The Utah Jazz continued to restructure the team on Thursday, sending away yet another asset from the last few playoff runs.
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On Thursday morning, news broke from NBA insider Shams Charania of The Athletic that another Jazz player was on the move.
After some speculation, it appeared that fan-favorite Bojan Bogdanovic was on the move, being shipped to the Detroit Pistons.
The Utah Jazz and Detroit Pistons are in serious talks on a trade sending Bojan Bogdanovic for Kelly Olynyk and additional salary, sources tell me and @JLEdwardsIII.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) September 22, 2022
The move is the latest of many the Jazz have made during the offseason as they look to retool their roster around younger players and attain future draft capital.
Bogdanovic played the last three seasons in Utah, appearing in 204 games while averaging 18.4 points per game and shooting 45 percent from the field (40 percent from deep).
In return, the Jazz will receive Kelly Olynyk and Saben Lee.
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Trade thoughts
It’s disappointing to see a favorite like Bogey go, but we all knew it was coming after all the previous roster moves.
What was surprising however was the return the Jazz received. Many previous rumors around Bogdanovic involved the possibility of a first-round pick in return, but those must have been nothing more than just that – rumors.
For a player who is a solid 17-20 points per game scorer that shoots around 40 percent from deep, the trade return was a bit underwhelming.
While the Jazz did save around $5 million in salary, Olynyk is a piece that doesn’t fit the timeline of the team rebuild and he is essentially on an expiring contract since his 2023-24 salary is only partially guaranteed.
Lee is a 2020 second-round pick and while he is younger than Olynyk, he doesn’t seem to have much potential in the long term and could possibly not even make the team out of training camp.
Last season, Lee played in 37 games, averaging 5.6 points and 2.9 assists while playing 16.3 minutes per game. He struggled mightily shooting the ball, however, making only 39 percent of his shots, including a dismal 23 percent from three.
Overall, not a great return for the Jazz and many have already labeled the Pistons as clear winners in the deal. One can only hope they can receive draft pick compensation as they look to deal Mike Conley, Jordan Clarkson, or any player with value that remains.
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Stats courtesy of Basketball-Reference. Current as of Sep. 23, 2022.
