Utah Jazz: J-Notes staffers’ ideal trade deadline acquisitions

Dario Saric, Philadelphia 76ers

J-Notes co-expert Ryan Aston

In my recent piece on what-if scenarios involving Utah Jazz trade targets, my best-case scenario for Dario Saric was summed up as follows: Mitchell-Gobert-Saric becomes one of the league’s most exciting young cores. As it stands, he’s part of a humdinger with Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid.

Although some of his best assets take a back seat when he shares the floor with the Sixers’ star duo, Saric continues to show unbelievable value on the hardwood. The 23-year-old has played the role of the stretch big to perfection. He’s averaging a cool 14 points and seven boards per game this year and shooting 38 percent from 3-point range.

However, his incredible playmaking and passing abilities are vastly underutilized. He’s a player you can run the offense through; over the back half of his rookie year (sans Simmons and Embiid), he put up an 18-7-3 line. This year, he simply doesn’t have the ball in his hands enough to show his stuff.

His situation in Utah would be vastly different.

Assuming Ricky Rubio isn’t in Utah’s long-term plans, Saric and Donovan Mitchell could be the players Quin Snyder runs his offense through. Meanwhile, Saric would give Rudy Gobert the space to operate down low that he doesn’t always get with Derrick Favors.

Now, if I’m Philly, I’m not trading Saric for anything less than king’s ransom. His name has featured in trade rumors for a while now, but the 76ers have wisely held firm. However, if I’m the Jazz GM, I’m offering almost anything outside of Mitchell and Gobert to catch a potential star on the rise.

Next: Kevin Love