If Exum would have been included, it would taken the combined salaries high enough to trade for Conley directly instead of absorbing him into the cap. This would have allowed the Jazz to keep the rights to Rubio, Thabo, Udoh (not that any of them would have been likely to be back). Perhaps more importantly it would have allowed the Jazz the full MLE (about $9 million) instead of the Room Exception ($4.7 million).

Who knows whether the Jazz still don't want to give up on Exum, or whether Memphis no longer wanted him given his recent injuries (or if they ever wanted him in the first place), but that is an interesting piece to the trade.