The Utah Jazz appear to be content where they are for the time being. Losing Walker Kessler will hurt their current team's ceiling, but with Jusuf Nurkic and Jaxson Hayes, their center rotation should still be fine if it will be worse. The question will be for how long will they keep things the way they are?
No one is saying the current strategy will fail, but the Jazz shouldn't brush off the possibility that it could. That's why a potential Kessler replacement has been brought up, with Daniel Gafford and Jarrett Allen coming up a hypothetical targets.
When comparing them talent-wise, Allen is the better player. He's been the starting center on a Cavaliers team that has made the playoffs for the last four years. Gafford has been to the playoffs twice in his career.
Allen is the better player, which may explain why Cleveland has not made him available. At the same time, it's not like the Jazz need a hypothetical Kessler replacement to be as good as he was, but simply good enough.
Gafford certainly fits the bill, but there's more to it than that.
Gafford's team-friendly deal could help Utah maintain their core
Gafford makes over $10 million less than Allen will this season, and that gap will grow over the next few years. If he proves to be just good enough to replace Kessler, he would be a quality center being paid on a much cheaper deal than Kessler's and Allen's, which could help the Jazz keep their core for longer.
Why is this so important? Because maintaining a title contender is as difficult as it's ever been in the NBA. The Jazz will have to start paying some of their players soon. Gafford being paid around what he's worth, without it being too much, could help Utah feel more at ease about keeping their core around.
The Jazz would love to have a foundation of Lauri Markkanen, Jaren Jackson Jr., Keyonte George, Ace Bailey, and Darryn Peterson for as long as possible. It's not like Gafford is being paid chump change, but him addressing this issue for the next few years would work in Utah's favor.
Utah may not want to worsen the assets Cleveland owes them
Allen isn't available at the moment, but that could change if Cleveland remains the same team that can make the playoffs but do any real damage. They could be looking for some upgrades, which they would likely use Allen as the sacrificial lamb to make that happen.
Utah could be the team to take him, but they may be a little hesitant to help the Cavaliers in a trade like that if they improve from it. Cleveland still owes Utah two more assets from the Donovan Mitchell trade. LeBron James passing on rejoining them suddenly makes those assets better.
The Cavaliers may trade Allen for an upgrade anyway, but the Jazz may not want to be involved in that no matter what. Because the Mavericks have no such obligation to the Jazz, they may be more comfortable getting Gafford instead of Allen.
Utah doesn't have to think about any of this right now, but once we get a solid sample size of what the team looks like this, and their center rotation leaving something to be desired, Gafford would be the better option for them than Allen even if he's not the better player.
The question will be if he'll be on the market by the time Utah looks for an upgrade.
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