Utah Jazz: Two names to monitor on the buyout market
By Caleb Manser
Taj Gibson
Taj Gibson was once one of the more underrated starting forwards in the league. Slotted next to Joakim Noah on the Chicago Bulls roster, Gibson had a lot of success as a physical guy making life tough with his defense and rebounding.
In a lot of ways, he played a similar role to what Derrick Favors played with Rudy Gobert. Fast forward to 2020, and Gibson can now hold down the center position on a regular basis with the league trending smaller.
He plays 85 percent of his minutes at center, and is currently on a New York Knicks team headed nowhere near the playoffs. His contract is guaranteed through the rest of this season ($9 million), but there is a team option for the 2020-21 season.
The Knicks could stand to pay off Gibson to open up playing time for young center Mitchell Robinson and 24 year old Bobby Portis.
While the Jazz don’t have the ability to pay the most money to bought out players (they can only offer the minimum rather than the mid-level), I believe Gibson would love the culture built in the Wasatch Front by Quin Snyder.
It would be reminiscent of his old stomping grounds in Chicago when Tom Thibbidou demanded the best out of his players on the defensive end. The Jazz have a young dynamic guard in Mitchell that the Bulls had in Derrick Rose, as well as a great rim protector in Rudy Gobert.
Gibson only plays 16 minutes a night with the Knicks, so I think it’s reasonable for him to come in and play 12 to 15 minutes when Rudy takes a rest. He doesn’t have the same verticality as Tony Bradley (6-foot-9), but he knows how to stay in proper defensive position to challenge more shots and not get boxed out for rebounds.
His career 1400 career playoff minutes would also come in handy for the playoff-atmosphere games in the stretch run, as well as the real thing in April, May, and hopefully June. It’s not very likely this buy out happens in the first place, but it is something to keep an eye on.