A past trade complicates tonight's showdown. The Thunder need a win, but the Jazz aim to deny them, protecting a valuable draft pick.
Every Oklahoma City Thunder fan desperately wants a win Wednesday night against the Utah Jazz to see their team bounce back, right the ship and wash the bad taste of two back to back losses out of their mouths.
The Utah Jazz are going to be more than happy to comply.
Let's travel back to July of 2021. The Jazz were looking to shed some salary as the team was paying big bucks to homegrown stars Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert. Utah was a playoff team staring at a big luxury tax bill and needed a team willing to take on Favors and his contract in exchange for draft compensation. Enter the rebuilding Thunder.
The two Northwest Division semi-rivals completed a trade that sent Favors and his $9.7 million along with a future 1st round pick in exchange for a 2027 2nd round pick and cash considerations. Thunder fans, no need to fret about that 2027 2nd rounder. It's the least favorable of OKC's four picks in the 2nd round that year.
This deal was all about that 1st round pick for Oklahoma City. The original prize was a Top 10 protected pick in 2024. Pretty brilliant use of OKC's cap space during the rebuild. A salary dump for a 1st round pick from a rock solid playoff team but pushed back a few years to give it some upside. The problem is that plans changed in Utah. The very next season, the Jazz traded away Mitchell and Gobert and began their own rebuild.
Utah tanked to make sure the pick did not convey in 2024. So it turned into a Top 10 protected pick in 2025. Utah tanked to make sure the pick did not convey. So it turned into a Top 8 protected pick in 2026. And unfortunately for the Thunder, it seems like Utah will make sure the pick will not convey.
As a reminder, Austin Ainge, the new Utah Jazz President of Basketball Operations was asked during his introductory press conference if his team would prioritize losing games to increase their odds of a top pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.
“You won’t see that this year,” Ainge said.
But if you've been paying attention to the Jazz injury reports this season, well, we are seeing that this year. If the Jazz finish in the bottom 8 of the NBA standings after the draft lottery, OKC will not receive any picks from Utah. The obligation extinguishes. It's the likely unlucky result for what was a smart, forward-thinking trade for the Thunder.
OKC needs a win on Wednesday night against the Jazz. And unfortunately, the Jazz will happily oblige.