3 trades the Utah Jazz would absolutely have to consider

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Utah Jazz center Udoka Azubuike (Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports)

The Utah Jazz are one of the best teams in the National Basketball Association. Having said that, they may be a savvy trade away from removing the “one of” qualifier from that sentence.

They also probably didn’t bring Danny Ainge on board to rest on his laurels. He’s got a reputation around the league for wheeling and dealing. In all likelihood, he’ll want to put his stamp on this Jazz club.

Not that they should be making any trades for the sake of making them. The Utah Jazz are 27-10. They’ve got the best Offensive Rating (118.48) in the league, the fifth-best Defensive Rating (108.35) and most significantly, the best Net Rating (10.13). They don’t have to do anything at all.

Still, the notion that they should add a defensive-minded wing remains fashionable. It may even be true. Joe Ingles is a willing defender, but at 34 (and never the most impressive athlete in the league) he’s not always the most able. His Defensive Box Plus/Minus (DBPM) is trending downward, from 0.9 last season to 0.5 in 2021-22.

That’s only a marginal decline, but sometimes the margins are significant. None of which is to say the Jazz should trade Jingles. Spoiler alert: he’s not involved in any of these hypothetical deals.

He’s woven into the fabric of these Utah Jazz. Plus, from a more functional point of view, his spacing is integral to Quin Snyder’s system. The Jazz shoot too many threes to part with one of the best snipers in the NBA.

True, Ingles’ accuracy has waned this year. He’s canning 37.6% of his 7.1 threes per game, down from 45.1% on his 7.8 attempts in 2020-21.

No matter. That’s still a solid combination of accuracy and volume, and Ingles is likely to trend upward as the season progresses. Anyway, the threat of his long ball opens up too much space in Snyder’s three-point dependent system. The main focus of this exercise is to improve the Jazz’s defense while compromising their spacing as little as possible.

Here are three trades that do exactly that.

Next: Jazz poach Pacers veteran

didn’t bring Danny Ainge on board</a> to rest on his laurels. He’s got a reputation around the league for wheeling and dealing. In all likelihood, he’ll want to put his stamp on this Jazz club.</p> <p>Not that they should be making any trades for the sake of making them. The Utah Jazz are 27-10. They’ve got the best Offensive Rating (118.48) in the league, the fifth-best Defensive Rating (108.35) and most significantly, the best Net Rating (10.13). They don’t have to do anything at all.</p> <p>Still, the notion that they should add <a href=https://thejnotes.com/2022/01/04/3-trades-utah-jazz-consider/"https://www.theringer.com/nba/2022/1/3/22864567/the-jazz-dont-have-a-rudy-gobert-problem-but-they-do-have-a-problem" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a defensive-minded wing remains fashionable</a>. It may <a href=https://thejnotes.com/2022/01/04/3-trades-utah-jazz-consider/"https://thejnotes.com/2021/09/03/analyst-utah-jazz-one-wing-short/">even be true</a>. Joe Ingles is a willing defender, but at 34 (and never the most impressive athlete in the league) he’s not always the most able. His Defensive Box Plus/Minus (DBPM) is trending downward, from 0.9 last season to 0.5 in 2021-22.</p> <p>That’s only a marginal decline, but sometimes the margins are significant. None of which is to say the Jazz should trade Jingles. Spoiler alert: he’s not involved in any of these hypothetical deals.</p> <p>He’s woven into the fabric of these Utah Jazz. Plus, from a more functional point of view, his spacing is integral to Quin Snyder’s system. The Jazz shoot too many threes to part with one of the best snipers in the NBA.</p> <p>True, Ingles’ accuracy has waned this year. He’s canning 37.6% of his 7.1 threes per game, down from 45.1% on his 7.8 attempts in 2020-21.</p> <p>No matter. That’s still a solid combination of accuracy and volume, and Ingles is likely to trend upward as the season progresses. Anyway, the threat of his long ball opens up too much space in Snyder’s three-point dependent system. The main focus of this exercise is to improve the Jazz’s defense while compromising their spacing as little as possible.</p> <p>Here are three trades that do exactly that.</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #00265D" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://thejnotes.com/2022/01/04/3-trades-utah-jazz-consider/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Jazz poach Pacers veteran </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_87417" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <a href=https://thejnotes.com/2022/01/04/3-trades-utah-jazz-consider/"https://thejnotes.com/wp-content/uploads/imagn-images/2017/07/15994024.jpeg"> "Utah

<div class="details"> <div class="team-name">Jazz Get</div> <div class="info">Torrey Craig</div> </div> </div> <div class="separator"></div> <div class="team b"> <div class="logo"><img src=https://thejnotes.com/2022/01/04/3-trades-utah-jazz-consider/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/w_75,h_75,c_fill,g_auto,f_auto/https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.fansided.com%2Flogos%2Fnba%2Fpacers.png"/>

<div class="details"> <div class="team-name">Pacers Get</div> <div class="info">Udoka Azubuike</div> <div class="info">Elijah Hughes</div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <p>All signs point to an at least partial tear down in Indiana. At 14-23, they’re currently a disappointing 13th in the Eastern Conference. Between Domantas Sabonis, Myles Turner, Malcolm Brogdon and Caris LeVert, there’s talent in Indiana. Unfortunately, between health and fit concerns, it isn’t amounting to much.</p> <p>The Utah Jazz may be able to capitalize on their discontent. Granted, there are questions about whether Indiana will be open to a full scale rebuild. As a small market club, they’ve generally resisted that path. If they finally choose to venture down it, this swap could make sense for both sides.</p> <p>Torrey Craig typifies the 3-and-D role, albeit not in 2021-22. His -0.1 DBPM is uninspiring, and his 27.5% accuracy on 2.1 three-point attempts per game is something worse. We’re willing to chalk his underwhelming performance up to his situation. We’re also willing to bet that last season’s marks of 36.8% three-point accuracy and a 0.4 DBPM are more reflective of his actual abilities.</p> <p>Meanwhile, the Jazz wouldn’t lean on Craig as their primary 3-and-D option. Royce O’Neale is a remarkably similar and unequivocally better player. Craig would effectively be an insurance policy. He’d also diversify Snyder’s rotation, allowing him to field two defensive minded wings where matchups require it. That’s good value at the cost of two players who aren’t in the rotation of a win-now ball club like the Jazz anyway.</p> <p>As for the Pacers, they get to roll the dice on two fairly intriguing young players for the price of a veteran they have little use for. Craig is an ill fit for a lottery team, and Azubuike and Hughes aren’t seeing minutes on a contender.</p> <p>This trade finds a better home for all of the parties involved in it.</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background: #00265D" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://thejnotes.com/2022/01/04/3-trades-utah-jazz-consider/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Jazz upgrade spacing with blockbuster </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_87418" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <a href=https://thejnotes.com/2022/01/04/3-trades-utah-jazz-consider/"https://thejnotes.com/wp-content/uploads/imagn-images/2017/07/14084435.jpeg">

<div class="details"> <div class="team-name">Jazz Get</div> <div class="info">Eric Gordon</div> </div> </div> <div class="separator"></div> <div class="team b"> <div class="logo"><img src=https://thejnotes.com/2022/01/04/3-trades-utah-jazz-consider/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/w_75,h_75,c_fill,g_auto,f_auto/https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.fansided.com%2Flogos%2Fnba%2Frockets.png"/>

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3 trades the Utah Jazz would absolutely have to consider

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