NBA Rumors: Utah Jazz Emerge As Surprising Suitors For Sacramento Kings Swingman

Despite being one of the best teams on defense in the past few years, the Utah Jazz are reportedly looking to make a trade with the Sacramento Kings by the February 10 trade deadline for Harrison Barnes.

The sudden emergence of this rumor was reported in passing by Sam Amick on “The Athletic NBA Show Podcast” and it is a development that most may have missed out on since the Jazz have been particularly silent this season when it comes to trade rumors.

Currently, the Jazz are missing All-Stars Donovan Mitchell (concussion) and Rudy Gobert (left calf strain) ahead of their loss to the Phoenix Suns on Monday, January 24, while Bojan Bogdanovic was also missing due to a finger strain.

All players that were mentioned are key parts of the Jazz’s core group and have been relied upon heavily this season to produce on both ends of the court.

While their injuries are only in the short-term, trading for Barnes would be a smart insurance play as they make a push to remain competitive in the perpetually brutal Western Conference.

In a report by James Ham of the Kings Beat, the Kings front office has made multiple players available for trade, including Barnes, Buddy Hield and Richaun Holmes.

De’Aaron Fox and Tyrese Haliburton remain untouchable as the franchise hopes to build around both of them for the future.

Barnes is under contract until the 2022-23 season and is making north of $20 million this season and $18 million next season, making him a relatively decent acquisition.

In a hypothetical trade, the Jazz might not be willing to part with the reigning Sixth Man of the Year in Jordan Clarkson as he provides a much-needed scoring boost of the bench.

This leads to a potential trade package featuring Rudy Gay and Royce O’Neale as the centerpieces from Utah with a third player added into the mix (probably Elijah Hughes) in order to make the finances work.

Barnes is enjoying a successful stint with the Kings, averaging career highs in field goal percentage (46.7 percent), rebounding (5.7) and assists (2.6) which might be enough to entice the Jazz to field an offer for him.

Losing Gay and O’Neale will understandably be a frustrating move for Jazz fans as they have grown to appreciate the pair, but Barnes more than makes up for their production on offense while being six years younger than Gay and a year older than O’Neale.

Utah is still expected to make the playoffs this season with ease, but the emergence of the Memphis Grizzlies as a playoff team does put them in a precarious spot.

Gobert will turn 30 years old next year, while Mitchell is about to be 26 by then.

With the Kings being open to moving their core players in search of veterans with a winning pedigree, the Jazz might be their door to acquiring such talent by the trade deadline.