Which Players Could the Utah Jazz Most Afford to Trade?

Any Back-Up Point Guard

I went on a bit of a rant last week about how beyond starter George Hill who has been phenomenal for the Jazz, the rest of their point guard situation has been pretty bleak. Dante Exum has been perhaps one of the biggest disappointments of the 2016-17 season, though many are casting much of the blame on Coach Snyder’s short leash with him.

Shelvin Mack, who through the first half of the season had largely taken over Exum’s role, has recently found himself back on the bench as his inconsistency, poor shot selection and tendency to turn the ball over likely finally wore Snyder’s patience too thin. Finally, Raul Neto has put up some good minutes, but it’s been in an extremely small sample size.

Therefore, I’m rolling all three of these guys together, as any one of them could very likely be the weakest link and most expendable for Utah to move. Not only do the Jazz not have a need for four point guards anyway, but these back-ups have all largely been place holders rather than impact players and none has been vital to Utah’s success so far this season.

There have been a few whispers of Raul Neto being a potentially good fit and target for the Charlotte Hornets but it’s unclear what Utah would get in return there. A solid reserve point guard is currently one of Charlotte’s biggest needs but I don’t think trading one mediocre point guard for another in return is really the way to go.

Plus, if Neto does end up being the new number two point guard moving forward based on Exum and Mack’s struggles, perhaps trading him isn’t quite the right move.

While Exum has certainly made himself expendable this season, I also would hesitate to trade him just yet also. While some have already written him off, I’d say it’s way too early to call Dante a bust just yet given his young age, high potential and truthfully solid rookie season. However, if the right team calls whose looking to give up some talent in order to rebuild and stock their roster with high-ceiling guys, I could see the Jazz rolling the dice on moving Exum.

But the one that has likely made himself the most expendable due to exhibiting neither consistency nor untapped potential is Shelvin Mack. Mack’s done his job as a placeholder as I mentioned before, but certainly hasn’t been consistently spectacular.

The problem with that is that Mack may not net much in return for those same reasons, but on the other hand, he’s played well enough at times that a team that’s desperate enough for point guard depth may be willing to part with something useful for the Jazz such as a veteran big in order to take Shelvin.

While something like that would definitely be the best situation out of these three reserve point guards, at the end of the day all three of them should be considered movable if the right opportunity presents itself.