Utah Jazz trade targets or free agent acquisitions to complement Markkanen, George

Three thoughts on the week in Jazz basketball from Salt Lake Tribune Jazz beat writer Andy Larsen.

1. I am mute.

My entire first point last week was about how the Jazz couldn’t stay close to the best teams in the NBA. After all, they were hit worse than any other team in the league in their first 10 games against these teams.

So naturally, the very next week they have the toughest matchup possible: They played (Eastern Conference leader) Detroit at home and won. They then flew to San Antonio, landed at about 3 a.m., got to their hotel rooms around 4 a.m., and promptly proceeded to beat the second-seeded Spurs — the same Spurs who had just beaten the Thunder.

The first lesson is that I am a stupid basketball analyst who knows nothing.

The second and more important lesson is that the Jazz have shown a level of excellence that they simply have never had before – which bodes very well for the viability of building around this core.

At the top of the list, of course, is the play of Keyonte George, who was nominated for the Western Conference Player of the Week award. He saved his best performance for last in the Celtics game, scoring 37 points on 13-24 shooting and prompting Celtics beat writers to compare him to Michael Jordan.

Teammate Jusuf Nurkic compared him to Damian Lillard, though I tend to think the other All-NBA guard Nurkic played with, Devin Booker, is a better comparison. Lillard is pretty 3-point dependent, George just isn’t.

The threat of Markkanen’s off-ball movement continues to open up so much for the Jazz. When he’s moving to one side of the court, the Jazz can either run the action to him if it’s open, or if not, run something on the other side of the court where there’s a ton of space because the defense cares so much about Markkanen.

Will Hardy also deserves a lot of credit. The Jazz’s system is a legitimately huge problem to watch. There is so much going on around the arc from the true threats that the defense is just going to provide an advantage somewhere at some point.

With the front office intent on keeping 8 protected picks, this could be a very good sign for the Jazz season. But it was played well here and we should notice that.

2. What exactly is Walter Clayton?

Walter Clayton has had what I would call an experimental season so far.

He played up to 29 minutes in some games. In other stretches he was DNP-CD or in the G League. However, on Saturday against the Spurs, Clayton matched his career high with 17 points (6-of-6 shooting) and five assists. Against the Celtics, Hardy decided to finish the game with him.

My visual impression is that Clayton is playing quite carefully. He likes to explore the paint, but he doesn’t put a lot of shots in there – when he does, they go in at a pretty high rate. He takes a decent number of threes that go 30% of the time. (He told me he’s trying to raise the arc on his jumper a bit this year.) He was pretty adept at drawing fouls and really adept at free throws (94%).

He’s also never been like this: I’m Walter Clayton, national champion, NCAA MVP, let me show you what I can do. That is, except for his dunk on Tuesday.

Defensively, he’s been a much higher level player than the other Jazz point guards, while still being a bit too small to have a consistent one-on-one impact and not gambling enough to rack up steals.

The advanced analytics picture contributes to Clayton being a replacement-level player right now; has 0.0 VORP. I think that’s basically fine for a player at this stage in his career, but as the season goes on I’ll be looking to see if he can show a skill or two to hang his hat on as he continues to develop.

3. Jazz has a Core Four. Who is No. 5?

So I think it’s relatively clear that the Jazz have four really bankable players: George, Markkanen, Walker Kessler and Ace Bailey. Of course, there is still time for more youth, but let’s leave them aside for a moment.

If you were building a team and said these are the pieces to build, what kind of fifth starter would you be looking for?

We have one great scoring guard, one scoring wing, one great off-ball shooting perimeter, and one rolling rim protector. This tells me that we should watch out for:

A) Either a shield with a significant size or a wing.

B) Extremely additive defensive player.

C) A player who doesn’t take away offensively…but isn’t asked to do much other than shoot the ball, make timely cuts and handle the ball just a little when you need it, in transition or as a safety valve.

D) A player who is not super expensive. In two years, Markkanen will be making $50 million, George probably $35 million at this point, Kessler at least $25 million, and Bailey $10 million, against a salary cap of $175 million or so. That means you have roughly $50 million to spend on this player and eight others.

E) Young enough to fit into the Jazz timeline.

Is there anyone on the roster that fits? In theory, one such player is Taylor Hendricks. He’s not really nearly good enough defensively, tends to be a bit of a ball stopper offensively and doesn’t really have an additive feel. This all makes sense given the injury and how young he is, so it could develop. I would give him plenty of chances. But I wouldn’t avoid looking at other options.

Is there anyone else in the NBA that you can realistically acquire that would be a good fit in the next few trade windows or free agency? Let’s take a look around the league.

• I’d be really interested in Lu Dort as a result of the Thunder’s semi-inevitable cap crunch after they expand their stars. He’s a free agent in two years, is currently making $18 million, is just 26 years old, is a first-team All-Defensive guy and provides effort and defensive hustle that you don’t have on this roster right now.

• New Orleans’ Herb Jones was legitimately scary for a while there … and then seemingly fell off a cliff with his defensive performance this season. Could the fact that he plays for a terrible team play a role? He was paid between $15 million and $22 million over the next four seasons and is currently 27.

• Tari Eason will likely make too much on his next deal to qualify for it … but he’s an all-around great defender, 24 years old and a restricted free agent this summer. A cheap Rocket would be Josh Okogie, who I also hate, though he’s a much bigger hole offensively than I’d prefer.

• Matisse Thybulle is a two-time second-team all-defensive honoree, 28 years old and a free agent this summer. He was super awesome when he played for the Blazers, but he was reliably injured.

• Ryan Dunn is good defensively, but he really can’t shoot right now. Maybe that will change?

There aren’t many guys who fit, but there are some options. I wonder if there will be a Jazz shoot for any of these players in the upcoming windows.