Why the Utah Jazz shouldn’t trade for Terrence Ross
Let’s start with the argument we’ve basically already spoiled: Terrence Ross is not a good defender. Last season’s 115 Defensive Rating was particularly gruesome, but it’s not far off his career mark of 110. In case you’re apprehensive to judge a player from a single advanced metric, his Defensive Box Plus/Minus (DBPM) last season was -1.1, and his career mark is -0.5.
It’s clear that he’s not an asset on that end, and unfortunately, neither is reigning Sixth Man of the Year Jordan Clarkson. He’s got a career DBPM of -1.5. The Utah Jazz have typically done a fantastic job of maintaining an elite defense in spite of Clarkson’s weaknesses, but adding another minus on that end of the floor may prove too much for the dynamic duo of Rudy Gobert and Quin Snyder’s scheming to account for.
Furthermore, we touched on Ross’s propensity to get assisted baskets as a reason to trade for him, and it may be. On the other hand, the Jazz may be in more dire need of a player who actually gets assists. So far this season, the Jazz rank dead-last in assists per game at 17.0. It’s very early into the season to read too deeply into the significance of any statistics, however, the Jazzmen’s 25th overall finish last season tells us that this may be a structural problem.
It just may not be a particularly significant one. After all, the Utah Jazz had the fourth-best Offensive Rating in the NBA last season at 116.5. Nobody should be wringing their hands too thoroughly about how they got there. Still, it’s hard to imagine a Clarkson/Ross backcourt pairing. While they’d be possibly the most talented reserve backcourt in the NBA, they’d also both come into every game with a score-first mentality that may not suit the other.
Any time a team is as close to the Larry O’Brien trophy as these Utah Jazz appear to be, they should at least grant consideration to veterans like Terrence Ross when they appear to be on the trading block. However, the cons in this case may outweigh the pros.
Verdict: Pass