The Utah Jazz could solve a lot of their issues by going hard after Dejounte Murray.
The Utah Jazz‘s offense has not looked great in the first few preseason games. And there’s nothing wrong with that. They play these games to correct the issues that occur within. It’s the whole process and it’s ok. But we’d be remiss if we didn’t acknowledge that this is a concern that extends past what we’ve seen on the court so far.
A lot of the conversation around the guard depth in Utah has been centered around the lack of a true point guard. There’s been conversations of a committee of sorts of ball-handlers handling the job, which we’ve seen to some extent already. Talen Horton-Tucker, Jordan Clarkson, Collin Sexton, and even Kris Dunn have filled that role for the time being, but none of them have looked great.
Horton-Tucker, to his credit, had a big second game, while Dunn stole the show in the first game. Clarkson has looked good, though his shot selection and desire to rush a shot isn’t giving many of us faith in what he can do leading the offense. Then there’s Sexton, who has just not looked good so far at all.
Hence the calls for maybe a preseason trade. Now, the Jazz should consider making a trade for a point guard at some point. A true, authentic, pass-first point guard. Clearly, Jazz head coach Will Hardy doesn’t think Dunn is that guy, and since Dunn is the most point-guard-focused player, the team needs someone better than him or any of the other guards.
That brings us to Dejounte Murray, the best-looking fit for the Jazz on paper. There are guys in the NBA that would make sense for the Utah Jazz on a short-term basis. If, for some reason, Chris Paul gets released, sign Paul for the rest of the year. But Paul would be a short… very short…term fix for a long-term problem.
Murray, on the other hand, wouldn’t be. He’s under contract for the next three seasons for sure, with a fourth-year player option in 2027-2028. He’s a very good, if not great perimeter defender, with good passing vision and tremendous rebound ability.
He shoots three-pointers like the ball is an actual brick, but considering the shooting he’d have around him, that’s forgivable. They say perfection doesn’t exist and that’s entirely true, especially in the NBA. But Murray is as close to perfection as you can get, at least when we talk about player fit.
We saw what Murray could do as the primary ball-handler with the San Antonio Spurs, a duty he now splits with Trae Young in Atlanta. And that duo isn’t working well together. They went just 41-41 last season, and while both men put up over 20 points per game, Murray’s defense took a hit as he had to cover up for Young far more than he’d probably like to.
In Utah, he’d have Ochai Agbaji, hopefully, Dunn still, Walker Kessler, and others to help bolster his very impressive defense.
Murray is as perfect of a fit as possible for what the Jazz need and the Jazz have all the tools for Murray to succeed. Now it’s just a matter of waiting to see if the Hawks, under former Jazz head coach Quinn Snyder, collapse in on themselves again as rumors continue to mount over Young rubbing teammates the wrong way.