Utah Jazz: 5 players who could still be traded before the season starts
The Utah Jazz have made more noise than anyone this offseason, trading away key starters Rudy Gobert, Royce O’Neale, and Donovan Mitchell. All of these moves point to a rebuild on the horizon, but the Jazz actually have a solid supporting cast. If they were to win the 2023 NBA Draft Lottery and get a star player, they could immediately form a competitive team with the pieces they have in place.
That being said, the Jazz could use some remaining players to acquire even more draft capital or to simply get younger and snag some promising young players. The Jazz have some vets that would entice a contender to make a deal, and they also have too many players in the backcourt after recent moves, so it just makes sense to trade away some players who would never see the court anyway.
Usually, a team only has two or three players that would make a prospective trade candidate excited, but the Jazz are stacked with third-option level talent, and finding those players is often tough, so teams might overpay a little bit.
#1: Rudy Gay
Rudy Gay has the least trade value of any player on this list, but he still has some merits, even at the age of 36. During his 16-season career, he has never quite made an All-Star game, although he came very close during his peak.
A 35% three-point shooter, he has improved slightly over the last five seasons and is a reasonable spot up forward who can still bang around in the paint. On a contender, he would have a role off the bench.
One that comes to mind is the Boston Celtics. The defending Eastern Conference champs headlined the offseason by adding Danilo Gallinari and Malcolm Brogden. Gallinari tore his ACL this summer and will be out for the season, so the Celtics could use a Rudy Gay type of player, and they might overpay for him.
His value isn’t super high, but this is what I envision a trade looking like. The trade would have to happen after October 10th, since Gallinari is a recently signed player, but by taking an injured Gallinari, the Jazz manages to get a first-round pick for a player who might not be worth it.