The Utah Jazz are currently in position to make the NBA playoffs out of the Western Conference, but they reportedly are likely to make a trade that would change their roster significantly.
According to ESPN’s Marc Stein, the Jazz will be looking to deal either Al Jefferson or Paul Millsap at some point over the next few months.
Stein reports that it’s assumed throughout the league that either player will be traded. One of the big reasons for the trade is that both players will be free agents in July, meaning Utah would lose the players without receiving anything in return. Additionally, the Jazz have two other big men whom they would like to see develop in the front court. Derrick Favors and Enes Kanter were the No. 3 overall picks in the 2010 and 2011 NBA drafts, respectively.
Utah entered Saturday’s play 13-11. They may be reluctant to trade both big men for fear that it could knock them out of the playoff hunt, but they could opt to deal one.
Jefferson is leading the team with 17.3 points and 10.4 rebounds per game. Millsap is right behind him with 15.3 points and 8.4 boards per game. They both rank about the same in terms of efficiency.
Favors has averaged 9.2 points and 7.3 rebounds in nearly 22 minutes per game this season, while Kanter has averaged 6.4 points and 4.1 rebounds in 15.3 minutes per game.
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