Khris Middleton
Last but certainly not least comes the cream of the crop among this bunch. The pièce de résistance, Khris Middleton.
Middleton is a prospect that Jazz fans have been drooling over for some time now, and for good reason. He’s a prolific shooter and scorer that could very well fit the bill as Utah’s third piece alongside Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert that puts them over the edge of playoff team to championship contender.
He’s in the midst of a solid season at 17.4 points per contest to go along with 5.8 rebounds and 4.2 assists. His scoring is down somewhat from a year ago where he broke the 20-point mark, but a lot of that has to do with the sheer dominance of teammate Giannis Antetokounmpo, who demands so many touches.
In Utah’s system, Middleton’s skill set as a shooter and creator could make him an absolute nightmare. He’s not a high maintenance player by any stretch of the imagination, but he can still compete and put up points with the best of them and come up big when called upon. On top of that, he’s a serviceable defender, which would further enhance his fit with the Jazz.
That all sounds great, but how on earth would Utah acquire him and why would Milwaukee give him up? Unfortunately, the answers to these questions in order are probably “they can’t” and “they wouldn’t”. It’s not likely that Utah has sufficient assets to lure in Middleton, plus they won’t want to sell the farm for a player who’s set to become a free agent at the end of this season, assuming he opts out of his player option.
Rest assured that the Jazz will go after him this summer as a free agent if possible, but aiming to secure his services early isn’t completely out of the question. There are rumors that the Bucks may aim to make a play for Anthony Davis to pair him alongside the Greek Freak. If they do so, it’s highly likely that the New Orleans Pelicans require Middleton be a part of that deal.
Then again, with the Pelicans potentially not wanting to risk simply losing him in free agency, perhaps this is where the Jazz could jump in and put together a package alongside the Bucks in which New Orleans gets a haul of talent, expiring contracts and draft picks, the Jazz get Middleton and Milwaukee gets Davis.
It’d be a long shot, but the idea of adding a player of Khris Middleton’s caliber to the Jazz ranks is an exhilarating one. One that’s worth going out on a limb and taking a major risk for.
It’s not likely that Utah goes all in on a small forward at this trade deadline, but as you can see there are a few viable options if they’re looking to make some minor adjustments or perhaps hope to swing a deal for Middleton. While each of these prospects intrigues me in different ways, I have a feeling that if any deal gets done in Utah, it will be for one of the positions we’ve already mentioned as a key focus – guard or power forward.
Be sure to catch the additional trade target pieces on The J-Notes via the links below–
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