The Utah Jazz could be investigating the chance of making an interesting draft shakeup.
According to The Athletic insider Tony Jones, the Jazz have engaged with at least one team in the lottery with trade discussions in the weeks ahead of the 2025 NBA Draft.
“According to sources, at least one team in the lottery has already engaged the Jazz in potential trade discussions,” Jones wrote. “What the Jazz have going for them is a lot of flexibility in terms of present and future assets. There are few teams in the league with as many future first-round picks and pick swaps as the Jazz, and those assets could help them this summer.”
While we don’t have much intel as to what the Jazz’s potential move could unravel into being, or who that interested team could be outside of their placement in the lottery, the report from Jones, at the very least, signals Utah’s willingness to be open for business to move up or down the board if the right move presents itself.
The Jazz will have four picks scheduled during this year’s draft, with two in the first round at 5th and 21st, along with a pair of second-rounders at 43rd and 53rd, providing Utah assets to package together toward another team and move around the board. They’ll also have an assortment of young and veteran players on the roster who could land some intrigue in those trade discussions.
Considering the Jazz’s latest hire of Austin Ainge to become the franchise’s newest president of basketball operations, it’s hard to truly pinpoint how this front office could end up approaching this summer with a new mind leading this roster’s decisions.
There’s a world where Utah could move up further into the top-five in an effort to secure their future cornerstone talent like Dylan Harper, Ace Bailey, or VJ Edgecombe, or perhaps there’s a chance that an aspired move is to push closer to a more competitive roster Ainge may be trying to build upon his first year at the helm.
However, at the very least, it seems as if an early surprise draft trade with a team selecting early on day one is well within the range of possibilities.
Keep an eye on how the Jazz may move up or down the board leading up to the 2025 NBA Draft on Wednesday, June 25th, in Brooklyn, NY.
