What if a Utah Jazz rival makes a blockbuster deal?
Whenever an All-Star level talent becomes available, fans league wide pray that they do not fall into the hands of their rival team. With Domantas Sabonis potentially on the move, it is scary to think about the fallout if he were to be traded to a contending team in the west with assets.
Not all of the top teams in the Western Conference are in prime positions to make trades. However, two teams that could shake things up are the Lakers and Warriors. These two teams, while extremely different from one another, both have a solid collection of young talent that could be moved in return for Sabonis, Turner, or LeVert.
The Lakers, whose season thus far has been fairly turbulent and unremarkable, could look to move young standout Talen Horton-Tucker if they feel they are a move away from a championship. The Warriors have already proven to be incredibly dangerous, without major contributions from young players like Jonathan Kuminga, or James Wiseman who has yet to take the floor this year.
While it is impossible to predict what will happen in the coming weeks, it is difficult to ignore how well a 3-point shooting center like Myles Turner might fit on either of these two rosters. Caris LeVert could add scoring off the bench, or even the starting lineup if he was to end up on the Lakers.
Adding Sabonis to a team looking to contend this season would obviously be more complicated. Coming off an All-Star selection last year, Sabonis is a player who thrives when given a larger role. Inserting him into a team that already plays a very particular style such as the Warriors could prove difficult. However, very few times in the history of the NBA have teams suffered from adding too much talent to a roster. Fit is 100% something to be considered if a team attempts to trade for Sabonis, but he is a fairly flexible player, and it is hard to imagine that if added to some of the top tier teams of the West that he would do any damage.
The Western Conference contains a number of teams that have a legitimate chance at making a finals run this season, if the Jazz wish to achieve their ultimate goal, they will have to defeat a number of these teams. If one of them end up trading for one of the impactful players the Pacers appear to be shopping, this task could become even more difficult than it looks as of now.