Insider: Jazz in 'Second-Best Situation' to Make Waves in Offseason

According to The Athletic's Tony Jones, the Utah Jazz are second only to the Oklahoma City Thunder in terms of most assets heading into the 2023 offseason for non-playoff teams. Jones shared his thoughts on ESPN 700's The Drive with Spence Checketts.

“If you take stock in every team that did not make the playoffs this year, I think the Jazz are in the second-best situation,” Jones told Checketts. “The only team I would take over the Jazz in terms of what their upside is would be the Oklahoma City Thunder. They have an All-Star [Lauri Markkanen] that’s 25 years old. They have a center [Walker Kessler] who I think one day is going to be an All-Star. I think Ochai Abaji is going to be a 10-year starter in the league. They have $32 million in cap space. They have a tremendous coach in Will Hardy and they have more assets than anyone in the league not named Oklahoma City.”

It's a fair assessment, considering the Thunder have been playing the rebuild game since trading Paul George to the Los Angeles Clippers and Russell Westbrook to the Houston Rockets in 2019. In exchange for George, the Thunder received Danilo Gallinari, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and five first-round draft picks. The Westbrook exchange fetched two first-rounders and two pick swaps.

In 2022, the Thunder were able to parlay one of the Clippers' picks into NBA runner-up Rookie of the Year Jalen Williams. In his first year as a pro, Williams averaged 14.1 ppg while hauling in 4.5 rebounds, helping the Thunder to the play-in tournament. Currently, the Thunder are the clear winner of both trades, and when the dust settles, it's going to get better.

Oklahoma City will be adding the 2022 No. 2 overall pick Chet Holgrem to its rotation next year, along with another lottery pick from the 2023 draft. Let’s not forget the $30 million in cap space GM Sam Prest has to work with in free agency.

As far as future draft capital, the Thunder are in possession of a whopping 14 first-round picks over the next five years, including the Rockets' first-round selection in 2024, a frequent lottery participant. One of those picks will be from the Jazz for absorbing Derrick Favors' contract in 2021. It’s all pretty ridiculous.

All this does beg the question: can the Jazz catch up to the Thunder in assets, only being one year removed from its roster shakedown? That’s going to be an uphill battle considering what the Jazz are up against.

But Utah CEO Danny Ainge is off to an incredible start heading into the 2023 offseason. Lauri Markkanen, Walker Kessler, $32 million in cap space, and 12 first-rounders in five years is nothing to sneeze at.

It’s all a recipe for the Thunder and Jazz to be battling it out in the Western Conference for years to come.

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