Minnesota Turned the No. 9 Pick Into Two First-Round Prospects
On draft night in 2013, Minnesota selected Trey Burke at No. 9 and immediately sent his rights to Utah for the rights to Shabazz Muhammad at No. 14 and Gorgui Dieng at No. 21. Utah's own release confirms the one-for-two structure. The move fit both teams' priorities at the time: the Jazz wanted a point guard badly enough to move up five spots, while the Timberwolves chose volume and positional variety. In hindsight, the extra first-round swing became the decisive feature because Dieng developed into the most durable player in the package.
Dieng Became the Trade's Most Valuable Long-Term Piece
Gorgui Dieng spent seven seasons with Minnesota and appeared in 498 games for the franchise. He started all 82 games in 2016-17, averaged 7.9 points and 6.2 rebounds across his Timberwolves tenure, and provided years of dependable frontcourt minutes. Muhammad's contribution was shorter, but he still supplied useful bench scoring, including 13.5 points per game in 2014-15 and 10.5 in 2015-16. Minnesota did not hit twice at a star level, yet the combined return created far more sustained roster value than a typical draft-night split.
Burke Had a Real Utah Run, but It Never Matched the Price
Trey Burke was not a bust in the sense of providing nothing. He played 210 games for Utah over three seasons, started 111 of them, averaged 12.1 points and 4.2 assists for the Jazz, and made the 2014 All-Rookie team. The problem is what Utah paid to secure that role. Burke's shooting efficiency was uneven, his starting role disappeared by year three, and the Jazz moved on after the 2015-16 season. That makes the direct comparison difficult for Utah: one useful but limited guard did not equal Minnesota's longer runway from Dieng plus Muhammad's secondary scoring.
The Grade Gap Is Driven by Depth, Durability and Opportunity Cost
Minnesota's A- does not require treating Muhammad as a major success or pretending Burke lacked NBA value. The winning case rests on turning one lottery selection into two rotation players and getting nearly 500 franchise games from Dieng alone. Utah's F reflects the opportunity cost of consolidating two first-round picks for a guard who never became a long-term starter there. This is exactly the kind of draft-night transaction where the number of bites matters only because one of them turned into sustained production. The Wolves extracted more years, more lineup utility and more total value from the same draft range.
Final Verdict
Wolves Win — Minnesota A-, Utah F. Utah acquired the rights to Trey Burke, who played 210 games for the Jazz and had a respectable three-year run, but the cost was the rights to Shabazz Muhammad and Gorgui Dieng. Muhammad delivered several seasons of bench scoring, while Dieng became the trade's anchor by playing 498 games for Minnesota and developing into a dependable long-term frontcourt piece. Burke's Utah tenure was useful rather than transformative, and the Jazz surrendered two first-round opportunities to get him. The canonical grades appropriately reward Minnesota for converting one selection into the deeper, longer-lasting package.