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<\/p>\nNHL insider Elliotte Friedman has drawn a parallel between the\u00a0Chicago Blackhawks\u2019 role in the Mikko Rantanen trade\u00a0and the\u00a0Utah Jazz\u2019s involvement in the Luka Doncic deal\u00a0in the\u00a0NBA.<\/p>\n
Friedman highlighted in\u00a0Thursday’s “32 Thoughts” column\u00a0how both teams were kept in the dark about the full scope of the transactions.<\/p>\n
“The NBA\u2019s Utah Jazz were the middleman in the massive Doncic deal,” Friedman wrote, referring to\u00a0the information revealed by ESPN.\u00a0“Tim MacMahon (along with ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne) reported that Jazz president Danny Ainge didn\u2019t know Doncic nor\u00a0Anthony Davis\u00a0were involved \u2018until about an hour before it was completed. But by then it was too late to do much about it.\u2019<\/p>\n
“Kind of funny it happened a week after the Blackhawks were criticized for not getting more out of eating part of Rantanen\u2019s salary.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Friedman noted that, like Ainge in Utah, Blackhawks general manager Kyle Davidson was unaware of key details when agreeing to retain 50% of Rantanen\u2019s salary in the three-team trade that sent him to the Carolina Hurricanes,\u00a0something that drew criticism.<\/p>\n
The secrecy, Friedman explained, was intentional from Carolina’s and Colorado’s side of the trade as the two main parties involved in it and those swapping superstar players.<\/p>\n
“One thing everyone understood: GM Kyle Davidson wasn\u2019t told specifics because Colorado demanded secrecy from Carolina,” Friedman wrote. “A couple of executives said that, in this situation, you know what you\u2019re being asked to retain, so you\u2019re guessing who it could be.<\/p>\n
“They bet Davidson was given a higher number than actually needed, to make it harder to guess who it was. Apparently, that\u2019s a regular tactic.”<\/p>\n
In the NBA, the Lakers got Doncic, Maxi Kleber, and Markieff Morris from the Mavericks while sending Anthony Davis, Max Christie, and a protected 2029 first-round draft pick the other way. Meanwhile, the Jazz landed Jalen Hood-Schifino from Los Angeles along with two second-round picks in the 2025 draft.<\/p>\n
The Blackhawks ultimately received a third-round pick from Carolina in exchange for retaining Rantanen\u2019s salary, while the Avalanche acquired Jack Drury, Martin Necas, and two draft picks in return. Carolina also landed Taylor Hall from Chicago.<\/p>\n
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