular fact of NBA life, but everyone doesn’t like it.
Understandably so. There is something that feels undeniably wrong about a professional sports organization wanting to lose games. The players on these teams are the fiercest competitors in the world – surely, this doesn’t sit right with them.
Often, it doesn’t. At the same time, the lottery system is designed to help the league’s worst teams improve. No team wants to lose games indefinitely – they want to lose games until they’ve drafted enough talent to win them.
Moreover, it’s hard to identify a solution to the tanking problem that doesn’t potentially hurt small market clubs.
LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Mike Conley, Utah Jazz & Dallas Mavericks Updates
If the league did away with the lottery, and restrictive rookie contracts, its easier to imagine the league’s most talented young players teaming up in Los Angeles or New York.
By contrast, small markets like Utah would be at an even greater disadvantage than they are now. Does this deal put them in a better position?
