With trade season heating up, let’s revisit a deal the Utah Jazz made two seasons ago. It was February of 2018 and Utah was on quite the tear.
They had just beaten the Memphis Grizzlies on the end of a four game road trip, and were winners of seven straight. Why would a team so hot need to make a trade midseason?
Let’s back it up a bit. That previous summer the team had failed to retain their home grown star Gordon Hayward. After a breakthrough year of making the playoffs and having an All-Star for the first time in five-plus years, Hayward exercised his player option and signed with the Boston Celtics.