Jaren Jackson Jr. Traded To Utah Jazz Headlined By Three First-Round Picks

Welcome to NBA trade deadline SZN.

Things got started off with a small bang over the weekend with the Cavs acquiring some pieces from Sacramento, and then came the news that James Harden and the Clippers are looking for trade partners on Monday night, but the real Mike Breen "BANG" was on Tuesday afternoon when Shams announced the following:

Jaren Jackson Jr. headlined the trade package to Utah as the Grizzlies also sent Vince Williams Jr., Jock Landale, and John Konchar over to the Jazz in exchange for Walter Clayton Jr., Taylor Hendricks, Kyle Anderson, Georges Niang, and three future first-round picks that have turned out to be reported as the 2027 most favorable of Cleveland/Utah/Minnesota, LA Lakers 2027 first round-pick and a 2031 unprotected first round pick from Phoenix.

Obviously this signals what many Grizzlies fans have seen coming from a mile away and that is a full, tear it down, rebuild.

Memphis will want to build around their young star core of Zach Edey and Cedric Coward and now have picks to potentially land a third star next to the young duo.

12 first-round picks in the next seven years trails only Brooklyn and Oklahoma City. I've also mentioned all this without even saying that the trade also created a massive $28.8 million trade exception in the deal, which is the largest ever in the NBA.

I wouldn't mind seeing them try and land guys such as Jaden McDaniels, Tari Eason, or Peyton Watson.

This probably means that Ja Morant is the next domino to fall as teams have been showing interest in him as of Tuesday afternoon, per Shams. Unfortunately the Grizzlies have shown their hand already in that they want to tear this thing completely down, meaning they are unlikely to get a haul back in Morant like they did for Desmond Bane and Jackson Jr..

However, to get seven first-round picks combined for those two is a win in its own self. Getting Morant, who has been unavailable in big moments throughout his career because of his own choices and unfortunate injury luck into new scenery could be a breath of fresh air for both sides.

The good news for Memphis fans is that they are in a much better spot to start this era than they were when starting the Ja/Jaren. They will have more bites at the apple than they did after they tore it down with Mike Conley Jr. and Marc Gasol. They have plenty of assets and can use them at their own disposal.

My thoughts as a Grizzlies fan though is that it is a sad day in the 901, man.

From someone who has seen many guys not embrace what the city of Memphis has to offer, Jaren constantly showed up as a role model for the people of Memphis and this franchise.

I've had tough moments with Jaren as a player with his rebounding issues and inconsistency as an every night star, but the dude is a pro in every sense of the word off the court.

Below is a video showing just a small sample of how awesome Jaren was to the fans.

I get it, rebuilds can be tough to endure as fans and nobody wants to see star players leave their team. However, even trying to look at it through unbiased lenses, the path back to the top for Memphis is clear. Draft well (which Zach Kleiman has shown he can do) and find pieces that fit what you're wanting to build.

Land a top three pick in this draft and your rebuild timeline becomes even shorter.

I'll let Reed Jones take it from here on the rest of the deals that happen, including deals that could also involve Morant and other Grizzly players.