NBA Trade Grades: Spurs Send Boris Diaw To Jazz

Utah Jazz

This deal is an absolute slam dunk for the Utah Jazz, who managed to flip the rights to a D-League caliber player into a veteran with championship experience who will bolster the team’s bench for a return to the playoffs.

With a young, promising core of Gordon Hayward, Derrick Favors, Rudy Gobert, Dante Exum and Rodney Hood, the Jazz went about their offseason trying to add more experience and bench depth.

The Diaw trade is just the cherry on top of what’s been some pretty fantastic execution in that plan, as Utah just added quite possibly the team’s best passer and yet another three-point threat to spread the floor off the bench.

Before the draft, Utah traded their No. 12 overall pick in a three-team deal that netted them George Hill, one of the league’s most underrated point guards who will bring stout perimeter defense and plenty of useful advice for youngster Dante Exum.

Then, the Jazz managed to land seven-time All-Star Joe Johnson on a two-year, $22 million contract, adding yet another useful veteran who will provide a scoring punch off the bench after averaging 13.4 points per game on .518/.417/.765 shooting splits in his 24-game stint with the Heat.

The Jazz added a starting-caliber point guard until Exum is ready coming off an ACL tear, they landed a spot-up shooter in Johnson, and now they responded to Trevor Booker‘s offseason departure by adding a brilliant interior passer and all-around versatile player in Diaw, who is on a team friendly contract of $7 million for next season.

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With Trey Lyles and Alec Burks lending their support as well, the Jazz are deep, they’re young, they’re balanced and they’re on the right path. It’s still early in free agency, but a top-4 seed in the West could very well be in play.

Grade: A