Jaren Jackson Jr. Trade Grades: Jazz Make Their Move, While Grizzlies Pivot to Rebuild

Jaren Jackson Jr. is headed to the Jazz ahead of the NBA trade deadline. | Peter Creveling-Imagn Images

As rumors swirl around James Harden and Giannis Antetokounmpo, Tuesday brought the first blockbuster transacation of the NBA’s trade deadline week.

ESPN’s Shams Charania reported the Grizzlies are trading former Defensive Player of the Year Jaren Jackson Jr. to the Jazz as part of a massive package. Per ESPN, Utah is sending three first-round picks along with rookie Walter Clayton Jr., Taylor Hendricks, Kyle Anderson, and Georges Niang to Memphis in exchange for Jackson Jr., John Konchar, Jock Landale, and Vince Williams Jr.

NBA insider Jake Fischer followed up by reporting the Jazz are trading the most favorable of the Cavaliers, Timberwolves, and Jazz’s 2027 first-round picks, the Lakers’ 2027 first-rounder, and the Suns’ 2031 first-rounder to Memphis.

It’s a huge trade with a lot of moving parts but the headliner is the Jazz, finally, moving some of their accumulated assets for a win-now player. The Grizzlies, meanwhile, are fully pivoting into a rebuild by trading their star defender; it seems more likely than ever Ja Morant will be on the move, too, which will fully put an end to this era of Memphis basketball.

For now, let's break down the trade and grade the move for both the Jazz and Grizzlies.

Grizzlies-Jazz trade grades for Jaren Jackson Jr. deal

Jazz grade: B

Jazz fans will undoubtedly give this move an A+ because of what it signifies— the end of the tanking era in Utah. The franchise has been in hardcore rebuilding mode since Danny Ainge blew up the Donovan Mitchell-Rudy Gobert core in the summer of ‘22. They’ve been a lottery team in each of the last three seasons and completely bottomed out in last year’s 17-win campaign. For their troubles the Jazz landed a few players who could prove to be future cornerstones in the form of Keyonte George, Walker Kessler, and Ace Bailey. The tanking effort also produced an All-Star in the form of Lauri Markkanen, who took a huge leap under coach Will Hardy after coming to Utah as part of the Mitchell trade.

The Jazz appeared to be lottery-bound again this season, entering Tuesday with a 15-35 record. But the priorities clearly have changed. Utah didn’t burn all the assets at its disposal to land JJJ but it’s the first additive move the organization has made in several years. It signals a changing of the winds.

On the court it’s a fascinating fit. Jackson Jr. and Markkanen make for a gigantic, skilled pair of forwards to man the frontcourt. Both can shoot and defend the perimeter, while Jackson’s interior defense is so dominant it earned him a DOPY award in 2022-23; he is averaging 2.5 combined steals and blocks this year. Presuming the Jazz plan to bring Kessler into the mix next year after he’s recovered from shoulder surgery and gets through restricted free agency, it’ll make for an enormous starting five that should offset Jackson’s rebounding, which is by far his biggest weakness. Add in the scoring punch from George, averaging 24.2 points per game in a breakout campaign this year, and the vision is clear— the Jazz want to boast a big, physical defense with enough scoring pop to keep up in the modern NBA.

In the big picture, though, there are questions. Jackson is on a $205 million contract that will pay him roughly $50 million annually until 2029, when he has a player option. That’s a mighty high price for a player who has only averaged 20 points per game twice in seven years, and especially for a big who doesn’t make an impact on the boards (Jackson is averaging 5.8 rebounds per game, which ranks 54th among all forwards). He has clear limitations but is being paid at the same level as other players who can elevate a team to contention. That’s a tricky player to build around and doesn’t leave a lot of room for recourse if he doesn’t work out in Utah.

Jackson is a valuable player and 6’11” forwards who shoot 35% from deep while playing elite defense are always useful. But taking his weak spots into account and the fact that the Jazz had to give up two 2027 first-rounders as well as a possibly juicy 2031 Suns pick, it’s a mighty high price to pay.

Grizzlies grade: A-

The Grizzlies should feel very pleased about the package they got for Jackson.

Three first-rounders give Memphis seven in total for trading JJJ and Desmond Bane. The team now has 13 first-round picks over the next seven drafts. That’s a great place to start from as the Grizzlies work to rebuild from the Morant era. In terms of sheer quantity of picks this is the best deal they could have gotten for Jackson, and they no longer have his contract on the books long-term. That’s good business. They also created a trade exception worth nearly $30 million, the largest in NBA history. Those exceptions are rarely used but it merits a mention anyway.

The other pieces in the trade aren’t nothing, either. Clayton was awesome during Florida’s national championship run last year and has already flashed NBA-caliber skills in the backcourt. His counting numbers aren’t impressive but he’s earning 18 minutes per game in Hardy’s rotation. As for the other players, Hendricks is a good enough developmental option at forward to replace Jackson’s minutes in the time being. Anderson and Niang could potentially be flipped again before Thursday’s 3 p.m. deadline.

The trade makes the Grizzlies worse, no doubt about it. But it’s clear their goal was to reset with the team sitting at 19-29 entering play on Tuesday. This version of Memphis wasn’t going to win and it was going to be hard to rebuild with Jackson’s $50 million salary hanging around. Through that lens they hit their mark and got the draft capital required to become players in the trade market over the next few years. A good deal by GM Zach Kleiman.

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