Four free agents that likely won’t consider Utah Jazz, but probably should

Even though several free agents may overlook the small market Utah Jazz, there’s no denying that they’ve created a culture and system that should be appealing to many players.

Let’s face it, coming to Salt Lake City and joining the Utah Jazz is rarely viewed as a desirable free agent destination. The Jazz have enjoyed ample success over the years, but that has seldom come due to big-time player acquisitions. Instead it’s been done by solid drafting and savvy front office moves.

Nevertheless, the Jazz have certainly put themselves in a position to be better-equipped to land bigger fish in the upcoming summers. Quin Snyder and Dennis Lindsey have a reputation as being incredible and successful guys to play for. They have an elite rim protector in Rudy Gobert that serves as a star and makes life easy on defense. They also have Donovan Mitchell, a star in the making who seems to be friends with everyone, that could certainly help with recruiting.

On top of all that, they’ve also set themselves apart as a top-four team in the West with the personnel, system and talent to potentially challenge the top teams in the league for years to come. In short, from a strictly basketball standpoint, the Jazz ought to be quite appealing for free agents.

Take Joe Johnson, for example, when he joined the Jazz in the offseason of 2016. Sure, at that age he wasn’t the same legendary star that he once was, but it was still a big-name signing for Utah. He saw the promise of joining the up-and-coming team, and was an incredible piece to the 2016-17 Jazz playoff run.

Others looking for a similar situation and chance to thrive with an exciting team on the rise would do well to follow Johnson’s example from two years ago. Unfortunately, as Jazz fans know all too well after years of being spurned or ignored by big-time free agents, solely focusing on the basketball side of things isn’t always necessarily how players function.

With that being the case, considering that I’ve already looked at several more realistic free agent options for the Jazz, this time around I wanted to look at some that are among the more appealing names this offseason that would probably fit what the Jazz need and are looking for, but likely wouldn’t put playing in Utah high on their priority lists.

While none of these four guys are likely to join Utah’s ranks, mainly because these players probably will be adverse to joining the Jazz, it’s still fun to envision how well they could fit here if they were just willing to give Utah, the players and the coaching staff a fair shake.

JJ Redick

One thing that is high on Utah’s wish list for this offseason has to be knock-down three-point shooters. Enter JJ Redick.

After playing one year with the Philadelphia 76ers on an incredibly high $23 million contract, he’s now set to hit free agency and could very well be looking for a new team. The Sixers are dead set on adding a big name such as Paul George, LeBron James or trading for Kawhi Leonard, and for them to do so, it’s more than likely that they would simply part ways with Redick rather than look to re-sign him.

Of course, for Redick to make sense for the Jazz, he’d need to be willing to take a pretty significant pay cut from his $23 million. If the lack of appeal that the state of Utah tends to have isn’t already enough to turn him away, less money may then ultimately do the trick.

But let’s assume that’s not an issue, Redick would be a nice pickup for the Jazz who would love to have his floor-spacing ability. Redick is a career 41.5 percent three-point shooter. He shot well over 40 percent in each of the last four seasons, including finishing 2015-16 at a mind-blowing mark of 47.5 percent with 5.6 attempts per game in 75 games played. This past year with the Sixers, he shot an incredible 42 percent.

What’s more is that on wide open threes (defined as closest defender six or more feet away), he shot 49.5 percent this past season. Considering how good Quin Snyder is at getting his teams to execute schemes that lead to open shots, Redick would be absolutely deadly with the Jazz. Imagine Donovan Mitchell driving to the cup having both Joe Ingles and JJ Redick available on the wings to dish out to for an open three. That’s just scary.

And while Redick is known mainly as a shooter, his ability to put up points in general shouldn’t be ignored. He averaged a career-high 17.1 points per game in his lone year with the Sixers, and even upped that during the playoffs. The Jazz could certainly use another reliable 15-20 points per night kind of guy to help add to their currently lackluster scoring punch. Redick could very well fit the bill and thrive therein.

I wouldn’t say there’s a zero percent chance of Redick coming to Utah, but I have a hard time seeing them being high on his list. After spending so much time with the LA Clippers and this past year in Philly, Redick may have a hard time coming to a market as small as Salt Lake, especially when losing to Utah in the playoffs in 2017 is still so fresh.

But if he’s looking for a sort of Sixers situation 2.0 where he can be a major contributor on a rising squad, but that also would provide a system in which he should be able to thrive, he definitely would be wise to consider taking a long, hard look at the Jazz.

Tyreke Evans

In a recent piece I wrote detailing a free agent target at every position, I actually included Tyreke Evans in that list. While he comes with a series of risks, if he can replicate his incredible 2017-18 season where he posted an average of 19.4 points per game, he would be phenomenal.

I would truly love to see him in a Jazz uniform next year, but whether the Jazz actually pursue him or not, I’m less than confident that Evans would pick the Jazz as his ideal destination as an unrestricted free agent.

Perhaps I’m dead wrong on that. After all, he has spent his entire career with small market teams such as the Sacramento Kings, New Orleans Pelicans and Memphis Grizzlies. If that trend continues, maybe he will see the Jazz as an attractive destination.

However, around the trade deadline, there was a lot of talk of him being moved to a contender, with several elite teams eyeing his services to help them take an extra leap forward, aided by his team-friendly contract. Ultimately the Memphis Grizzlies decided not to move him, but now that he is an unrestricted free agent, I could see that former allure of joining a big market and helping compete for a title take precedence over anything else.

Of course, then again, the question facing Evans is how much is he actually going to be worth this offseason? If he can repeat this past year, he’s worth a decent haul, but fears of it being a fluke season as well as concerns about his spotty injury history may turn some teams away. If that ends up being the case, then it may add just another reason for him to look at the Utah Jazz.

The Jazz certainly shouldn’t and won’t overpay Tyreke, but if there was a mutual agreement there, Utah has mid-level exception money they could play with to get Evans on a pretty nice deal between $8 and 9 million. That might seem like a bargain for a 19.4-point-per-game scorer, but it dwarfs the $3.29 million he made with Memphis this past year.

Beyond the money, though, Evans would have the opportunity for an awesome role in Utah. He would be one of their primary forces on offense, tasked with shouldering a significant portion of the scoring load, but would also be able to share that responsibility with a budding star in Donovan Mitchell. Utah could desperately use Evans’ craftiness and ability to create his own shot in a variety of ways.

In return, Evans could benefit from being a part of an extremely stable franchise which would be starkly different from his days on the Kings or Grizzlies. Evans has always shown sky-high potential, dating back to when he won the Rookie of the Year award in 2009-10. If Evans did his homework, he would know how the Jazz have helped several players, even those in their late 20s/early 30s (Evans is 28) such as Ricky Rubio and Joe Ingles improve, and he would be intrigued by the prospect of the Jazz helping him take that leap.

Unfortunately for him, his highest scoring season was his rookie year where he put up 20.1 points per game. He hadn’t even finished close to that mark until this last season. However, if he were to buy in to Utah’s system and accept whatever role he was tasked with, be it as a starter or off the bench, the Jazz could very well implement him such that he would not only thrive but also have the chance to be a major contributor for a contending team.

The Jazz could ultimately not be interested in Evans due to some of the risks surrounding him or Evans may be ready to join a big market team and compete for a championship. However, if he wanted an ideal basketball situation where he could potentially further improve as well as thrive, he should be open to joining the Utah Jazz.

Trevor Ariza

If Trevor Ariza is able to stay with the Houston Rockets next season and make the kind of money he’s aiming for, then that would probably be his best bet. He’s found a great home there and is fitting in well with a team that has a legitimate chance to win a championship this year.

However, the Rockets could easily find themselves in a crunch for money sooner rather than later. And especially if they find themselves falling short of a championship and aiming to make further moves this summer, there’s a good chance they’ll need to clear some space. Not to mention, Ariza will be an unrestricted free agent this summer, so even if the Rockets do want to keep him, perhaps he’ll feel ready for a change of scenery.

As a player who’s won a championship with the Los Angeles Lakers and is now playing with a renowned Houston Rockets team, joining small market Utah probably isn’t where his offseason priorities lie. However, he could very well be a perfect fit.

Ariza has built a reputation as a trusty and formidable 3-and-D player. The Jazz mantra is based on defense and Ariza would fit right in with that. He’s a pesky wing defender known for locking down many of his opponents’ best players. While he’s reaching the back end of his career at 32 years old, he still brings plenty to the game that the Jazz could make use of.

His three-point shooting isn’t quite as high as the guys the Jazz may be looking to add this summer, but he’s still respected from deep and has been known to make big shots when his team has needed them the most. Ariza would likely enjoy a role similar to the one that Thabo Sefolosha had this past year of providing meaningful and valuable minutes, playing suffocating defense, but above all, serving as a crucial mentor for his young teammates.

Suiting up for the Jazz would give Ariza the opportunity to check all those boxes while putting him in a defense-first environment that he should be able to thrive in while still helping a team compete for contention in the Western Conference.

Nearing the end of his career, Ariza may want to simply stick with bona fide championship teams if he can, and if the Rockets want him back that’s likely the best option for him. Still, if the allure of going elsewhere or serving as a mentor in his mid 30s for a young, fun team, then the Jazz absolutely warrant his consideration.

Paul George

This is probably the one that Jazz fans would love to see the most, but also is the least likely. Forget any notions about Paul George playing poorly in clutch situations or sometimes butting heads with teammates, make no mistake about it he would make this Jazz team significantly better.

In fact, I’d go as far as to say that he would make them elite.

An incredible scoring small forward with the versatility and firepower of Paul George is exactly what this Jazz team needs to pair alongside Mitchell and Gobert as a third star to elevate them to another tier. After two straight seasons averaging over 23 points per game in Indiana, he still averaged 21.9 in OKC despite sharing the floor with the likes of Russell Westbrook and Carmelo Anthony.

He also shot over 40 percent from three this past season and is one of those kind of players that can just take a game over when he’s hot. Jazz fans saw this first hand in Game 1 of the series between Utah and OKC.

And, oh yeah, not only is he an electrifying offensive threat that would create a deadly duo alongside Donovan Mitchell, but he’s one of the best perimeter defenders in the NBA. Having to stop Donovan and PG on offense, then having to face them along with Rudy Gobert and the rest of Utah’s junkyard dog defensive squad would be nothing short of a nightmare for opposing teams night in and night out.

Quin Snyder would almost certainly be the best coach that Paul George has ever had and I could see he, along with Johnnie Bryant and the rest of Utah’s developmental staff, really help Paul thrive in Utah’s system, taking his game to another level and elevating the Jazz into title contention.

Unfortunately, disregard the fact that Utah would need to clear a lot of space to add Paul George, likely parting with Dante Exum, Derrick Favors and all their team-option guys, I still don’t think they have a chance in the world of landing PG.

From a basketball standpoint, his fit would be incredible. He has a good relationship with Donovan Mitchell. He’s witnessed firsthand how dangerous the Jazz can be even without an official All-Star or a reliably potent offense. All those reasons should be pretty impressive to the 28-year-old star. Instead, rather than look at basketball fit, I have a feeling he’ll be looking to give the Thunder another run next year or will even more likely be chasing a big market this summer.

He made as much clear a year ago when he let the Indiana Pacers know that he wasn’t planning to re-sign with them but instead was planning to join the Los Angeles Lakers, which ultimately resulted in Indy trading him. The season in OKC didn’t exactly go as planned and I wouldn’t be shocked if he’s already making plans to get out.

Honestly, if PG joins a Lakers team that, as currently constructed, isn’t close to competing for a championship, I’ll be somewhat disappointed, especially when there’s so many other teams beyond just the Jazz where he would likely enjoy a better basketball fit. George will have plenty of suitors this offseason and may not even give the Jazz a second thought, which is really a shame due to how well his skill set would fit in there.

Especially if he instead puts the bright lights of LA above any other priority, which I could very well see being the case.

Next: Utah Jazz ’17-18 review: Ekpe Udoh will block your shot

The Utah Jazz are bound to have an intriguing offseason ahead with no shortage of tough decisions. While I think their appeal to free agents is certainly growing, it still has a ways to go before they start regularly landing big fish.

However, with a great core, fantastic front office and brilliant coach, don’t be surprised if the Jazz draw more interest this summer than in years past, and possibly even draw in a big name in the summer of 2019. All four of these aforementioned guys may overlook the Jazz despite an obvious basketball fit, but don’t plan on Utah being overlooked by the masses for much longer.