Why Josh Green makes sense for Jazz after trade with Timberwolves

The Jazz didn’t trade for Josh Green because they needed another scorer. They needed someone to help stop the other guys from scoring.

That’s the simplest explanation for Utah’s decision to acquire Green from Minnesota in exchange for Cody Williams and John Konchar.

As cap analyst Yossi Gozlan of The First Apron noted, perimeter defense has been an obvious Jazz need, and Utah has now addressed it twice this offseason with Green and free-agent addition Josh Okogie.

Green isn’t a star. He’s a 25-year-old role player who defends, runs the floor and has made 38.7 percent of his career 3-pointers. For this Jazz roster, that’s plenty useful.

Utah has finished either 29th or 30th in defensive efficiency in each of the past three seasons. Green won’t fix that by himself, but adding multiple players who actually make life difficult on opposing wings seems like a reasonable place to start.

There’s a financial component, too. Moving Williams means Utah won’t have to make the uncomfortable decision of declining the former No. 10 overall pick’s $7.67 million team option for 2027-28.

Williams showed improvement last season, averaging 15.4 points, 4.1 rebounds and 4.4 assists in 21 starts during March and April. But he remained an uncertain fit, and Minnesota now gets the opportunity to see if a change of scenery helps.

For Utah, getting Williams’ future salary off the books creates more flexibility as Keyonte George approaches his next contract.

So this isn’t exactly Donovan Mitchell-to-Cleveland. It’s the Jazz adding a player who fits, improving the defense and clearing future money for someone they presumably view as part of the core.

Those smaller moves matter, too.