Utah Jazz reportedly interested in D’Angelo Russell, but what would it take?

Based on a recent report from The Athletic’s Shams Charania, the Utah Jazz are interested in D’Angelo Russell. But is he even a realistic target this summer?

The Utah Jazz are in for an eventful summer as they’ll no doubt aim to bolster their roster in an attempt to move up the ranks of the Western Conference towards title contention. There’s no questioning that point guard is a significant area of focus the Jazz will be looking at and there are a number of names that have already arisen as potential options at the spot including free agent Kemba Walker and trade target Mike Conley.

However, another player that many believed the Jazz could be eyeing is Brooklyn Nets standout D’Angelo Russell. The Athletic’s Tony Jones has brought up several times that Russell could potentially be a target for the Jazz, and The J-Notes’ very own Ryan Aston recently chimed in on Donovan Mitchell‘s presumed recruiting of his off-court friend.

Further fuel was added to the fire on Tuesday when an article from The Athletic’s Shams Charania (subscription required) about potential Anthony Davis landing places also mentioned a handful of teams that were interested in D’Angelo Russell. Among the teams listed was found the Utah Jazz.

They were joined by the incumbent Brooklyn Nets, who will have no reason to let Russell go unless they’re able to add a max star or two, the Orlando Magic, the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Indiana Pacers. As a restricted free agent, it’s possible that D’Lo could end up elsewhere, but at the end of the day the Nets will have the final decision in the matter and can match any offer.

With such being so, particularly in the case of the Jazz, it’s hard to see many teams being willing to extend an offer sheet to Russell unless they’re certain that the Nets aren’t going to match. Doing so without that certainty would be a risky venture as it would then tie up precious cap space for three days while free agents could fly off the board while Brooklyn made its decision.

As such, while the Jazz may very well be interested in Russell, I have a hard time seeing them being willing to take that risk and potentially miss other valuable opportunities.

That said, I’m by no means doubting Charania’s report. In fact, I think there’s a great chance the Jazz could indeed pursue D’Angelo this summer. But only if he becomes an unrestricted free agent. This could very well happen if the Nets need to clear space for other stars and decide instead to renounce Russell, which would result in him dropping his restricted free agent status and becoming unrestricted.

At that point, with no need to tie up cap space in a unnecessarily cumbersome offer sheet, the Jazz may very well aim to strike. D’Lo may not be the absolute answer for Utah’s title hopes, but he would certainly be a step in the right direction. His ability to command the defense’s attention by getting into the paint, creating his own shot and providing a threat from deep would help him work wonders next to Donovan Mitchell in the backcourt.

Both would help improve one another as their athletic playmaking ability would create a daunting force for the Jazz. Not to mention, Russell is an excellent catch-and-shoot and pull-up threat which would fit extremely well in Utah’s offense as he’d be valuable both on and off the ball. With both he and Mitchell on the floor able to drive and score or drive and kick to the other for good looks at will, they’d be a dynamic duo for the ages.

However, there are a lot of ‘ifs’ at stake here. The Nets first have to do their part to lure in a big-time free agent, otherwise letting Russell go makes no sense. They may very well be able to do so and there are already reports that Boston Celtics star Kyrie Irving is currently leaning to joining the BKN squad. If Kyrie goes, it feels unlikely from a salary or fit perspective that the Nets would want to keep Russell as well, despite some projections of the two potentially co-existing together.

My gut tells me that if Irving is in, D’Angelo is out. If the stars align for Brooklyn and they somehow net two star players, then Russell is pretty much assuredly out.

But even if he does become an unrestricted free agent, that’s only half the battle. It’s not like he’s just going to walk into the arms of the Jazz from there. As you saw from the previous list, there are an ample number of teams interested in adding him, and he’s going to command a pretty penny this summer.

The Jazz would first have to decide if he was the right fit they were looking for at such a salary range. Then, if they determined that he indeed was, they’d still have to beat out several other intriguing suitors with whom Russell could be an amazing fit.

And looking at Utah’s past track record with free agents, that feels very much like a long shot, Donovan Mitchell’s recruiting efforts notwithstanding.

Even so, if the Nets accomplish that first step and opt to move on from D’Lo, I’d actually give the Jazz a pretty decent chance at landing Russell. That doesn’t make them the favorite by any means, not by a long shot. But I’d say in that scenario they’d have a better chance at him than they currently do at other dream targets Kemba Walker and Tobias Harris.

The last step that would have to take place, though, is if Russell demands a max contract, which would reportedly be worth $27 million next season, the Jazz would need to create space to add him. This would likely include turning down the option on Derrick Favors‘ nearly $17 million non-guaranteed contract and would result in D’Lo being the highest paid player on the team.

Russell would no doubt make the Jazz better as they need a creator and offensive spark of his caliber, but would he be worth potentially losing Favors and is he worthy of being the team’s top paid player?

Those are questions that Dennis Lindsey and the rest of the Jazz organization will have to address this summer and they won’t be easy ones by any means. Nevertheless, the fact that there’s a path at all to potentially adding a guy like D’Lo who’s worthy of a max contract is an exciting path for a team that’s desperate to make a meaningful roster move.

So if the stars align just right and the Nets renounce Russell, then if D’Angelo likes the idea of playing with a young and promising core aiming to make some noise in the West, if he can be further enticed by his friend Donovan who has come to love it in Salt Lake City, and if the Jazz are OK moving on from Favors (assuming they can’t offload anyone else under contract), then there’s a real possibility that we could see D’Lo suiting up in the blue, gold and green next season.

Yes, that’s still a lot of stipulations, but it’s possible. And when you’re a Utah Jazz fan, you have to hang on to those possibilities as tightly as you can. The Salt Lake City squad has to find a way to improve their roster this summer somehow. And the idea of adding an All-Star in Russell to do so is an intriguing one indeed.