The Utah Jazz dealt a random combination of role players this offseason, but the choice to grab Josh Green was deliberate.
For the majority of the NBA world, news that the Utah Jazz were trading a pair of role players in return for another role player was hardly news at all.
Cody Williams was the headlining name when Utah dealt him, the 10th overall pick in the 2024 NBA Draft, in a package that included John Konchar, a player included in the Grizzlies trade that delivered Jaren Jackson Jr. to Salt Lake City at the last trade deadline.
Williams' draft position was truthfully the main reason why he would grab the attention of neutral onlookers -- that or his blood relation to Oklahoma City star Jalen Williams, Cody's older brother. Williams was a top-10 pick for the tanking Utah Jazz in their second year of draft lottery participation, but he didn't play like one on the court.
A sub-25% three-point shooter, a non-factor with the ball in his hands, and a mediocre defender with attractive measurables yet to develop into legitimate on-court value, Williams' first two seasons in Utah were a far cry from his McDonald's All-American high school career and a 40% three-point shooting season as a freshman in Colorado.
And though he added plenty of muscle to his frame in the offseason and appeared to have improved his shooting stroke in a few Summer League appearances, the Jazz clearly had higher expectations for their lottery pick.
They traded Williams when his value was at a low -- just like they did with Taylor Hendricks, who was one of many pieces in Utah's deal with Memphis last season.
But the Jazz didn't need to get a player like Josh Green in return for Williams, and I believe there's nothing unintentional about his pickup before the season.
For starters, Green's calling card is his three-point shooting. Though he scored fewer than five points per game last year in Charlotte, Green is a dependable producer from the outside at just 25 years of age -- players like that are incredibly useful in the postseason, which the Jazz intend to join this Spring.
Second of all, his $14 million contract value is incredibly easy to trade. With just one year remaining on his current deal, Green could be an attractive option for a team needing a shot in the arm to make a playoff push, or looking to dump expensive veterans in a potential roster reset.
Which leads into the final case for Green -- he's versatile, tradable, and his arrival opens the Jazz's final roster spot that had previously been clogged by Konchar and Williams. With questions floating around the center position, the Jazz could be crouching in wait for a quality big to become available.
Operating an upstart like the new-look Utah Jazz means orchestrating a lot of moving pieces. So when Utah makes a move seemingly from nowhere, watch for the ripples.
