“Ainge is a god in Utah … We're talking about somebody who's played and won championships” – NBA analyst believes prioritizing draft picks was not in the best interest of Utah Jazz, says they’ll be discarded
The Utah Jazz are in the middle of a rebuild led by front office member Danny Ainge. The Jazz traded Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell for a collection of young players and draft picks this summer. The Ringer's Ryen Russillo believes recent moves by the Utah Jazz were "not in the best interest" of the team. He disagrees with the priority toward collecting draft picks.
“I wouldn’t think that he would prioritize the picks the way someone more unproven is," Russillo said. "I’m not saying he doesn’t want the picks, but I guess, like, would Ainge tell us ‘Hey, I actually like Collin Sexton, I think he’s as good as R.J. Barrett,' that’s hard for me to believe.”
Russillo argues Danny Ainge is experienced enough to know that the team may not use all the picks. Russillo said Ainge should have valued adding R.J. Barrett more than the picks. However, Ainge is well respected in Utah for his work in Boston as a player and general manager.
“Ainge is a god in Utah. … We’re talking about somebody who’s played and won championships,” Russillo said.
Utah traded Donovan Mitchell to the Cleveland Cavaliers last week for three unprotected first-round picks, two pick swaps, Lauri Markkanen, Ochai Agbaji and Collin Sexton.
The Utah Jazz are now set up with 11 first-round picks between 2023 and 2029, with four second-round picks.
Danny Ainge as a front office leader for Utah Jazz
Danny Ainge spent 18 years as an executive for the Boston Celtics before accepting his position with the Utah Jazz. Boston made two NBA Finals appearances during his tenure, winning the championship in 2008. The Celtics made it to the Finals again last season.
Ainge did excellent work in Boston, as we can see how rounded that squad is now. Russillo said:
“[Danny Ainge] is a much better GM than he got credit for, and was far better positioned with this roster with Boston on his way out, despite people asking if he actually should be fired, which now looks like a joke.”
After last season, Utah started to voice their interest in focusing on a rebuild, and it seems they have begun that process. Only time will tell what the Utah Jazz will do with these picks.
Ainge took a similar method in his rebuild in Boston. Boston traded Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce for draft capital. These picks eventually turned into Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum.
Ainge primarily built Boston's current roster. So, there may be some merit to his rebuilding approach. When evaluating a rebuild, the scope needs to be widened. Boston's current team came from trading franchise cornerstones in 2013.