Danny Ainge Jeffrey Swinger-USA TODAY Sports

Jazz CEO Danny Ainge adds to hoard of draft picks

By Sean Keane | Last updated 2/8/23

Some men collect records. Others collect coins. Danny Ainge collects draft picks.

Ainge added to his trove of future draft picks Tuesday when he traded Mike Conley Jr., Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt to get the Lakers' 2027 first-round pick. It's protected, but not severely — it goes to Utah unless it's one of the top four picks. That's three solid players for a draft pick that's four years away — Ainge is nothing if not patient.

After the offseason trades of Rudy Gobert to Minnesota and Donovan Mitchell to Cleveland, the Jazz accumulated a ton of draft capital: 15 future first-round picks through 2029.

The Jazz have assembled a massive package of assets -- including 15 unprotected or lightly protected first-round picks through 2029 and a young core of Lauri Markkanen, Walker Kesslier, Collin Sexton and Ochai Agbaji and $60M-plus in potential cap space.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) February 9, 2023

Salt Lake City might not be the ideal free agent destination for NBA players and Ainge knows it. That's why he's focusing on building through the draft, accumulating picks and cap space so he can trade for players that might be a longshot in free agency. After all, he picked up an All-Star in Lauri Markkanen in the Mitchell deal.

The question is, how many picks does he need? The strategy of building through the draft is a sound one, but would the future of the Jazz be much different if they had only 14 future firsts instead of 15? Vanderbilt is 23 years old, and he's playing well on a team that's just three games out of fourth place in the Western Conference. Isn't there value in this young team playing in the postseason?

Of course, Beasley and Conley's unique contract situations — Conley is non-guaranteed, Beasley has a team option for 2023-24 — made trading them at the deadline important.

Perhaps getting a 2027 pick from the Lakers was especially tempting. After all, the Jazz are effectively betting on the Lakers being bad four seasons from now. For a former Celtic like Ainge, the opportunity to make a deal, save money and rub it in his old rivals' faces may have been irresistible.

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