Utah Jazz land Nikola Mirotic
Without a doubt, the name that has been most tied to the Utah Jazz in trade rumors has been that of the Chicago Bulls’ stretch-four Nikola Mirotic. Mirotic would certainly fill a significant need for the Jazz as Quin Snyder’s offense would thrive with a knock-down stretch-four that could space the floor by hitting threes with ease.
The Bulls have also made it quite clear that Mirotic is on the block as they look more towards rebuilding for the future rather than focusing on the here and now. With both teams looking to make a move, it’s quite possible that a deal could be worked out that would send Rodney Hood to the Chicago Bulls and Mirotic to the Utah Jazz.
However, the two couldn’t be traded straight up, instead Hood would need to be packaged with the likes of Joe Johnson or Derrick Favors to make the deal work. Hood and Favors feels like a pretty steep price for Mirotic, but I imagine that Utah would pull the trigger on Hood and Johnson in the blink of an eye.
Something to keep in mind on 1st day Mirotic is eligible to be traded: In wake of Portis incident, management went on record to say it only will do what's best for organization. Translated: If Bulls don't get 1st-round pick, would be surprised to see him moved.
— K.C. Johnson (@KCJHoop) January 15, 2018
The trouble is, that doesn’t much benefit the Bulls other than the fact that they’d shed Mirotic’s salary and could perhaps aim to keep Hood long-term if they liked his fit with the team. But that seems unlikely, especially considering that the Bulls have made it clear that they’d like a first-round pick in exchange for Mirotic.
The first-round pick alone might make the Jazz feel uneasy, but that along with two players would be almost unfathomable. Perhaps the Jazz could acquire something else from the Bulls, or involve a third team, but those don’t seem like the best options for the two teams either. In other words, a Hood-for-Mirotic trade is nice in theory, but when diving a little deeper, the reality of it gets a bit messy.
If the Jazz can find a way to put protections on the trade they ship out or perhaps involve a third team, they might be able to make this concept work. But I don’t think Chicago will be happy without a bonafide first-round pick and I doubt the Jazz will trade three assets (Hood, Johnson and a pick) for Mirotic. I do love the idea of some sort of Hood-Mirotic swap though, so I would be perfectly fine if Dennis Lindsey worked his magic to make this work.