Ever since the Utah Jazz traded Walker Kessler, his replacement has been a hot topic throughout the offseason. For the time being, it appears the Jazz are comfortable where they are with their frontcourt, which they should be. This is expected to be their first winning season in years, and no one should realistically think championship. At least not yet.
However, Kessler's replacement could become a bigger elephant in the room if it's clear the Jazz are more playoff-ready than we think and that they are one center upgrade away from being right there. That's why Myles Turner makes partial sense, even if he doesn't really address their potential problems.
It appears right now as though Turner's value is as low as it's ever been. ESPN's Ben Golliver confirmed that Milwaukee has had trouble trading him ever since they traded Giannis Antetokounmpo.
"Though Antetokounmpo's exit was preceded by years of trade rumors, the Bucks didn't slide smoothly into a rebuilding effort... They haven't yet found a taker for Myles Turner, who was signed to a four-year, $107 million contract last summer in a failed attempt to appease Antetokounmpo," Golliver wrote.
Turner has come up as a hypothetical Jazz target before - pure speculation, nothing reported - but there's a reason why he has stayed in Milwaukee. He's coming off a disastrous season, will be paid almost $30 million annually for the next three years, and has a 15% trade kicker.
That is an epic yikes. For that reason, Utah should steer clear for the time being. But that can change depending on how the dominoes fall this coming season.
The conditions that could sway Utah to chase Turner
Again, if it's clear that the Jazz are simply a center upgrade away from true title contention, they'll be on the market for one. However, that shouldn't be all it takes for them to go after specifically Turner.
It's going to have to take a massive bounce-back season from him for him to become an appealing target. Milwaukee is clearly and obviously looking to start over post-Giannis. With new coach Taylor Jenkins, he may do everything he can to redeem Turner's value so that they can embrace their new youth movement. The addition of Kel'El Ware will push him to do that.
It won't stop there. The Jazz also have to prove that the rebounding void left by Kessler won't be a problem. Turner is not a good rebounder for his size, but if Utah is constructed in a way that can allow them to work around that, then that makes trading for him much more palatable.
It's also much easier to acquire a contract like his when it goes from three years left to two and a half. In case it's not clear, a lot of variables have to work out for the Jazz to trade for Turner. Following the Josh Green trade, suddenly they have the salary filler to make a trade like this.
But if the question is, should they pull off a move like this right now? Absolutely not, but if Turner bounces back and it's clear he fits the Jazz's needs, there would be good reason for them to go after him.
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