Utah Jazz Fire Sale Continues With Bojan Bogdanovic Trade
The Utah Jazz fire sale continues. Utah announced on Thursday that the team has agreed to send forward Bojan Bogdanovic to the Detroit Pistons, as relayed by The Athletic / Stadium's Shams Charania.
Utah will receive big man Kelly Olynyk, point guard Saben Lee and additional salary compensations in exchange for Bogdanovic, a 10-year NBA who played as a consistent offensive role player for the team's starting lineup last year.
Last season, Bogdanovic averaged 18 points, 4.2 rebounds, 1.2 assists and 38.7 percent shooting from beyond the arc.
Detroit may have won the deal by nabbing Bogdanovic as a valuable producer / potential trade asset, but the move falls perfectly in place with Utah's off-season plan.
Utah Jazz's Off-Season Reboot
The Jazz have split with four primary starters from last year, including Donovan Mitchell, Rudy Gobert and Royce O'Neale. Veteran guard Mike Conley is the only consistent starter from last season still on the roster. Utah also split with three-and-D guard Patrick Beverley — the team acquired Beverley via trade with the Minnesota Timberwolves before sending him to the Los Angeles Lakers.
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However, Utah fans would be remiss to expect Conley or backcourt star Jordan Clarkson to still be on the squad next season now that the organization is moving forward with a new regime.
Both guards have gained interest amid the Jazz's selling off of players, with the Milwaukee Bucks and Memphis Grizzlies standing out as suitors for Clarkson. Clarkson was named the Sixth Man of the Year after the 2020-21 season.
Another casualty of the Jazz's reboot was former Coach of the Year Quin Snyder, who left the team after leading the Jazz to the fifth seed (49-33) last season. Seeing the writing on the wall that a new regime was on its way, Snyder discussed a mutual separation with the team and agreed to split at season's end.
In 2020-21, Snyder led the team to the top seed in the West before losing to the Los Angeles Clippers in the post-season conference semifinals (4-2).
Planning for 2024?
Now coaching the Jazz is Will Hardy, who served as an assistant coach under first-year Boston Celtics coach Ime Udoka last season.
Hardy and Udoka led the Celtics to the NBA Finals, where the team lost to the Golden State Warriors in six games.
All signs point to Utah bracing for a rough season ahead without any of their veteran stars and prepping for a splash draft selection in 2024 with hot names like Xavier Booker (Michigan State) and Canadian baller Justin Edwards waiting in the projected top five.