Utah Jazz: 3 Rudy Gobert trades that absolutely will not happen

Use your ← → (arrows) to browse

Rudy Gobert, Utah Jazz (Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)

Let’s begin by making one thing abundantly clear: the Utah Jazz will not trade Rudy Gobert this season, and that’s a good thing.

Still, crazier things have happened, and as long as that’s true, we should feel free to dabble in thought experimentation. Here are two things that are true about the Jazz: they are built around 24-year-old Donovan Mitchell, and they are in the thick of contention for the NBA championship. Typically, title contention does not coincide with a team’s best player’s age 24 season.

The Utah Jazz have bucked longstanding NBA trends by diligently surrounding the upstart off-guard with quality veterans, and pairing him with 3x Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert. After last season’s Western Conference semi-finals collapse, however, some believe this experiment has run its course.

It’s an entirely fair point-of-view; it’s just one that we don’t happen to agree with. Nonetheless, we’ll indulge by strapping on our devil’s advocate caps. If the Jazz were to move the Stifle Tower, they may be able to position themselves into taking a step backward in favor of several, future-minded steps forward.

Here are three trades the Utah Jazz could make for Rudy Gobert in the event that they decided to do just that.

Next: Jazz acquire younger center?

Rudy Gobert</a> this season, and that’s a good thing.</p> <p>Still, crazier things have happened, and as long as that’s true, we should feel free to dabble in thought experimentation. Here are two things that are true about the Jazz: they are built around 24-year-old Donovan Mitchell, and they are in the thick of contention for the NBA championship. Typically, title contention does not coincide with a team’s best player’s age 24 season.</p> <p>The <a href=https://thejnotes.com/2021/08/30/utah-jazz-3-rudy-gobert-trades/"http://www.thejnotes.com">Utah Jazz</a> have bucked longstanding NBA trends by diligently surrounding the upstart off-guard with quality veterans, and pairing him with 3x Defensive Player of the Year Rudy Gobert. After last season’s Western Conference semi-finals collapse, however, <a href=https://thejnotes.com/2021/08/30/utah-jazz-3-rudy-gobert-trades/"https://sircharlesincharge.com/2021/08/27/utah-jazz-mitchell-gobert-build-ceiling/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">some believe this experiment has run its course</a>.</p> <p>It’s an entirely fair point-of-view; it’s just one that we don’t happen to agree with. Nonetheless, we’ll indulge by strapping on our devil’s advocate caps. If the Jazz were to move the Stifle Tower, they may be able to position themselves into taking a step backward in favor of several, future-minded steps forward.</p> <p>Here are three trades the Utah Jazz could make for Rudy Gobert in the event that they decided to do just 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/2021/08/30/utah-jazz-3-rudy-gobert-trades/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Jazz acquire younger center? </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_85187" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <a href=https://thejnotes.com/2021/08/30/utah-jazz-3-rudy-gobert-trades/"https://thejnotes.com/wp-content/uploads/imagn-images/2017/07/15825962.jpeg"> "Utah

<div class="details"> <div class="team-name">Pacers Get</div> <div class="info">Rui Hachimura</div> <div class="info">Deni Avdija</div> </div> </div> <div class="separator"></div> <div class="team b"> <div class="logo"><img src=https://thejnotes.com/2021/08/30/utah-jazz-3-rudy-gobert-trades/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/w_75,h_75,c_fill,g_auto,f_auto/https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.fansided.com%2Flogos%2Fnba%2Fwizards.png"/>

<div class="details"> <div class="team-name">Wizards Get</div> <div class="info">Rudy Gobert</div> </div> </div> <div class="separator"></div> <div class="team c"> <div class="logo"><img src=https://thejnotes.com/2021/08/30/utah-jazz-3-rudy-gobert-trades/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/w_75,h_75,c_fill,g_auto,f_auto/https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.fansided.com%2Flogos%2Fnba%2Fjazz.png"/>

<div class="details"> <div class="team-name">Jazz Get</div> <div class="info">Myles Turner</div> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <h2>Utah Jazz land stretch big Myles Turner</h2> <p>Myles Turner’s name has seemingly been in the trade rumor mill for as long as he’s donned an Indiana Pacers uniform. Largely, his omnipresence in trade discussion has been due to his fit with Domantas Sabonis, a more offensively gifted player who should probably be playing Turner’s center position full-time. Here, we find the Pacers finally re-routing Turner to the Utah Jazz.</p> <p>In return, the Pacers receive two young wings who could compliment Sabonis’ low-block passing wizardry in modernized, spaced-out lineups. Largely, the Pacers would be gambling on potential, as neither of the Wizards involved in this trade have necessarily met expectations over their young NBA careers. Still, Hachimura demonstrated improvement between his rookie and sophomore seasons.</p> <p>His three-point accuracy saw an uptick, from 28.7% to 32.8. Even more significantly, the young wing showed real signs of life as last season progressed, averaging 15.1 points on 35.5% shooting from deep after the All-Star break. That is a solid contribution to a team that was winning games with an offensive revolving around a superstar backcourt in Russell Westbrook and Bradley Beal.</p> <p>On a related note: Deni Avdija’s underwhelming rookie season should not qualify as cause to hit the panic button. It can’t be easy for a rookie to come from overseas and adjust to life in Russell Westbrook’s universe.</p> <p>Meanwhile, the Wizards shore up a defense that has been problematic for years: last year’s 17th overall rank in Defensive Rating may not be as gruesome as the season before’s 28th overall finish, but it still wants for improvement. Gobert is an optimal pairing with stretch 4 Davis Bertans, in-so-far as the two bigs cancel each other’s respective strengths and weaknesses out perfectly.</p> <p>Meanwhile, the Utah Jazz acquire a player who, on the surface, is Gobert’s inferior in most respects. Gobert’s career Player Efficiency Rating (PER) of 21.8 encapsulates a vastly superior rating to the 16.7 mark Turner has posted to date. So, why would the Jazz consider this trade?</p> <p>Really, there are two simple reasons: spacing and age. For his career, Turner is shooting 35.2% from three-point range on 2.4 attempts per game. That’s a little better than Gobert’s 0.0% on 0.0 attempts per. Furthermore, at 25, Turner aligns with Donovan Mitchell’s timeline a lot more cleanly than the 29-year-old Frenchman.</p> <p>The Utah Jazz would also have ample reason to hope that Turner would blossom into an even more impactful player in an environment that is more catered to his strengths. This trade allows them to add positional three-point shooting and youth while maintaining high-level rim protection (Turner did average a league-leading 3.4 blocks per game last season).</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/2021/08/30/utah-jazz-3-rudy-gobert-trades/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Jazz receive rebuild stimulus package? </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_85191" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <a href=https://thejnotes.com/2021/08/30/utah-jazz-3-rudy-gobert-trades/"https://thejnotes.com/wp-content/uploads/imagn-images/2017/07/15665596.jpeg">

The J-Notes

Utah Jazz: 3 Rudy Gobert trades that absolutely will not happen

Newsletter

Your Utah Jazz.
Your Inbox. Every Day.