The J-Notes
Fansided

Evaluating the “tradability” of each Utah Jazz player

By Jared Woodcox

MIAMI, FL - JANUARY 7: Derrick Favors #15 of the Utah Jazz makes his entrance before the game against the Miami Heat on January 7, 2017 at American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Oscar Baldizon/NBAE via Getty Images)
MIAMI, FL - JANUARY 7: Derrick Favors #15 of the Utah Jazz makes his entrance before the game against the Miami Heat on January 7, 2017 at American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Oscar Baldizon/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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MIAMI, FL – JANUARY 7: Ricky Rubio #3 of the Utah Jazz dribbles the ball against the Miami Heat on January 7, 2018 at American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Issac Baldizon/NBAE via Getty Images)
MIAMI, FL – JANUARY 7: Ricky Rubio #3 of the Utah Jazz dribbles the ball against the Miami Heat on January 7, 2018 at American Airlines Arena in Miami, Florida. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2018 NBAE (Photo by Issac Baldizon/NBAE via Getty Images) /

Ricky Rubio

As hard as it might be to believe, Ricky Rubio is actually the second-highest paid Jazzman this season at $14.1 million. Coming into this season, that was believed to actually be a pretty great value, which speaks volumes to how well the Jazz have utilized their cap space this year. Rubio has one more year left on his contract in which his pay will jump slightly to $14.8 million, but in all, he was viewed as a starting-caliber point guard on a nice contract that would pay big dividends for the Jazz.

Unfortunately, that view has changed dramatically now that the season has gotten underway as Rubio has been nothing short of atrocious for the Jazz and one of the biggest disappointments of the 2017-18 season. While before it was viewed as a deal to have him under contract for two years, now it appears as if it will be somewhat of a drag that Utah will have to pay him for an entire additional year.

Hopefully, he undergoes some major improvements and can still live up to what Utah thought he could be when they brought him in, but based on what we’ve seen so far, I don’t see that being the case. As much as I’d love to see the Jazz try to move Rubio based on how terrible of a fit he’s been thus far, I have a hard time believing that will happen. If I were a betting man, I’d guess that they’ll stick through his full contract.

That’s partially just how the Jazz operate, but also, Rubio’s done nothing to inspire any opposing teams to pursue him in a trade, so I don’t know that the Jazz could trade him even if they wanted to! Maybe Utah could include him as part of a package, or perhaps teams can overlook his poor play this year and will hope they can turn him back into the assist extraordinaire that he was in Minnesota. Maybe others will still fall victim to having interest in a guy that’s become very well known in the NBA.

But I have a hard time believing that any of that will be able to cover up the fact that Rubio is shooting less than 40 percent from the field, less than 30 percent from deep, dishing out less than five assists per game and turning it over nearly three times per contest.

In short, Rubio has not looked good at all, and even if Utah wanted to trade him, they’d be hard-pressed to get any sort of meaningful value for him. Like it or not, Jazz fans, it appears we’re stuck with Rubio for the time being.

Verdict: Expendable, but low value – unlikely to be traded