Utah Jazz: 5 Potential SF Replacements if Hayward Leaves as Free Agent

DeMarre Carroll

While Jazz fans would undoubtedly be sad to see Hayward go, they would certainly feel a little bit better about things if DeMarre Carroll, a former Jazzman and fan favorite, were the one to to fill the void in his absence. During his short time in Utah, Carroll proved his mettle in the league as a hard working, gritty player who wasn’t afraid to do the dirty work.

Although in his lone full season with Utah in 2012-13 he only logged six points per game, he showed enough potential to be picked up by Atlanta where he posted the best season of his career in his second year there, averaging 12.6 points per game on 48.7 percent shooting from the field and 39.5 percent from deep.

Since then, he’s been with the Toronto Raptors where he signed a four-year $60 million contract. While his numbers haven’t been as good during his time up north as they were with the Hawks, he continues to be a stat sheet stuffing kind of guy who brings an edge every night and challenges teams on both ends of the floor.

Why it Would Work

Given that Carroll is in just his second year of his four-year contract with the Raptors, it might seem a little bit unlikely that a scenario exists that would cause him to leave. However, Carroll has been mentioned in several trade rumors swirling around the web (though I tend to not put much stock into those) as the Raptors, despite being a good team, clearly are missing some pieces to be able to contend with the Cleveland Cavaliers in the East.

While I don’t think the Raptors would realistically move Carroll this season, they could perhaps look to make a change over the offseason, which would benefit Utah as by then they would know Hayward’s decision, especially if the follwing recent development comes to fruition.

The Atlanta Hawks have suddenly become active trade participants as it was reported today that they are finalizing a deal to trade Kyle Korver to the Cleveland Cavaliers. And now with Korver gone, the Hawks are reportedly also shopping former Jazzman Paul Millsap and the Raptors just so happen to be among the top teams interested.

If a Millsap trade is indeed imminent and the Raptors do end up with him, a roster consisting of Kyle Lowry, DeMar DeRozan, DeMarre Carroll and Paul Millsap would undoubtedly be a daunting bunch, especially considering Toronto’s current lack of depth at the power forward spot.

However, given that the Raptors just signed DeRozan to a big contract and that Millsap and Lowry both have player options on their contracts for next season and would both be in for a big pay raise if they opt-out, Toronto could have a very hard time paying for all four. If that ended up being the case, it’s very likely that Carroll would end up being the odd man out.

Thus it’s possible that if the Raptors were looking to move DeMarre, be it due to the acquisition of Millsap or otherwise, and the Jazz were suddenly without their star small forward, Utah could be interested in arranging a deal for Carroll who they’re obviously familiar with and who would be a formidable vet to add to the squad.

In terms of fit, he’s been a great teammate at every stop and has had nothing but praise for his time spent in Utah and the Jazz organization. You can bet that he would be welcomed by his teammates and the fans with open arms as a worthy consolation prize after losing Hayward.

https://twitter.com/DeMarreCarroll1/status/812355244151672833

Why It Wouldn’t Work

Well the obvious reason of why it wouldn’t work would simply be that there’s a good chance that Toronto, who dropped a pretty penny to sign Carroll, may be hesitant at best to deal him. Though they don’t look like legitimate title contenders with their current roster, it doesn’t necessarily mean that DeMarre is one of the players they’d look to part with to fix that.

And though the Millsap situation could definitely change that outlook, it’s still an extremely hypothetical situation at best. While Carroll would be one of the better and more realistic replacements for Hayward in terms of his fit on the team, due to how much would have to fall into place and how tricky it may be for both teams to come to an agreement, it seems like a long shot that this one would actually happen.

Nevertheless, if Utah were to lose Hayward, they would definitely need to at least give the Raptors a call to see if there was indeed any truth to the trade rumors surrounding him as he would be an excellent pick-up for the Jazz.