Denver Nuggets: The Wilson Chandler Trades Part II- The West
By Tim Hart
Utah Jazz
ESPN’s NBA Trade Machine Results: Jazz +1 Wins, Nuggets -1 Wins
The Trade Machine shows the Nuggets actually suffering from this mock-trade. That seems ridiculous.
Why the Jazz would do it:
Apparently they would be better off. Favors is considered to be their best player. So, trading him away wouldn’t seem like a good move. But with a promising young PF in Trey Lyles, they might not stand much to lose from giving Favors up.
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In this mock-trade, they would receive Faried to fill Favors’ immediate void. Later on, they would be able to start either Kenneth Faried or Trey Lyles at PF, with the latter providing an overqualified bench presence to the psoition. This would be the case for SF Wilson Chandler, who would play behind Gordon Hayward.
Will Barton could nearly replace Alec Burks’ bench presence, and would do so at less than half the price. The Jazz would stand a good amount to gain from this trade, all without giving up much on their own end.
Why the Nuggets would do it:
Similarly, as their expendable players may fit in better with the Jazz, the Jazz’s expendables could excel in Denver. Rodney Hood has great size and a huge upside. Alec Burks is a proven scorer with touch and versatility. On top of that, they would have Derrick Favors in their starting PF spot.
Favors can’t shoot threes, but he can hit free-throws, and has decent touch up to about 15 feet. This could help the Nuggets offense function more efficiently. Losing Faried would likely mean less offensive rebounds, but adding Favors would likely mean a higher FG%.
Their bench would have two new bench weapons to work with. And although rotations might get messy, the Nuggets would still have added two shooters capable of catching fire, in Burks and Hood. One of them may even be worthy of taking the starting spot from Gary Harris. The Nuggets would have options to explore, and the firepower gain in this mock-trade would likely make that exploration worthwhile.