If Kyle Lowry is bought out, should the Utah Jazz pursue him?

The Utah Jazz may want to keep Kyle Lowry in mind if he gets bought out.

Utah Jazz v Miami Heat
Utah Jazz v Miami Heat | Michael Reaves/GettyImages

Kyle Lowry is on the move to the Charlotte Hornets, a place the veteran will not remain long. The Hornets traded Lowry for Terry Rozier, sending Rozier to the Heat and getting back a first-round draft pick back in exchange with Lowry. The Hornets are not going to keep Lowry, he's 37-years-old and the Hornets have 10 wins.

The team is likely to buy him out and if he does, many teams will want to obtain the veteran for a variety of reasons. He's no longer a starting point guard, nor can he score like he used to, but he can still rebound, play defense, and pass, all things that teams in the playoffs value more than most.

He's still posting a +1.1 on defense this year according to his DBPM, and that, combined with his excellent passing and rebounding, makes him worthwhile if you're looking for that third or fourth guard spot off the bench. So, with knowing what Lowry is right now in his career, does he make sense for the Utah Jazz?

Sort of. The Jazz is fine with their starting five, rocking Kris Dunn, Collin Sexton, Simone Fonetcchio, Lauri Markkanen, and John Collins. Collins needs to be upgraded and the team would do well to keep an eye on any potential upgrades for Fontecchio, but those are going to be few and far between.

Aside from that, Dunn, Markkanen, and Sexton make for a great trio, and Dunn is arguably the team's best defensive player. Do the Jazz need another defense-first guard off the bench? Well, if they intend on keeping Jordan Clarkson, then yes they do. Clarkson is among the worst players in the NBA on defense. So much so he's in the bottom 10 if not bottom five of the league.

You need someone who can help offset that type of disastrous defense and Lowry can do that. If the Jazz does end up trading Clarkson, then Lowry no longer has the same value for the Jazz, as it's literally impossible to get a worse defensive player back in any Clarkson trade.

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