Initial Grades on Jazz Trading Kelly Olynyk & Ochai Agbaji to Raptors
The Utah Jazz decided to shake up the trade market early on Thursday morning by sending out Kelly Olynyk and Ochai Agbaji in a trade to the Toronto Raptors for Kira Lewis Jr., Otto Porter Jr., and a 2024 first-round pick. The deal effectively sends Olynyk back to his home in Canada, while Utah makes a future-oriented move looking ahead to this offseason.
Various suitors arose with intrigue in Olynyk in recent weeks, with many top contenders like the Boston Celtics and New York Knicks involved in rumors. In the end, it was Toronto ending up with the 11-year league vet, and they added an appealing young piece in the process.
While it might be way too early to judge a move like this before any player touches the floor for their new squads, we're going to do it anyway. Here are some trade grades for both the Jazz and Raptors after their deadline roster shake-up:
Utah Jazz: C+
As we got closer to the looming trade deadline day, it was almost a given that we were going to see Kelly Olynyk involved in some type of trade. He's in his mid-30s, on an expiring contract, and was reportedly generating significant interest from opposing teams on the market. The stage was set for him to get moved.
However, involving Ochai Agbaji in this deal was a bit of a surprise to see. While the Jazz technically didn't draft him, he was a substantial part of the Donovan Mitchell trade with the Cleveland Cavaliers as a newly selected rookie in the summer of 2022. Given that Agbaji was only in his second year pro, it seemed the likelihood of him shipped off at the deadline wasn't in many discussions.
Instead, the Jazz had other plans. The former lottery selection was inevitably the secondary component to make this deal feasible. While Utah managed to acquire a first-round pick in the back half of the draft for this summer, it came at the cost of someone who still had two more seasons left on his rookie deal.
As a result, the Jazz bring in veteran Otto Porter and Kira Lewis Jr., a 2019 first-round pick on the last year of his first contract. It remains to be seen what the long-term plans are for these two, but at the very least, Utah now has two expiring contracts to clear up some money on the books.
It effectively keeps Utah flexible in cap space for this offseason as they make their strides to sign Lauri Markkanen long-term, while also now acquiring two selections for the 2024 draft. It's easy to see why the front office opted to go in this direction to maximize their asset pool, but giving up on a young player like Agbaji can't help but sting.
Toronto Raptors: D+
This move comes off as a bit perplexing from the Raptors' perspective. Toronto was the same team that sent off franchise cornerstones like Pascal Siakam and OG Anunoby weeks ago, ultimately signaling a retooling and rebuild of this roster to be underway.
Now, the Raptors are turning around to send out one of their selections acquired in the Siakam trade to the Jazz, leaving them with just one first-round pick for this year's draft. It's not too often you see teams in the bottom half of the league standings send out picks in trades like this, even when bringing in a young talent like Agbaji.
If Toronto was attempting to make a serious bid to reach the Play-In Tournament and a top eight, an addition of Olynyk to this offensive unit would make sense and can provide a bit of a lift for them in the standings. But, as it stands, the Raptors are 12th in the Eastern Conference at 15 games under .500. It would take a lot for things to break their way.
The Raptors front office, headlined by Masai Ujiri, has a pretty successful track record in his time with the team, but this deal sticks out as a a more questionable one in recent memory.
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