After losing to the Mavericks in the 1st round of the playoffs, the Utah Jazz must face reality: they are not a Tier 1 team and they are not going to get better with time. They must make a big change.
And they only have four options:
Option 1: Fix their biggest problems while keeping Rudy Gobert & Donovan Mitchell (if possible). READ HERE
Option 2: Trade Rudy Gobert & do a mini-rebuild around Donovan Mitchell. READ HERE
Option 3: Trade Donovan Mitchell for an aging superstar for ~2 year championship window - if possible (this article).
Option 4: Tank next year. READ HERE
Option 3: Trade Donovan Mitchell
Comp: 2018 Toronto Raptors
If the Utah Jazz choose to keep Rudy Gobert and trade Donovan Mitchell, that means their window becomes much smaller. Rudy Gobert is turning 30 this year. If you keep Gobert, trading Donovan Mitchell for draft picks and undeveloped players is unacceptable. This would guarantee wasting the rest of Rudy Gobert's prime.
They have to upgrade their current roster if they are going to keep Gobert. Like the Toronto Raptors trading DeMar DeRozan for 1 year of Kawhi Leonard and helped Kyle Lowry and Marc Gasol win a championship.
If the Jazz want to keep Gobert and trade Mitchell, the Jazz will need to look for a trading partner who is wanting to trade an aging and/or disgruntled superstar for the 25-year-old Donovan Mitchell.
Lets take a look at four aging superstars that might fit the criteria:
Stephen A Smith said on his ESPN show First Take last week that he believes the Lakers should considering trading LeBron James. Stephen A believes the Lakers should call the Utah Jazz and offer LeBron for Mitchell (
LINK).
And the more I think about it, the more I love it for LeBron James.
First of all, this would only be for 1-2 seasons. LeBron wouldn't even have to sell his Los Angeles house!
Secondly, the Lakers are not going to be legit contenders next season. They dug themselves into a hole when they gambled with Russell Westbrook. Now they are stuck next year. LeBron coming to the Utah Jazz next season would significantly increase LeBron's chances at winning ring #5.
Thirdly, Dwyane Wade is a part-owner of the Utah Jazz. D Wade and LBJ are famously besties. They
would be able to spend a lot of time together during the season trying to win a championship for Utah and banana boating in the Great Salt Lake.
Fourthly, this is a "Low Risk / High Reward" opportunity. It would probably be the least pressure to win that LeBron has had in over a decade. If LeBron gets traded to Utah and falls short of a championship, who cares? It's Utah. But if LeBron comes to Utah and wins a championship, it would be a huge add to the GOAT argument. Utah has never won a championship. And honestly, if he helped the Jazz win a championship, the Jazz would probably retire his jersey number, build a statue of him, and officially declare June 23rd "LeBron James Day" (6/23).
Fifthly, LeBron James would fit perfectly right into the Utah Jazz lineup. Without even making any moves, you are looking at a line up of:
PG: Mike Conley
SG: Danuel House
SF: Bojan Bogdanovic
PF: LeBron James
C: Rudy Gobert
6M: Jordan Clarkson
And with LeBron James on the team, the Jazz should be able to get a good MLE (Bruce Brown?) and a good Vets Min (Otto Porter?). Plus they could trade their 2026 1st rounder for another piece at the trade deadline.
After become a deity in Utah, LeBron would be a Free Agent and could sign right back with the Lakers. Bronny will be of age by that time too. So LeBron Sr. and LeBron Jr. can join Donovan Mitchell, Anthony Davis, and whoever else the Lakers got during the hiatus and LeBron probably wins ring #6 (helloooo Michael Jordan!).
I heard this one suggested on a YouTube channel called "NoDunks Inc." (
LINK)
Paul George, like LeBron James, would seamlessly fit right into the Utah Jazz lineup. He is 32 years old and often injured, but this gives the Jazz exactly what they would be looking for in Donovan Mitchell trade; a two year window of legit title contending with Rudy Gobert and Mike Conley.
Plus, Paul George would get something he's never had: an legit title contending team in which he is the #1 guy (not that there's anything wrong with being Robin to Kawhi Leonard).
3. Jimmy Butler
Jimmy Butler's remaining time with the Heat started to come in to question after we saw
THIS heated argument during the game with Erik Spoelstra. Players had to holding both Jimmy Butler and Coach Spoelstra back. They were ready to fight!
If the Heat don't make it out of the East this year, they may be looking to get younger from Jimmy Butler. And Miami has been maybe the most talked team surrounding Donovan Mitchell besides the Knicks.
Butler would also seamlessly fit right into the Jazz veteran lineup. And his work ethic and passion would really benefit this Jazz team.
And in this scenario, I wouldn't be surprised if the Jazz could get back another good player back as well with Butler for Mitchell. If I were Utah, I would ask for Tyler Herro first and see if we can't figure out some kind of Butler/Herro deal. If no, I would ask for Max Strus with Butler.
The Trailblazers need to take a hard look at themselves in the mirror and decide what they are going to do this offseason. Without Damian Lillard, they are probably the worst team in the entire NBA. They are nowhere near near title contention. Besides soon-to-be-32-years-old Dame Lillard, they only have young, undeveloped players.
Portland needs to get some legit help this offseason to justify keeping Dame Lillard.
If not, for the good of the organization and for the good of Dame himself: TRADE HIM TO A CONTENDER!!!
Jazz fans have always has a soft spot for Damian Lillard - ever since his college days at Utah's Weber State University. Also, Dame dropping random 'love kernels' throughout his career about Utah being one of his favorite places, like this tweet from 2017 when a fan asked Lillard "if you had the opportunity to sign with any team in the league today other than trailblazers what team would it be?" and Dame responded with "If blazers said they didn't want me... Utah Jazz or Lakers."
Dame coming to the Jazz would feel like a player coming home.
And Dame fits the Jazz's window of ~2 years of elite contention.
However, Unlike the other three player mentioned, Lillard doesn't "fit perfectly" into the current linup. Acquiring Lillard would mean the Jazz to also trade their current starting veteran point guard Mike Conley. Maybe to make salaries work, the Blazers would do a Mitchell+Conley for Lillard+Josh Hart deal? If not, the Jazz would look to move Mike in a separate deal with a different team as soon as possible.
Here is a "blow it up" trade getting a huge haul in picks from the Houston Rockets (LINK)
Erik Walden, Utah Jazz writer for the Sale Lake Tribune, proposed "Houston gets to kick-start its rebuild with a bonafide star, while Utah blows it up, adding last year’s No. 2 pick, this year’s No. 3, and a couple of big men with upside besides."
Rockets get: Donovan Mitchell
Jazz get: Jalen Green, Christian Wood, Usman Garuba, No. 3 pick in 2022 draft, Brooklyn’s 2024 first-round pick
Or this crazy 5 team trade
The reasoning: The number 1 team that Donovan Mitchell has been linked to is the New York Knicks. However that has seemed very unlikely given the fact the Knicks don't have what the Utah Jazz want. To make that work, you would have to find a 3rd team that has a high draft pick that is interested in Julius Randle (like the Trailblazers
LINK). Then, find a 4th team that is interested in Mike Conley (like the Clippers). And preferably a 5th team for Bogdanovic. The Jazz get 6 first round draft picks between Mitchell, Conley, and Bogdanovic. That's a bit hefty, but it gets Mitchell on the Knicks.
What a successful "Option 3" Offseason might look like:
PG: Mike Conley
SG: Danuel House
SF: Jimmy Butler
PF: Bojan Bogdanovic
C: Rudy Gobert
BN: Jordan Clarkson
BN: Max Strus
BN: Bruce Brown (MLE)
BN: Otto Porter (FA)
BN: Hassan Whiteside
BN: Royce O'Neale
BN: Juancho Hernangomez
BN: Nickeil Alexander-Walker
BN: Jared Butler
or
PG: Damian Lillard
SG: Danuel House
SF: Josh Hart
PF: Bojan Bogdanovic
C: Rudy Gobert
BN: Jordan Clarkson
BN: Bruce Brown (MLE)
BN: Otto Porter (FA)
BN: Hassan Whiteside
BN: Joe Ingles (FA)
BN: Royce O'Neale
BN: Juancho Hernangomez
BN: Nickeil Alexander-Walker
BN: Jared Butler
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