Danny Ainge is not quite about to get chased around with pitchforks at his local grocery store, but opposing teams are definitely not happy with the Utah Jazz right now.
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said this week on “The Hoop Collective” that many rival teams are complaining about what Utah’s trade of Rudy Gobert to the Minnesota Timberwolves did to the market.
“Danny Ainge has moved the game on winning deals,” said Windhorst. “He reset that … What he got for Gobert, everyone in the league is b—-ing about, like, ‘Can you believe it? Can you believe it? How can they possibly do that?’ I’ve talked to ten different people who have b—-ed to me about that trade.”
Utah’s haul for Gobert was indeed preposterous. In exchange for sending the former Defensive Player of the Year to Minnesota, the Jazz got Patrick Beverley, Malik Beasley, and Jarred Vanderbilt (three starting-caliber guys) as well as Leandro Bolmaro and five (yes, five) first-round picks (2022 first-rounder Walker Kessler plus four future firsts). That is an absurd return for a 30-year-old Gobert and has really screwed over buyers in the market (such as any teams interested in trading for Brooklyn Nets star Kevin Durant).
The Jazz do not appear to have any remorse either as they recently tried to shake another team dry in a potential trade for Donovan Mitchell. While rivals complain, Utah is probably laughing all the way to the asset bank.
More must-reads: