Former #2 pick who never came close to the hype and coming off a fairly disappointing year with the Jazz. The Jazz just got the likes of Jefferson, Rush to go along with Hayward getting the bulk of the playing time @SF so I'm thinking we could do a potential swap for Jimmer + another piece to get him. While he's not the greatest floor spacer the season before this one he shot 38% from 3 point land and he gives us size/athletic ability while being on a 1 year deal (giving us flexibility). He can play defense and is a fairly decent finisher due to his athletic ability. Marvin + Luc Richard @ SF gives us size/defense and Marvin gives a bit extra scoring punch.
The Jazz could use Jimmer to sell tickets while they tank. Plus with the players we have I don't see Jimmer playing at all this season unless it's a blowout or some serious foul trouble. We could include one of our PF's which he have to many of anyway in the deal to make it work.
I'm not sure why and how Utah would tank. They have put together a decent team for the year.
Burke/Lucas/McNeal/Neto/Clark
Rush/Burks
Hayward/Jefferson/M. Williams/Evans
Favors
Kanter/Biedrins/Gobert
PG: Burke was the best PG in the draft and has many skills that can translate immediately to the NBA. He can penetrate, pass, shoot, and is a leader. Lucas is a serviceable backup PG who can give you 10 minutes here and there. He doesn't shoot well from the floor, but he is a good 3pt shooter.
SG: Rush is a very good 3pt shooter (41% career average) who has great size (6'6") and plays good defense. Since he missed the majority of last season (played 2 games) due to injury, we'll look at how he did in the 2011-2012 season. 26 MPG / 50% FG / 45% 3PT / 79 FT% / 10 PPG / 4 RPG / 1.5 APG / .5 SPG / .9 BPG / 1 TOPG. Is there really a glaring weakness in his game? He does everything well and is a terrific shooter. He is a great role player to put next to your star players. Burks will be a good option off the bench. He has shown flashes of his potential and has shown that he can contribute in limited minutes. He's got good size (6'6"), athleticism, and plays good defense. He improved his 3PT shooting last year (33% to 36%). He can give you size, scoring, rebounding, passing, and defense off the bench. What more can you ask for?
SF: Hayward has shown what he can do. With Jefferson and Millsap gone, it is up to him to step up. He is a good scorer, shooter, and passer who can be one of their go-to options this year. With Marvin Williams being out for the majority of the season due to injury, Jefferson will be the main guy behind Hayward. I don't see Jefferson getting more than 10 MPG. He still can contribute in a backup role. He has been a great shooter throughout his career. However, he did shoot 31% from three last year which was surprising. I think he will bounce back and have another good shooting year, but I could be wrong! You could do much worse as a backup SF (see James Johnson and Travis Outlaw).
PF: Right now, they just have Favors. Favors is a great talent. He is a superb defender, shotblocker, and rebounder who has great size, length, and athleticism. He plays within himself and within the flow of an offense which is evident by his career FG% (50%). With Jefferson and Millsap gone, it's Favors' time to shine.
C: Kanter will be head up the starting C job. Good size, strength, and athleticism for a center. He is a good defender and is able to average over a block a game. He's great on the boards, and with Favors as his running mate, they should control the boards on both sides of the court. Kanter has more promise than Favors when it comes to post moves. Kanter seems to be more smooth with his back to the basket and I think eventually he can become a go-to option on the block. He needs a little more refinement, but he has the skills to be a good post player. Biedrins will be the backup C. He gives you shotblocking, rebounding, and efficient scoring (doesn't take ill advised shots). You could do much worse as a backup center. Gobert is their third center, but I'm guessing he won't see the floor much in his rookie year.
Does this team have many weaknesses? No, not really. They could use a decent backup PF to help with their frontcourt depth and probably another serviceable PG in case Burke or Lucas goes down. I'm not sure how this team would perform poorly this year. They have many good players that compliment each other. They should find success this year.
Now back to the trade. It might make sense for the Jazz to take Fredette mainly due to ticket sales, but they also want to make their team better. I don't think they will give up a 7.5 mil ender easily. They will only have Burke, Lucas, Burks, Hayward, Evans, Favors, Kanter, and Gobert on the books for next year. That is all their core/young players. They will have a lot of cap space (should have at least 20 mil in cap space) to bring in a couple significant players.
We could offer something like Fredette and Landry for Williams at the trade deadline. Fredette boosts their jersey and ticket sales. Landry gives them their 3rd big off the bench and puts him on a team where he can be successful (unlike here in Sacramento where we will be pairing him with non-defensive bigs). All the other bigs on the team are good defenders (Favors, Kanter, and Biedrins) which should help hide Landry on that side of the ball. However, Landry will help with the lack of post offense from the frontcourt and give them a good scoring punch off the bench.
Williams should be back around the trade deadline and can help contribute at SF. Then he comes off our books next year and we can use the cap space elsewhere while we rid ourselves of Fredette and the questionable Landry signing.
