Though I and most others don't believe it's a real possibility, I'm wondering what a serious re-tooling around Donovan could even look like.
If I'm reading between the lines correctly in Tony Jones's reporting about Jazz's choices, one of the options may be to use the three first-rounders the Jazz have in 2023, and perhaps additional assets, to find a serious second option to go along with Donovan. In my imagination I'm thinking of something like a Pascal Siakam-quality player. Problem is, I have a hard time thinking of someone who we'd really want being available for what we have to offer, at least in the near term.
Another option is to just seek competence and better team balance, let Donovan be the clear star and see where that takes you. In trying to think of trades that might be available I'm imagining something like:
- Dok + Conley (and probably modest draft capital -- let's says the worst of-Houston/Philly/Brooklyn 2023 FRP pick) for Poetl (Spurs have lots of cap space so a financially unbalanced trade works, and only one true PG on the roster; they should also not care if they win this year)
- Clarkson (and probably very modest draft capital -- let's say a 2025 31-40 protected second rounder) for Kuzma (Wiz have logjam at PF and may be worried about whether Johnny Davis can be a rotation player this year after his poor summer league); (or alternatively Beasley for Jonathan Isaac, as the Magic have a logjam at PF and lack of scoring pop at SG -- though I doubt the Magic are selling on Isaac now and I doubt the Jazz want to buy on him now either)
- NAW (and probably draft capital, since we're dealing with OKC, but hopefully modest -- let's say slightly worsening the protections for the 2024 draft pick we owe [if this is possible; I'm not sure it is]) for Kenrich Williams -- maybe this helps keep SGA happy by sending his cousin there?
- Beverley for Talent Horton-Tucker (maybe we could pry a 2025 second-rounder back?) -- I think THT still has upside if he can get out from needing to fit alongside LBJ/Russ
That would leave us with (sending out only modest draft capital overall):
PG: DM, Butler, (I'd try to re-sign) Forrest
SG: Beasley, THT, Bolmaro, (Juzang--TW)
SF: Bogey, Fontecchio, Kenrich Williams (Sneed--TW)
PF: Kuzma, Vanderbilt (though he'll probably play at least some center, too), Gay
C: Poetl, Kessler, TBD (probably easy to find a 3rd-string center as a minimum signing)
It wouldn't be great team (probably pretty poor shooting, especially in the depth pieces), but it would bring a bit more youth and length to the Jazz and at least have competence at most line-up spots. Maybe there's a way to coax defensive competence out of it? Could it win 45 games in the West?
Assuming the Jazz somehow really decided to re-tool around Donovan, what do you envision the result looking like?
