Potential Jazz Draft Trade Arises With Mavericks’ Pick Up for Sale

When it comes to rumors of NBA draft picks swapped, traded, moved, etc., I’m not sure I’ve heard more of them before a draft as I have for this one. All reports within the last few weeks indicate that everyone but the San Antonio Spurs at 1 are all but satisfied with their draft positioning.

It’s been a roller coaster of a pre-draft process, but we still have one more day to go.

As expected, the whispers among league sources and executives have done anything but slowed down. The most recent report surrounds the Dallas Mavericks, who currently hold the 10th pick in this year’s draft. Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN told us that the Mavs could find ways to utilize their lottery pick to acquire more NBA-ready help to their existing roster.

“I think Dallas is in a situation where maybe they package No. 10, move back to get a player or players who they can put around Irving and Luka Doncic right away.”

- Adrian Wojarowksi,

via

ESPN.

Considering Dallas has one of the best talents in the league currently with Luka Doncic, adding players around him that are readily available to play would benefit his success. Additionally, with Kyrie Irving’s impending free agency in the picture, adding NBA-ready talent instead of developmental prospects is a better pitch to sell him to return to compete.

We’ve heard reports in the past couple of weeks about the Utah Jazz having some intrigue in getting a secondary lottery pick to add to their arsenal. Already having a hold of the 9th pick, getting another top ten prospect in the class could be a great way to come out on top. If Dallas intends on moving this pick, it’s the perfect chance for Utah to get involved.

With Utah holding both the 16th and 28th picks in the first round, using these two picks to jump up a bit higher seems like a wise decision from the front office. There’s no sense in having this many assets and not utilizing them.

By pairing the package of the two firsts with someone like Kelly Olynyk’s expiring contract and taking on Davis Bertans’ brutal contract ($33m/2y) as salary relief in the process; it’s the perfect storm to see a deal happen here.

Not only would Olynyk be both an upgrade and pay cut from Bertans, but this also gives Dallas the ability to add cheap prospects later in the first project as more immediate contributors. Great defenders later in the draft like Leonard Miller, Rayan Rupert, or Oliver-Maxence Prosper could perfectly fit the needs of their roster.

While it would be a bit irritating to hold onto the Bertans contract for the next two years from the Jazz’s perspective, it’s worth the trouble. Two top-ten picks can give this team some stable building blocks to work around for the next four years, even if they're picked toward the second half of the lottery.

Are there likely better packages other teams around the league can offer? Surely. However, it’d be foolish to count out the Jazz from making any splashes with the flexibility they possess currently.

We’re now less than 48 hours away from the NBA Draft. Prepare for some chaos.

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