Anthony Davis created the biggest headline of NBA trade deadline season Monday morning, when he officially announced that he has requested a trade from the New Orleans Pelicans. That led some to wonder: Could we see a return of the New Orleans Jazz?
OK, the answer is no. But the team name is just about all that the Jazz — the Utah team — could offer New Orleans for its soon-to-be-departing superstar, putting up an MVP-caliber season by averaging 29 points and 13 rebounds per game.
The Jazz wouldn’t trade Donovan Mitchell, a budding star with likely six more years of team control, for Davis, who could and likely would leave in the 2020 offseason for bigger cities.
Nor would Rudy Gobert be an option. His long-term timeline doesn’t fit that of the Pelicans. Everyone else whom the Jazz would offer simply aren’t good enough.
But while we’ve crossed that idea off the list, know this: The Jazz, according to multiple league sources, are looking for their third piece, a significant player to put next to Mitchell and Gobert.
Davis isn’t the answer, but if the Pelicans are going in a different direction, what do they do with the pieces surrounding him? Do they keep Jrue Holiday as their team’s best player, or go all-in on a younger, cheaper direction? At 28, Holiday’s ability to shoot and defend would be an excellent fit with the Jazz’s overall roster.
The Jazz have had interest in Nikola Mirotic in the past, being heavily involved in trade discussions for the sharpshooting big man in the winter of 2018 before he eventually was traded from Chicago to New Orleans. Mirotic will be a free agent this summer, so the Jazz wouldn’t want to give up too much for the power forward averaging 16.7 points per game. But there are advantages to acquiring Mirotic early: Giving the team a new weapon going into this year’s playoffs, and ensuring that his cap hold is reasonable in the offseason might lend some flexibility, too.
The Jazz are also keeping their ear on other trade buzz around the league, including that of Washington’s Otto Porter and Memphis' Mike Conley. Utah is interested in both players — if they’re available at the right price.
Porter was a free agency target for the Jazz on July 4, 2017, when Gordon Hayward left in free agency — though Porter ended up signing his maximum offer sheet with the Nets instead, which was matched by Washington. Porter’s poor early-season play caused some Utah decision-makers to have doubts about whether he was worth his $26 million salary this season, but recent improvements with star John Wall out due to injury have mitigated those concerns. Still, given the financial price tag, the Jazz are pretty unwilling to give up multiple significant assets for the 25-year-old Porter.
Utah’s interest in Conley has been confirmed by a Salt Lake Tribune source. Conley, who averages 20 points per game from the point guard spot, is 31 years old but has played well for the Grizzlies this year despite limited talent around him and center Marc Gasol. But the Jazz worry about Conley’s price tag from an acquisition point of view: Memphis sees Conley as a franchise player worth a big future return, while the Jazz see him as a helpful but expensive piece — his contract pays him $66 million for the next two seasons after this one. Conley’s market might be limited around the league, given how many teams already are set at point guard, though Memphis believes it will heat up closer to the deadline. We’ll see if the teams are able to close the significant gap in valuation by Feb. 7.
There are advantages to waiting until the summer, and Jazz general manager Dennis Lindsey has said he prefers to make offseason trades over those at the deadline, when he believes that the artificial end time and accompanying auction feel tend to raise the price for buyers. In the offseason, the Jazz might have a clearer idea of their status in free agency, though they won’t have the option of trading the expiring contracts of Ricky Rubio, Thabo Sefolosha or Ekpe Udoh.
In free agency, Mirotic is just one of a group of talented stretch fours who are on the market. Milwaukee’s Khris Middleton and Los Angeles’ Tobias Harris are among the viable options for the Jazz to get better through free agency. Point guard has more limited options: Kyrie Irving, Kemba Walker, and Eric Bledsoe aren’t likely to sign in Utah, leaving the Jazz with a choice of retaining Rubio or going after the likes of Terry Rozier or Darren Collison with an offer.
Regardless of what the Jazz decide to do, take comfort in this: After Monday, they’re in a much better position than New Orleans.
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