Breaking down the Jaren Jackson Jr., James Harden and Anthony Davis trades

We have had 3 surprising blockbuster trades within the last 2 days. Jaren Jackson Jr to the Jazz, the James Harden for Darius Garland swap and Anthony Davis to the Wizards. I decided to put all three trade breakdown blogs into one super blog. There will be another blog, likely this weekend, breaking down all the deals that happened at the deadline because it has been a wild one.

Jazz acquire Jaren Jackson Jr.

The Utah Jazz come out of left field and make a blockbuster trade with the Memphis Grizzlies to acquire 2-time All-Star Jaren Jackson Jr. Let’s start with the deal, the Jazz get Jackson Jr., John Konchar, Vince Williams Jr. and Jock Landale (who has already been traded to the Hawks) in exchange for rookie guard Walton Clayton Jr., 3rd year big man Taylor Hendricks, Kyle Anderson, Georges Niang, the Lakers 2027 first round pick (top 4 protected), the best of the Jazz, Timberwolves and Cavaliers 2027 first round pick and the Suns 2031 first round pick. It is a fascinating trade for both sides so what comes next for each?

Let’s start with Utah. No, this is not the start of the Jazz making a push towards the Play-In Tournament. They owe their pick top 8 protected to the Thunder this season and want to hang on to that. That likely means that Jackson won’t be getting a lot of run the rest of the season. However, this is a big upgrade to their team. The Jazz have liked playing Lauri Markkanen at the 3 and Walker Kessler at the 5 since adding those guys back in 2022. Jackson easily slides into that 4 spot. Assuming Utah re-signs Kessler, he will be a restricted free agent this summer, that is a pretty good front line for the Jazz to build around. Add Keyonte George and Ace Bailey to round out the starting 5, that is a pretty good starting 5 for the Jazz. Jackson is a really good player. A three level scorer who had shot 35% from three on 8 attempts per game for his career. This is a pairing with Markkanen that can work on offense.

This is not a player without his warts though. Jaren Jackson is a great defensive player, a former Defensive Player of the Year. His blocks have been down over the previous 3 seasons but he is still really impactful on that end. However, fouls and rebounds are a problem. He fouls on 4.1% of teams plays this season, which ranks in the 40th percentile according to Cleaning the Glass. He also is a bad rebounder for his size, which is probably why the best defense he ever played was next to Steven Adams, who is an elite rebounder. This season Jackson is averaging 5.8 rebounds per game and 4.8 defensive rebounds per game. According to Cleaning the Glass, he grabs 14.5% of opposing teams misses, which ranks in the 32nd percentile. He doesn’t get offensive rebounds, averaging 1 per game, and the 2.6% of his own team's misses he grabs ranks in the 2nd percentile. Kessler is a very good offensive rebounder and a great rim protector but not a great defensive rebounder so it will be interesting to see what that fit looks like, assuming Kessler remains in Utah.

I think this is a good move for the Jazz. It has its risks, trading what could be your own first round pick in next year’s draft when you have been in the last 3, likely 4, lotteries is a risk. I like Konchar and Williams as a part of this trade as well. Both guys will play roles on next year’s team and be positive impacts on a team that needs wings. They didn’t give up a ton from a player perspective, Clayton and Hendricks both have chances to be good but they kept all of their best young guys out of this deal. Jackson is a really good player and getting really good players is not a bad thing.

This is a hard reset for Memphis. It’s the end of a moment for the Grizzlies (I don’t think we can call 1 playoff series win an era). Let’s focus on what comes next in Memphis. This is a good return for the Grizzlies. From a player standpoint it is not a ton but three first round picks is a solid haul.

Let’s start with Walter Clayton Jr and Taylor Hendricks. I would consider them both interesting young players. Clayton is a small guard who is coming off of a National Championship at Florida last season. The 18th pick in the draft has been okay to start his career, averaging 6.8 points, 3.2 assists and 2.0 rebounds on shooting splits of .40/.31/.94. He has a chance to be a good player and will contribute in Memphis. Hendricks was the 9th pick in the 2023 draft and is coming off of a season ending leg injury last year. He’s a fine player who is on the books next year at $7.8 million and then will be a restricted free agent so the Grizzlies get to get an extended look at him before making a decision. Clayton is much more likely to be on the next good Grizzlies team than Hendricks is but I am not giving up on Hendricks yet.

The picks Memphis got could be good as well. The best of the Jazz/Timberwolves/Cavs 2027 pick, the Lakers 2027 pick (top 4 protected) and the Suns 2031 pick. Those could all be good picks. The Jazz seem to want to be good next season but the west is stacked and they’ve been bad for a while, that could easily be a lottery pick, the Suns don’t own any picks forever so who knows what will be going on there in 2031 and the Lakers pick probably won’t be that good but they are one Luka injury away from being pretty bad. It is a pretty good return for a really good player and you have to think Ja Morant is next.

Cavs, Clippers swap James Harden for Darius Garland

The Cleveland Cavaliers and Los Angeles Clippers agreed to a blockbuster deal on Tuesday night, sending James Harden to the Cavaliers for Darius Garland and a future 2nd round pick. It is about a straight forward of a blockbuster trade you can have and it sets up both these teams on very different paths.

This is a trade that reeks of desperation for the Cavaliers. Trading up 10 years to acquire a 36-year-old point guard for a player who has been an All-Star and is just who is 26 is not something that teams that are not desperate do. However, this makes Cleveland better for the 2025-26 season. Garland has not been healthy this season and when he has been, he’s been a lesser player than Harden is. James Harden is still really good and he plays every night. This season he has averaged 25.4 points, 8.1 assists and 4.8 rebounds per game with shooting splits of .42/.35/.90. That is an awesome player who is going to make the Cavaliers better in the short term. The question that Cleveland had to answer was which player gives the Cavs a better chance at winning the Eastern Conference right now, Darius Garland or James Harden? To me, and to them, that answer is Harden.

That matters in this wide open Eastern Conference. Cleveland is currently tied for 4th in the east at 30-21, 2.5 games behind the Knicks and Celtics who are tied for 2nd. They are better than Toronto who they are tied with so home court advantage in the first round should be considered likely for them. They can also absolutely catch New York and/or Boston, both really good teams but not ones without flaws. Then, once you get into the playoffs, why can’t Cleveland win the whole conference. Who in the east is marketably better than they are? Who in the East are you confidently picking against the Cavs in a playoff series after this trade? Yes, Harden has his playoff disasters and he will likely have another one this year which ends the Cavs season but it is not like Garland has been an awesome postseason player.. Yet, I think this roll of the dice is worth it because it makes Cleveland better right now. With Donovan Mitchell’s contract extension decision looming, that matters a lot.

On the other side, this is an easy trade for the Clippers to make. As I mentioned, Garland is 10 years younger than Harden is. That alone makes this deal worth it for Los Angeles. No, Garland has not been healthy this year and no, he has not played all that well but he is still a really good player, who is a multi-time All-Star. He has scored 18 points a game while dishing out 7 assists in what is a down season. That is a great player and one who is just entering his prime. Yes, the Clippers have turned their season around but that does not mean this team is going anywhere significant this season. This trade sets the Clippers up better for the future, which is something they really need to start focusing on. Hopefully Garland can refind his form from last season with this fresh start. 

Wizards acquire Anthony Davis

I think this trade was the most shocking of them all.  The Mavericks traded Anthony Davis to the Washington Wizards in an 8-player, 5-draft pick trade. The full deal is Davis, D’Angelo Russell, Jaden Hardy and Dante Exum to Washington for Khris Middleton, A.J. Johnson, Marvin Bagley III, Malaki Branham, 2 first round picks and 3 second round picks. It is an all-time disaster in asset management by Dallas but that does not mean it is a bad trade.

Let’s start with the Mavericks portion of this. The 2 picks they got in this deal were the Thunder’s 2026 first round pick, which will be the 30th pick, and the Warriors 2030 first round pick, which is top 20 protected. Neither one of those picks are any good. Have we seen asset management be this bad in NBA history? I am really not sure. To think that just a year after they traded Luka Doncic for Davis, this is where we ended up is shocking. Yet, this was the right decision for the Mavericks to make.

This is a glorified salary dump by Dallas. It gets them out of the first apron and the luxury tax and opens up a lot of future money as well. They were never giving Davis a new contract and they cleared out D’Angelo Russell and Jaden Hardy’s salaries for next season, both of which are about $6 million. Without taking the Doncic part of this into consideration, this is a trade that makes sense for the Mavericks. Cooper Flagg has changed the way we view this franchise in the post-Doncic era. He is the everything player for the Mavericks and the often injured Davis was just not on the same timeline. Reset your books, get another high pick this year and see what you are next season. Also, I kinda like AJ Johnson. He has been a non-factor in Washington this year but is a 2nd year player who just turned 21-years-old and has some upside. Good filer for Dallas.

How quickly Davis fell from the primary piece in the Luka Doncic trade to being salary dumped is sad. A team sent Anthony Davis to the Washington Wizards and got next to nothing in return, let that sink in. Yet, it makes sense. Davis has played in just 29 games since the trade and is due $58 million next season with a $62 million player option for 2028, that, unless there is some huge turnaround next season, he is going to be picking up. Why would the Wizards extend him right now? Let’s see what these next two years look like and go from there. He will be 35-years-old by the time that this contract is over. Is Washington really going to be looking to extend him? They shouldn’t be.

This is a pre-agency deal for the Wizards. If you combine this trade with the Trae Young trade, Washington has used up all of their cap space for next summer. I think I may have talked myself into not liking this trade for Washington. At first I was like, yes this makes sense, they didn’t give up anything and Davis is really good when healthy. Davis only having 2-years left on his deal makes it more palatable for me but this is not a home run. Is betting that Anthony Davis can be a key part of your team next year a good process?

Starting next year, the Wizards are going to be trying to win basketball games. Their key pieces will be Davis, Trae Young, Alex Sarr, Tre Johnson, Bilal Coulibaly and whoever they add in this draft. They could be an interesting team in the Eastern Conference but still a ways away from truly competing for anything of real meaning. It is going to take a lot for them to be a serious team in the East next year. Davis and Young have not been healthy and while Sarr is awesome, Johnson and Coulibaly need to take that next step. Getting the first pick in this year’s draft would be huge for them.