A three-team trade is set to be finalized, according to Tony Jones of The Athletic.
The Utah Jazz are trading with the Cleveland Cavaliers mainly for draft picks and plan to waive Ball after the transaction. Once he clears waivers, he can sign with any team, except the Cavaliers.
The Cavaliers acquired Ball from the Chicago Bulls last summer in exchange for Isaac Okoro, hoping he could be a consistent replacement for Ty Jerome, who left in free agency. However, Ball’s performance in Cleveland was below expectations, with career lows in points (4.6), minutes (20.8), field goal percentage (30.1%), and three-point percentage (27.2%).
To cut costs and stay below the second tax apron, the Cavaliers decided to trade Ball, especially after recently acquiring guards Dennis Schröder and Keon Ellis from Sacramento.
As a result of this trade, the Cavs will save about $65 million and are now only $3.9 million over the second apron, according to Yossi Gozlan of The Third Apron. The team is also likely exploring more ways to avoid the second-apron penalties that could affect their 2033 first-round draft pick, but they have already achieved significant savings from their recent trades—around $115 million in total, according to Gozlan.
The Jazz, meanwhile, still have room under the luxury tax limit after a recent trade involving Jaren Jackson Jr. They will utilize this flexibility to take on Ball’s contract and secure second-round picks from the Cavs for 2028 and 2032. These were the only second-round picks the Cavaliers had available to trade.
Utah has a trade exception exceeding $12 million from last summer’s John Collins agreement that will allow them to absorb Ball’s contract. The Collins exception, originally worth over $26 million, has also been used to acquire players like Georges Niang and John Konchar.
Landale, acquired in the deal with Memphis, is not part of Utah’s long-term plans and will be sent to Atlanta. The 30-year-old Australian center had a strong season with the Grizzlies, averaging 11.3 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 1.7 assists in 23.6 minutes per game over 45 games (25 starts), while shooting 38.0% from three-point range. He will add frontcourt depth to an Atlanta team that has faced injuries this season.
The Hawks will need to waive a player to accommodate Landale, but this will likely be manageable—both Duop Reath and N’Faly Dante are out for the season and are potential candidates for release. Because Landale is on a minimum-salary contract, they can integrate him without needing to send out any salary.