Is DeJounte Murray still a guy the Utah Jazz should go after?

It's no surprise that this season bottomed out at the trade deadline, as the Utah Jazz traded away three of their better defenders and went into a full tank. The move was essentially done to keep their first-round draft pick, a Top 10 lottery-protected pick, and in order to keep that pick they have to fall in the Top 10 of the NBA Draft Lottery.

To fall into the Top 10, they need as many ping pong balls as possible, something they can only muster with more losses, so moves are being made that aren't the most logical for the purpose of winning. Yet, while the focus of this season may be on getting younger talent in the NBA Draft, the Jazz may not be done looking at veteran talent this offseason.

While on the Bill Riley show on ESPN 700 in Salt Lake City, former Jazz assistant coach Gordie Chiesa revealed (via Sports Illustrated) that the Jazz may be in line to go after current Atlanta Hawks guard, DeJounte Murray, saying;

"Now I lean definitely towards Dejuante Murray. Again, he’s a major talent that can score the ball. He could be out there via trade. So if I'm the Jazz, I'm staring right at him. Kuzma, I like his talent, Bill. I know it’s blasphemy. I don’t like his game. I would lean toward Dejounte Murray. I do like him a lot. They shopped around him at the trading deadline, which probably tells me that his agent told the Atlanta Hawks that our guy when his contract is up, we’re not going to re-signwith you."

The Hawks guard is in the same place as the Utah Jazz currently, a once-vaunted figure (team) in the NBA, known for their defense, who has fallen on hard times and seen their once sterling image damaged. The Jazz are in need of a quick turnaround, otherwise, you can likely say goodbye to guys like Lauri Markkanen and if that happens, the team will fall into a rebuild that could last years to come.

Murray may not be what he once was but in the right hands he can still be as good as he ever was.