The Utah Jazz defense was inarguably terrible. Despite Walker Kessler's best efforts, he's only one man. While he's on the floor, opponents know that all they have to do is just not involve him in the play, and they're golden.
For the Jazz to build up a playoff contender again, they need to add more defensive personnel to show some resistance on the other side of the floor. That's why players like Jrue Holiday have been floated as potential options this offseason, but it's unclear if guys like him are available.
Now that the offseason has just started for plenty of teams, including the Jazz, now they are eligible to make trades with teams that have been eliminated. Among those teams is the Portland Trail Blazers.
The Trail Blazers decided not to play the tanking game this season (for some reason), and now they could make some deals to... tank, apparently. NBA Insider Marc Stein revealed that four players on their roster could be available this season.
"Rival teams project Portland as a key team to monitor for potential moves this offseason with four established players on expiring contracts in 2025-26: Anfernee Simons, Matisse Thybulle and big men Robert Williams III and Deandre Ayton," Stein wrote.
The Jazz shouldn't have any interest in Simons or Ayton because Simons is redundant next to some of the Jazz's score-first guards, and the Jazz don't have much use for playing Ayton, who would demand around 30 minutes a game.
But Thybulle and Williams? Those two are a little different. Both of these players are former All-Defense recipients who have proven how stingy they can be on that side of the floor, which the Jazz have really lacked in the last two years.
Thybulle has proven from the beginning that he can defend. His only problem is that he has never proven himself as a floor spacer. Coming off an injury-plagued season, the Jazz could score big off him if they thrust him into a 3&D role they haven't gotten from their wings.
Williams has the talent to demand over 30 minutes a game, but his injury-prone tendencies should reduce him to more of a specialist than anything else at this stage of his career. However, the rim protection he provides is undeniable, and it would be fantastic to see the Jazz have that come off the bench when Kessler needs a breather.
It's not like either would be permanent fixtures in Utah. If anything, they would plant the seeds of an excellent defense long-term. That would beg the question of why Portland would trade them in the first place, but hey, that's their prerogative, not Utah's!
The other appeal to Thybulle and Williams
Stein hinted at it earlier, but it bares repeating: Williams and Thybulle will be free agents in 2026. Acquiring them would be a harmless experiment that wouldn't be too problematic for Utah since it's likely they don't have much to lose if they decide to tank again.
If they work out, the Jazz should keep them around, but if they don't, it can't hurt all that much. If it hasn't been clear, the Jazz desperately need stronger defensive personnel. Whether these two Trail Blazers are the answer, they would be an improvement over Utah has now.