Trade Talk Is Afoot | Podcast

Today we review Utah Jazz trade ideas that have been floating around in NBA circles and bandied about between national writers and podcasters.
2023-24
development
trades
All-Star
Author

Adam Bushman

Published

December 30, 2022

Intro

Welcome to Jabber Jazz | Fan-driven, Ad-free content on Utah Jazz basketball

Adam Bushman Twitter | @adam_bushman

Today:

  • Trade talk is afoot; reviewing trade ideas from national media members
  • Markkanen will be an All-Star
  • Ochai sighting

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Trade Talk Is Afoot

These ideas came from the Lowe Post podcast. Zach Lowe and Bobby Marks of ESPN discussed these frameworks.

We’ll comment from a Jazz fan and team perspective.

  • Trade #1
    • UTA & BKN (made O’Neale trade in offseason)
      • Jarred Vanderbilt to BKN
      • DayRon Sharpe, Kessler Edwards, 2027 PHI 1st top 8 protected
    • Breakdown
      • DayRon Sharpe, 1 year in, 29th pick, traditional big, kind of an unknown (570 minutes)
      • Kessler Edwards, 1 year in, 44th pick, 6-8 wing, good shooter, not a ton else
    • Mostly this trade is about the pick Edwards
      • Many have circled Embiid as a guy to ask out; Harden is talking about going back to HOU; pick could be pretty decent
      • Edwards is a type who could flourish into a nice backup forward
    • In a vacuum, I probably do this; I would prefer other deals but I’m low on Vando’s fit with Kessler
  • Trade #2
    • UTA & MEM
      • Danny Green, filler, and a pick to UTA
      • Malik Beasley to MEM
    • Breakdown
      • Danny Green fully guarantee on Jan 10, UFA next season
      • Filler is likely a young player with some promise but non of MEM top 8
      • Pick is likely MEM own, protected somehow
    • Mostly this trade is about freeing up more cap space next year and getting a pick
      • Next year’s class has guys like Grant, Porzingis, VanVleet
    • To me, this doesn’t make enough sense;
      • Beasley is a piece you keep, IMO; you’ll need his skillset anyways and is unlikely to lose any value anytime soon
      • Someone bulls you over? Sure, but not for this deal IMO
  • Trade #3
    • UTA & GSW
      • Kelly Olynyk to GSW
      • James Wiseman + filler (discussed 2-1s) to UTA
    • Breakdown
      • Wiseman #2 pick, hardly any playing time between high school, college, NBA, and G-League
      • Shows flashes
      • The other guy isn’t likely to have any value (not a core piece to GSW)
    • Basically this trade is about buying crazy low on a former top pick
      • In theory, this is the type of thing teams in our position gotta do
    • I wouldn’t do this trade, though. I think it’s very important for Utah to follow a LAC model at C
      • Traditional rim protector for 30 mins a night and 5-out able the rest of the time
  • Trade #4
    • UTA & NOP
      • Malik Beasley to NOP
      • 2025 MIL pick + filler
        • The filler was never much talked about but probably includes a combo of Garrett Temple, Devonte’ Graham, Jaxon Hayes, Kira Lewis Jr.
        • 2025 pick probably ages out Brook Lopez maybe Middleton leaves; still I think it’s in the 20’s
    • Basically again it’s parts and a late pic
      • As is, I’m not doing it, again because I believe at 25 Malik fits Kessler, Markkanen, and new draft picks
      • But, if it was Dyson Daniels or Trey Murphy III and parts (no pick), yes I’d do it in a heartbeat

Markkanen Is an All-Star

Markkanen will be an All-Star this year; it’s done, IMO, and I’ll tell you why

  • His line is absurd: 24.5 pts, 8.4 rbs, 1.9 ast, 1.8 tov on +9.6% rTS
    • Just take the pts, rbs, ast line adjusted worst by 10%
    • 14 player seasons before this year did it: 12 made the All-Star game
      • Dan Issel did it on +4.0% rTS (0.327 win rate by All-Star)
      • Antawn Jamison did it on +0.5% rTS (0.207 win rate by All-Star)
    • Jazz are 0.487 win rate
  • He’s in the elite tier of efficiency
    • Only Jokic and Durant have a better TS% than Markkanen with more than 16.5 TSA/game
    • Guys right behind him? Curry, Davis, Williamson, Embiid…all All-Stars
  • Utah Jazz are hosting in SLC
    • Over the past 25 All-Star games in cities with a host NBA team, 17 had at least one representative
    • Teams/years that didn’t?
      • Atlanta in 2021: 0.444 win rate at All-Star break
      • Chicago in 2020: 0.345
      • Los Angeles in 2018: 0.469
      • Denver in 2005: 0.453
      • Atlanta in 2003: 0.388
      • Washington DC in 2001: 0.245
      • Golden State in 2000: 0.255
      • New York in 1998: 0.543
    • These teams didh’t have a guy like Markkanen and many were dumpster fire
      • Barring big trades, Jazz are likely above 0.500 by the break

Ochai Sighting

Finally we saw Ochai play actual, high leverage minutes:

  • Against Houston
    • First stint was 4:55, Jazz were a -3
    • Second stint was 12:44, all of the 4th, Jazz were a +11
    • Finished with 11 points, 1 rebound; 3-4 from 3
      • Hardy said he’d get more time and this was a good sign
      • Looked like he knew more where to be and what was going on
      • Still didn’t impact the game a ton outside of scoring
    • There was a reason he was drafted #14 and also a reason he hasn’t seen the floor. One game doesn’t change any of that, not would a bad game have. Let’s keep evaluating.

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