San Antonio Spurs: One offseason trade with every team – Utah Jazz

By swapping Australian veterans, the Utah Jazz and San Antonio Spurs can address positions of need without shaking up major aspects of their roster.

Next up is on our “One trade with every team” series, we’re looking at the Utah Jazz. So far, we’ve shipped away LaMarcus Aldridge and DeMar DeRozan twice each. For as much as that seems logical given the San Antonio Spurs aren’t going anywhere with the team as currently constructed, there’s still the strong possibility that they both return next year.

They could try to team-up one more time and see how far they can go before hitting unrestricted free agency in 2021 together. So what can the Spurs to position themselves to win if that ends up being the case?

Well for starters, bringing in some players at positions of need would really help their situation. The guard rotation is stacked, but San Antonio’s roster doesn’t have a single natural small forward with DeRozan, Lonnie Walker IV and Marco Belinelli (three shooting guards) filling in at that spot.

For the Utah Jazz, point guard depth is essential since Mike Conley Jr. isn’t panning out all too well thus far and two crucial members of their rotation — Jordan Clarkson and Emmanuel Mudiay — are on expiring deals. They could use a craft veteran point guard to spice things up and sling deep jump shots off the bench.

The San Antonio Spurs send Patty Mills to the Utah Jazz for Joe Ingles.

Arguably the two best Australian players in the NBA, Patty Mills and Joe Ingles have a great relationship. Parting ways with Mills would be an emotional process for many Spurs fans and individuals within the organization, but it’s in the best interest of the team right now. His 22.7 minutes per game would be more impactful spread between Dejounte Murray, White, Walker and rookie Keldon Johnson.

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Mills and Ingles’ true shooting was within one-tenth of a percent of each other this season with Patty’s 58.9 percent taking a slight edge. They’re each wonderful shooters within the context of their teams, but would be better used in opposite positions. Patty is more of a go-getter who curls off of screens and creates shots for himself while Ingles spots up off of his teammates’ passes.

A spot-up 3-point marksman like Ingles would do wonders for DeRozan off the bench. He’s a physical, high-IQ defender that can instill some defensive values in the young core and sap up all the leftover minutes between Patty, Belinelli and potentially Bryn Forbes. Though he recently inked a one-year extension with the Jazz that will net him $14 million in 2021, San Antonio has the cap space to accommodate that deal and just about anything else they want that season.

It’s not what Spurs fans want to hear, but Jingles helps the Spurs more than you might realize. San Antonio would be losing some of their offensive spark at point guard, but Ingles is a wonderful playmaker who can run pick-and-roll or keep off the ball and let the game come to him. His veteran presence is one that fits nicely with the Spurs’ values, so he could be as valuable off the court as he’d be on it.

You can check out the six other trades we made by clicking on the team name below:

Pacific Division: Clippers, Kings, Lakers, Suns, Warriors.      —       Northwest Division: Trail Blazers