First big movement before the NBA trade deadline. The Grizzlies fill up on Draft rounds by sending “JJJ” to Salt Lake City.
Jaren Jackson Jr. and Memphis, it’s over. And it’s a surprise. We were rather imagining a trade for Ja Morant, and nothing says that it won’t happen, but it is the 26-year-old pivot who is traded this Tuesday, two days before the NBA trade deadline. In this case, the Grizzlies sent him to Utah along with John Konchar, Jock Landale and Vince Williams Jr. according to ESPN. The Jazz recover Walter Clayton Jr., Kyle Anderson, Taylor Hendricks, Georges Niang but also and above all three future first rounds of the Draft.
With this astonishing transaction, Memphis, currently 11th in the Western Conference standings, finds itself at the head of a capital of 13 selections in the first round of the NBA Draft in the next seven years. As much as Brooklyn and Oklahoma City. Which should allow the Tennessee franchise to start again on a new project and rebuild in the years to come. Deprived of Walker Kessler until the end of the season, the Jazz, 13th in the West, have with “JJJ” a first choice option inside alongside Lauri Markkanen. Fourth choice in the 2018 Draft, Jaren Jackson Jr. averaged 19.2 points, 5.8 rebounds and 1.5 blocks per game since the start of the season, his eighth in the NBA and in Memphis.
