The Utah Jazz may need to make a major change. Unfortunately, they only have so many avenues towards doing so. This team is not flush with promising young players. The ones they do roster haven’t been afforded the opportunity to demonstrate their value. Jared Butler has looked like a potentially productive player, but in 5.7 minutes per game, he can only show so much. The same can roughly be said for either of Elijah Hughes or Udoka Azubuike.
Nonetheless, any one of those players could be attractive to a rebuilding team. Organizations in that stage of development can be willing to take risks on young players, especially if it allows them to flip expensive veterans.
Therein lies potential complications for the Utah Jazz. None of their younger players earn a contract that makes them a candidate to help the team acquire an impactful veteran. In other words, the Jazz may have to trade one of their rotation mainstays.
It won’t be Donovan Mitchell. Rumblings about his desire to play in a larger market may be starting, but until he gives the organization the word, they should pay those rumblings no mind.
Rudy Gobert is possibly an even less likely candidate. There is no reason to believe he’d like a change of scenery, and you don’t trade a 3x Defensive Player of the Year unless you’re either forced to, or receiving an MVP candidate.
Mike Conley doesn’t seem like the guy either. He’s not untouchable, but it’s hard to envision him netting anything that’s more valuable to the Jazz than the combination of three-point shooting and IQ he already provides.
It would seem that Joe Ingles, Bojan Bogdanovic and Jordan Clarkson are the best candidates to depart from Salt Lake City via trade. These rankings aren’t based on the return each player could net. They’re ranked on how apprehensive the Jazz should be to trade them based on their value to the team.
We’re operating under the assumption that one of these guys would be attached with either one of the previously mentioned youngsters, or a draft pick, to acquire a good player on a bad team. The team trading for them will actually be trading, in spirit, for the attached young player. These guys are simply contract fodder.
Here’s our ranking of them in order of their expendability to the Utah Jazz.
Utah Jazz Trade Chip #3: Bojan Bogdanovic
The decision between Bogey and the next candidate was admittedly a narrow one. Bogdanovic prevailed because he is the most important player of the 3 to this Jazz offense.
That’s not a statement that can be made without some controversy. Some may suggest that Jordan Clarkson’s shot creation abilities are more vital than Bogdanovic’s floor spacing.
We beg to differ. Simply put, out of the 3 players being considered here, only Bogdanovic offers both floor spacing and a dose of shot creation. That’s key. This offense doesn’t run through Jordan Clarkson. It runs through Donovan Mitchell. Joe Ingles compliments Mitchell, and Clarkson relieves him. Only Bojan Bogdanovic does both.
Defensively, he’s actually been the worst player of the group this season according to Defensive Box Plus/Minus (DBPM). Having said that, his -1.6 mark in that category is only barely edged out by Jordan Clarkson’s -1.4 (Ingles clears them both at 0.4).
We’re willing to live with that compromise given Bogdanovic’s importance to this Jazz offense. Plus, any trade involving any of these players is likely to target a 3-and-D wing. It’s logical to keep the most important offensive player in pursuit of acquiring a defensive upgrade.
Bogdanovic is that. He can carry the offense for short stretches, and his 39.1% accuracy on 6.5 three-point attempts per game is by far the best combination of volume and efficiency in this group. He’s too important to this Jazz attack to be traded unless, somehow, they’re receiving a superstar in return.
Utah Jazz Trade Chip #2: Joe Ingles
We know what you’re thinking. No, this isn’t an elaborate way for us to write another piece advocating for a Jordan Clarkson trade. Well, not exactly.
The Utah Jazz do not look like bonafide NBA title contenders. They need to. This team is old and almost out of draft picks. They roster a superstar who may already have an eye toward the exit. There is a real need for change here.
It’s commonly believed that a 3-and-D wing could be the solution. It makes sense. The Jazz lean too heavily into Rudy Gobert’s rim protection on defense. They could use someone to make his life easier.
Royce O’Neale does that already. That’s why his name wasn’t considered here. Still, trading Joe Ingles for a 3-and-D wing doesn’t feel right either: he practically already is one.
Jingles is shooting 36.7% on 5.0 three-point attempts per contest this season. That’s not elite, and it’s the worst mark he’s posted since his 2014-15 rookie season. It’s still solid, and opposing defenders are still forced to scramble to cover his attempts. His three-point gravity remains the same.
Ingles’ reputation as a shooter is well-established, but he’s become an underrated defender. He’s 34, and he was never one of the league’s premier athletes to begin with. He can be beat off the dribble, which can affect widespread perception of his overall defensive value.
For the uninformed: he boasts a DBPM of 0.4 this season. That is a positive figure. Ingles is a heady defender who knows when to help, when to sag and when to smother. He can’t always get to his spot, but he always knows where his spot is, and he tries his hardest.
Trading Ingles for a better defender would be self-defeating. The Utah Jazz need another 3-and-D player. Trading one to acquire another won’t fix the problem. Meanwhile, if this team acquired a Torrey Craig, or David Nwaba, or whoever else, they could field an impenetrable defense alongside Ingles, O’Neale and Gobert’s rim protection.
All of which leaves us with one player to turn to.
Utah Jazz Trade Chip #1: Jordan Clarkson
There will be some readers who will not like this article. We understand.
That won’t change the fact that the Utah Jazz should trade Jordan Clarkson for a 3-and-D wing.
Clarkson’s entire 2021-22 season has practically been a shooting slump. As of today, he’s hitting 31.7% of his 8.0 three-point attempts per night. That is not ideal, particularly on the team that shoots the most 3s in the NBA.
Yes, Clarkson can be a dazzling shot creator. He keeps the ball on a string, penetrating defenses with an impeccable handle. He can hit off balance layups and jump shots on a level few basketball players can.
It’s just that he provides very little in either the 3 or D category. His extended cold stretches from 3-point range can be devastating to the Jazz’s attack. He is also a suboptimal fit alongside Donovan Mitchell as two undersized ball-handling guards who struggle to consistently hit 3s.
Mitchell’s own struggles from three-point range are a necessary evil. His ability to pressure defenses with penetration is fundamentally the basis of the Jazz’s attack. The same could not be said about Jordan Clarkson.
The Utah Jazz need a 3-and-D wing. They don’t need a ball-handling guard who struggles to connect from deep. The path forward may be obvious.