Utah Jazz: Available players that could be pursued in a trade
DeMarre Carroll
Let’s be honest, if it was only a matter of personnel and not of money, what Jazz fan wouldn’t want to welcome the Junkyard Dog back to the fold? After all, he had his breakout years with the Jazz and was always a dependable and hard-working player who played with so much grit and heart that endeared him to the fans. Not only that, but he has expressed his appreciation and respect for Utah and the Jazz organization on several occasions on Twitter.
As far as his character and effort, there’s no denying that Carroll would be an exceptional fit. Unfortunately, there’s also money to consider, and the two years and over $30 million that he’s still owed don’t exactly match up with what his true worth would be.
Carroll’s best years came in Atlanta after which he received a hefty payday from the Toronto Raptors. Unfortunately, he never really lived up to that contract which is why the Raptors eventually were forced to dump him in a trade with the Brooklyn Nets, as KSL’s Andy Larsen reminds us in the tweet below:
DeMarre Carroll is in the same sentence and the Raptors just had to trade a first and a second to dump him. (That is to say, he's in a paragraph with players with proven negative trade value.)
— Andy Larsen (@andyblarsen) January 8, 2018
And he hasn’t exactly been a model of consistency this season as he’s shooting 39.4 percent from the field and just 33.7 percent from deep. That’s discouraging, especially considering the amount the Jazz would have to pay him. The Nets would likely be happy to get his salary off their books and honestly I’d love the energy, tenacious D and familiarity with the fans that Carroll would bring if Utah were to make a deal for him.
Nevertheless, none of those three things are anywhere close to being worth $30 million.