Head coach Will Hardy and Jazz players react to trade with Clippers

It’s never a normal day when an NBA team sends out players in a trade, and Saturday certainly wasn’t a normal day for Utah Jazz head coach Will Hardy.

He’s dealt with trade deadline moves every year since taking his post in Utah, but this year the outgoing players were guys he considers friends, players he has known for many years.

Calling Patty Mills and Drew Eubanks to let them know that they were going to be traded was harder than some of the other goodbyes that Hardy has had to make as a head coach.

“Yeah, it was definitely tough,” Hardy said. “Those two guys in particular, I have very long standing relationships with, so those conversations are a little bit different because I recognize what they’ve meant to this place. I also recognize what they mean to me individually.”

Both players were on the San Antonio Spurs when Hardy was an assistant coach, and Mills has known Hardy for as long as he’s been around the NBA. They watched one another grow up.

But the cold hard truth is that neither Mills nor Eubanks were a part of the Jazz’s longterm plans. They were both exceedingly great veterans to have on the Jazz roster and both had a very specific role to play, but they weren’t necessary components of the Jazz’s rebuild.

On Saturday morning, Eubanks sent a text message to the players’ group chat, expressing his gratitude for having been part of a locker room that felt special, and a number of players said that other players were going to have to step up to fill the energy void that would be left without Mills around.

As players were getting ready to leave the locker room early on Saturday afternoon to head to the court for their pregame warmup routines before facing the Orlando Magic (the Jazz won, 113-99), John Collins had a moment that made the trade hit home.

No more Patty Mills meant that his routine would be different.

“I just realized that I’m going out there to shoot alone,” Collins said. “That’s the kind of stuff that you don’t think about until it happens. My shooting buddy won’t be out there.”

As he ran toward the tunnel, Collins shook his head and just said, “It’s a tough day.”

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Those moments are something that shake up a locker room. Young players and veterans alike have a tough time digesting trade news. It doesn’t matter if a player is part of the team’s regular rotation, how young they are or how much history they have with the team, there are bonds that are impacted by the business side of basketball.

Eubanks was brought to the Jazz roster specifically to help mold Walker Kessler and to give him an up close example of what physicality in the post should look like.

Kessler said that without a doubt, Eubanks helped him and pushed him this season.

Mills was brought in to give a model of what professional behavior looks like. He was here to give the younger players perspective and advice and help bridge the gap between the players and coaching staff.

He did that.

“Both really big locker room guys who would bring and keep the positive vibes going,” Lauri Markkanen said. “They were bringing some knowledge to the young guys so they were both very good vets, and we’re gonna miss them.”