Utah Jazz: Four trade possibilities for struggling center Ed Davis

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MEMPHIS, TN – NOVEMBER 29: Ed Davis #17 of the Utah Jazz defends Ja Morant #12 of the Memphis Grizzlies during the first half at FedExForum on November 29, 2019 in Memphis, Tennessee. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Brandon Dill/Getty Images) /

If the Utah Jazz decide to look to move on from the under-achieving Ed Davis, they’ll have some interesting trade options.

This offseason, Utah Jazz fans were absolutely thrilled by the new faces that the team brought in during free agency. So far, Bojan Bogdanovic has more than lived up to the billing and Emmanuel Mudiay has been better than expected. Unfortunately, Utah’s other two well-known free agents have been less than satisfactory.

Jeff Green has already become the first casualty as the Jazz waived him to make room for G-League standout Rayjon Tucker. Considering how poorly the bench had been playing, Utah opted to move on from Green whose impact numbers were less than favorable.

The other who has been a negative has been Ed Davis. Quite frankly, Davis’ lack of production has been absolutely shocking to me, as I was quite excited about his acquisition at the time. He’s long been known as one of the league’s best backup bigs, but he’s been far from able to find his footing thus far with the Jazz.

Sure, he suffered the early leg fracture which most certainly was a setback in his progression with this Jazz squad. But even upon returning, he’s been so out of sorts that in Saturday’s monumental win over the LA Clippers, Quin Snyder actually opted to replace him in the rotation with Tony Bradley.

Davis is averaging just 1.4 points per game on the year (a career-low) while shooting under 40 percent from the field, which is awful for a center. His best attribute has long been his rebounding, but he’s only nabbing 4.3 per game, although, to his credit, it should be noted that that translates to 13.3 per-36 minutes. But those marks are both still low by his standards.

Furthermore, his defense has been absolutely atrocious as he’s simply been unable to slow anyone. He’s also posting a plus/minus of minus-3.5 and a net rating of -11.7, both of which are among the worst on the team. I think it’s a stretch to say Ed Davis, who was so impactful just a season ago, is washed up, but I think it’s entirely fair to say that he simply isn’t a fit in Quin Snyder’s system as things certainly haven’t gone as anticipated.

With that being the case, it’s entirely possible, as the Jazz showed by trading away Dante Exum for Jordan Clarkson and waiving Green to add Tucker, that the Utah front office could get aggressive yet again and aim to deal Davis. If they do so, they’ll almost certainly still be looking to add size considering that they became even more thin in that department after parting ways with Jeff Green.

Therefore, I’ve gone ahead and compiled a list of four potential big men trade targets that the Jazz could consider dealing Ed Davis for. Of course, Davis’ stock isn’t in a great spot right now. However, he’s played well enough and recently enough that I could see teams being willing to still take a shot on him. Even so, due to Davis’ $4.7 million salary, this list will be restricted to players in the $3-5 million range.

And while moving Davis may be easier said than done, there is at least some logic to be had in each of these moves.