Utah Jazz: Trevor Booker set to make debut on Wednesday against former team

Former Utah Jazz fan favorite Trevor Booker will make his Indiana Pacers debut on Wednesday against none other than his former Utah Jazz team itself.

As soon as it was rumored that former Utah Jazz player and fan favorite Trevor Booker was likely going to be bought out by the Philadelphia 76ers, several Jazz fans became excited about the prospect of a potential Booker-to-Utah reunion. Regardless of any questions about fit, Booker is a high-energy veteran that makes teams better just by doing the little things. Not to mention, he’s highly beloved in Salt Lake City, so having him back in the fold would have been a joyful sight to behold.

Unfortunately, such was not in the cards and Booker ultimately agreed to sign with the Indiana Pacers. When that news broke, I was quick to chime in with my thoughts about how superb of a fit Trevor will likely be with an exciting Pacers team.

And even though Booker was signed on Saturday, he wasn’t available for Indiana’s game against the Washington Wizards on Sunday. And while he was on the bench for the Pacers’ contest against the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday, Indiana head coach Nate McMillan intended for him to simply watch rather than play.

Therefore, it turns out that Jazz fans will be among those who will get the first look at Booker’s hypothetically solid fit with his new team as he is ironically set to make his Pacers debut against his former team when the Utah Jazz visit Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Wednesday.

As Booker gets assimilated onto his new team, it’s unlikely that he’ll log significant minutes right away, but he will still probably have an impact off the bench with his hustle and intensity alone. In Booker’s first season in Brooklyn in 2016-17, he averaged a career-high eight rebounds per game and has shot over 50 percent from the field in each of the past two seasons.

His rebounding, defensive intensity and ability to finish at the rim will be huge for the Pacers off the bench as they’ve struggled on the boards overall this season and have been relatively thin at the power forward position behind Thaddeus Young with players sliding from either the three or five-spot to fill that void.

Indiana Pacers President of Basketball Operations Kevin Pritchard had the following to say about the Booker addition:

"“As we head into this final stretch of the season Trevor will add to the depth of our roster. Not only is he a solid player and a solid team player, his character fits with our team and what we are trying to accomplish.”"

After Indy’s victory over the Wizards on Sunday and the Bucks on Monday, the Pacers find themselves in fourth place in the East, just a half-game behind the Cleveland Cavaliers for third. That’s a huge accomplishment for a team that traded away their All-Star in Paul George this summer, especially considering that most experts had them pinned as a sure-fire lottery team this year.

I believe Pritchard’s statement on Booker’s team-first approach, character and skill was dead-on and if Booker makes the Pacers even better down the stretch, they’re going to be a scary squad as they aim to nab the third seed in the East by season’s end. Not only that, but regardless of Booker’s immediate impact, they’ll present quite the challenge for the Utah Jazz on Wednesday night.

The Pacers are a solid team at home and are on quite a roll after winning three straight games. And I’m sure the addition of Booker will only help them be more of a threat to his former Jazz team. Trevor will likely be excited to see some of his former teammates, as they will be to see him, but at the end of the day, proving his worth on his new team and outmatching his former allies will surely be his primary focus.

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The Jazz need every win they can get if they are to climb out of 10th place in the West and fight their way into the playoff mix, so Wednesday’s bout is set to be a big game that will present an undeniable challenge for them.

And while it will be fun to see the beloved Trevor Booker back in action once more, all pleasantries will go by the wayside as soon as the game tips off as Utah’s entire focus will be on earning a crucial fourth victory in a row.