Why Utah makes this trade - They want Andrew Nembhard and Aaron Nesmith to pair with Ace Bailey. Their tenacity and work ethic on both sides of the ball allow Bailey to grow and play to his natural strengths - putting the ball in the basket at an elite level. Both Nembhard and Nesmith are on some of the best contracts in the NBA. The Jazz get a plethora of picks - 4 FRPs in total and 2 pick swaps. The 2026 FRP has a real chance to have value with Haliburton out for the year. In all, it allows Utah to have the ammo well into the future to push chips in at the right time, the same way OKC has set themselves up. With Nembhard as the point guard of the future, they are fine including Collier and his limited ceiling. Markannen and Kessler want to play and both desire to play for a contender sooner rather than later. Utah may insist on the Pacers including Jarace Walker or Johnny Furphy as SF prospects to get it across the finish line. At least with having this roster, they won't be accused of such blatant tanking by sitting a perfectly healthy star-level player for draft positioning. This will assure the Jazz of one more year with one of the worst records in the league, but one that can be positioned to compete in 3 years with the right development.

Why Indiana makes this trade - This is all about clearly rising to the top of the East for the next 2 years after this year with Haliburton out. They mortgage their draft, but Carlisle gets his Dirk-clone in Markannen. Kessler is an above average starting center - something they need with Turner exiting via free agency. Collier provides a point guard stop gap this year, and can serve as a back up point guard when Haliburton is healthy. Indiana would be looking at a jumbo starting lineup with Haliburton, Mathurin, Markannen, Siakam, and Kessler.