The Utah Jazz entered the 2021-22 season with their eyes on the Larry O’Brien trophy, and at 8-3, they’ve been given no reason to avert their glance. While this team is mostly composed of veteran NBA players, there is a youth movement in Salt Lake City as well. Could it be time to consider consolidating some of those prospects into more win-now pieces?
Meanwhile, the Memphis Grizzlies land somewhere closer to the other side of the contend/rebuild spectrum. While this plucky young squad currently sits 8th in the Western Conference at 6-5, it seems likely that they’re playing over their heads. The Portland Trail Blazers are currently 10th in the West at 5-7. They’ve been a large disappointment, but star point guard Damian Lillard is more-than-likely to regress towards his typical mean as the season progresses. Furthermore, the team as a whole is still adjusting to a coaching change.
Beyond the Blazers, the hyper-talented but inexperienced Minnesota Timberwolves and an extremely well-coached San Antonio Spurs narrowly trail the Grizzlies in the standings. To put a fine point on the matter, the Grizzlies don’t necessarily project as a playoff team in spite of their current position.
That’s probably why trade rumors swirl around this squad. In particular, one potential impact player seems to have fallen out of favor with the team’s coaching staff, and may be available to the Utah Jazz at a discounted rate.
Utah Jazz acquire another small-ball 5 option
If conversations around this framework did emerge, these two front offices would likely jostle around the protections placed on that 2023 First Round Pick. The Memphis Grizzlies would prefer to maximize their assurance that the selection would convey by making it unprotected, while the Utah Jazz would seek to minimize the same by making it lottery protected.
Top 10 protection seems like a fair compromise. The Utah Jazz gain some insurance against losing a quality pick in the face of an absolute meltdown over the 2022-23 season. On the other hand, the Grizzlies can rest easily knowing that the Jazz are highly unlikely to finish next season as one of the ten worst teams in the NBA.
Memphis would largely be interested in the draft pick in this exchange, but a glance at their current depth chart does suggest that they’re without a long-option at the 5 spot. Steven Adams, the current starter, is well-outside of their rebuilding timeline at 28. Xavier Tillman is an intriguing young player, but at 6’8, he projects as something closer to a combo big than a pure center.
Azubuike hasn’t had ample opportunity to showcase his abilities with the Utah Jazz, but he may be a better fit with this young Memphis Grizzlies core. It isn’t hard to imagine him as a quality pick-and-roll partner for budding superstar Ja Morant. Even if he didn’t pan out on Beale Street, the Grizzlies gain draft capital at the expense of a player that’s currently playing 14.1 minutes per game for them.
On a related note, Utah Jazz fans may be apprehensive to part with draft capital in exchange for a player who is almost inexplicably only playing 14.1 minutes a night in 2021-22. They shouldn’t be. Brandon Clarke is only two seasons removed from a rookie year that saw him average an impressive 12.1 points and 5.9 rebounds per night. Clarke has also earned a reputation as a sound, multi-positional defender, as he averages 1.3 blocks and 1.2 steals per 36 minutes over his 3-year career.
Admittedly, Clarke’s decreased role in 2021-22 may be perceived as a red flag. His play has additionally suffered, as he’s posting the first negative Defensive Box Plus/Minus of his career to-date (-1.7). We’re willing to grant Clarke the benefit of the doubt, and assume that his sudden demotion in the rotation is not inspiring him to play his best basketball. The best explanation for his decreased usage is probably simply that the Grizzlies prefer a similar player in Tillman.
Utah Jazz create logjam
The most valid criticism of this potential trade would probably be that the Jazz already roster two similar players in Eric Paschall and the soon-to-return Rudy Gay. Color us unconcerned. Clarke has been a distinctly better player than Paschall over their respective 3-year careers thus far, with a superior DBPM (0.7 vs -1.7) and overall Box Plus/Minus (2.0 vs -2.9).
As for Gay, he has to be viewed as an injury risk, and Clarke has to be viewed as better injury insurance than Paschall. Furthermore, Clarke has flashed enough potential over his 3-year career to suggest that he’d have the potential to usurp the aging veteran this year. We’d be content to let the two determine the pecking order in practice.
The Utah Jazz finished the 2020-21 season with the need for a small-ball 5. If they made this move, they would suddenly have 3, at the cost of a G-League regular and a draft pick.