The Utah Jazz are in rebuild mode, and are in need of talent at every position. The free agent pool is one place the Jazz can find that talent. The team probably isn't ready to go all in on the top free agents. Here are a five names that would allow them to upgrade their talent level while still focusing on developing their young guys and getting a high draft pick in 2025.
5. De’Anthony Melton
De’Anthony Melton is not one of the flashier names on this list, but he is a realistic possibility for the Utah Jazz and would give the team some needed depth at the shooting guard position. Melton is only 6’3” but has a 6’8” wingspan and is solidly built at 200 pounds. Melton won the sixth man of the year award in 2022 while playing for the Memphis Grizzlies and has continued to be a productive player since then. At 26 years old, he fits the Utah Jazz’s timeline, and will likely be entering his prime playing years.
Offensively, Melton is not a bona fide scorer who can go get a bucket at will in isolation. He only averaged .5 isolation attempts per game and scored .5 points per isolation, putting him in the 5th percentile of all players, meaning his points per isolation number is worse than 95% of the league. He is, however, a solid three-point shooter. His shooting struggled some in the 2023-2024 season in which he only played 38 games due to injury, but he has a good track record as a shooter shooting 41%, 37%, and 39% from three the previous three seasons. Even with his offensive deficiencies, the 76ers were 9.1 points better offensively when Melton was on the floor this past season.
On defense is where De’Anthony Melton shines. He uses his long arms to get steals and blocks at a high rate for a guard. In steal percentage, he has been in the 93rd percentile or higher every year he’s played in the NBA. He is also an above average rebounder and has been for his entire career. His teams have generally been better defensively when he is on the floor. Opponents scored 1.2 points less per 100 possessions when Melton was on the floor for the 2023-2024 season.
Defense is one of the key areas the Utah Jazz should be looking to improve this offseason. The Jazz were the worst defensive team in the NBA for the 2023-2024 season. De’Anthony Melton would instantly help them on that side of the floor, and with his three point shooting, he would be a valuable floor spacer, opening up opportunities for Keyonte George, Collin Sexton, Lauri Markkanen, and Jordan Clarkson to drive.
The Utah Jazz would still be one of the worse teams in the league if this was the only offseason addition they made, but the Jazz need more talent on their roster, and De’Anthony Melton fits that mould.
4. D’Angelo Russell
D’Angelo Russell is a 6’5” point guard who has been in the NBA for 8 years and played on 5 different teams. He has been a starter for most of his career, and has generally been a productive offensive player. There is some reason for concern about the number of teams he has played on and those teams’ willingness to trade him, but he is a good player nonetheless and would be an upgrade for the Utah Jazz. At 28 years old, he likely still has productive years left and he fits well with Lauri Markkanen’s timeline.
Russel would bring a proven scorer and ball handler to the Utah Jazz. He is an efficient scorer, shooting 42% from three and 69% at the rim for the 2023-2024 season. Russell is in the 67th percentile in pick and roll ball handling and the 71st percentile in points per isolation. Outside of Lauri Markkanen and Collin Sexton the Utah Jazz lack consistent scoring. Russel would take a portion of the defensive pressure away from Markkanen, allowing him to do what he does best and work off the ball.
It is yet to be seen if Keyonte George can be the Jazz’s starting point guard moving forward. He may be better suited in a shooting guard or sixth man role. With Russell in the lineup, much of the pressure of being the primary ball-handler would be removed from George as Russell would take over most of the playmaking responsibilities. This would allow George to grow as a secondary ball-handler and likely avoid some of the growing pains we saw last year when he took the brunt of the defensive focus at the end of the season.
Defense would be a concern with Russell playing next to either Keyonte George or Collin Sexton in the backcourt. Russel has one of the worst steal percentages for a guard, and is ranked in the 14th percentile in rebounding per Cleaning the Glass. The Jazz frontcourt would need to clean up after the guards defensively, which is something they should be able to do considering the length and athleticism of Lauri Markkanen, Taylor Hendricks, and Walker Kessler.
Russell is a bona fide starting point guard in the NBA, something the Utah Jazz currently lack. Adding him to their roster likely wouldn’t win many more games, but it would take some pressure off the younger players and put them one step closer to contention while being a possible valuable trade piece when the Jazz decide to go after true star talent.
3. Malik Monk
Malik Monk is a 6’3” wing who is 26 years old. He is coming off a year with averages of 15.4 points, 2.9 rebounds and 5.1 assists as well as being a finalist in sixth man of the year voting. He likely would not come cheap to the Jazz, but he may be worth the high price due to his scoring in the second unit, veteran leadership, and his value as a future trade piece.
Monk is an average three-point shooter, with a career average of 35.5% from three. He has, however, had multiple seasons in which he shot over 39% from deep, with his best season being the 2020-2021 season in which he shot 42% from three. His biggest draw on offense comes from his playmaking. He had a 29% assist rate in the 2023-2024 season, putting him in the 99th percentile for assist percentage for all wings. Considering the Jazz roster’s lack of self-creation as currently constructed, that playmaking would be beneficial for the team.
Malik Monk’s defensive numbers don’t jump off the page at you, but he is above average in blocks and is generally an engaged defender on the court. He wouldn’t hurt the Jazz defensively, seeing as they had the worst defense in the league for the 2023-2024 season. Monk could easily slot in and play the sixth man role that Jordan Clarkson currently occupies for the Utah Jazz and be an upgrade both in offensive efficiency and defensive tenacity. Monk lacks some of the same shot creation skill that Clarkson has, but the pros of Monk over Clarkson probably outweigh the cons.
The Utah Jazz may be able to get Monk a little cheaper than they otherwise would have due to a season ending MCL sprain that kept him off the floor for the play-in tournament. Monk will no doubt be a hot commodity on the free agent market this year. A reliable bench scorer and playmaker is something every contending team needs. The Jazz have the cap space to go get him if they decide that’s the direction they want to go, even with the likely fierce competition.
If the Jazz do add Malik Monk to their roster, their win total would likely increase slightly, but not enough to move them up another spot in stacked western conference. And with young teams like the Spurs likely improving, and the Grizzlies getting Ja Morant back, the Jazz could still be near the bottom of the standings, ensuring a high draft pick in the loaded 2025 draft. Thus, Monk would be a great building block for the future without taking away the chance at drafting a top end talent next year.
2. Kris Dunn
Kris Dunn is a former top 5 pick, who was recently out of the NBA, spending his time in the G-League. The Utah Jazz gave him a chance to get back to the league in 2022 and he did not disappoint. He even started 32 games for the Jazz in the 2023-2024 season. At 30 years old, he is a little older than the rest of the team, but likely still has multiple years of high level play left. Dunn has shown his value as a defender and a leader on and off the court through his tenure with the Utah Jazz. If the Jazz want their rookies to improve on defense, having someone like Kris Dunn for them to look to is a big step in the right direction.
Kris Dunn has consistently been a great defender. Per Cleaning the Glass, he was in the 90th percentile in block percentage and 83rd percentile in steal percentage for the 2023-2024 season, with his career numbers being even better apart from the 2020-2021 season in which he only played 3 games. A reliable defensive stopper is something every contending team needs, and outside of Dunn, the Jazz don’t have anyone that fits that description. He has also been a consistently good rebounder, having been in the 80th percentile or better in defensive rebounding for guards in five of his eight seasons.
His offensive impact is not nearly as stark as his defensive impact, but he is generally a positive offensive player as well. He is an above average finisher at the rim and shot 37% from three for the 2023-2024 season, including 41% on corner threes. He is in the 73rd percentile in assist percentage but has a high turnover rate. Keeping Kris Dunn and adding a reliable scorer in the second unit would make the Jazz one of the deeper teams in the league, making them better prepared for serious contention.
The Jazz likely wouldn’t win more games next year than they did this season by signing Kris Dunn, seeing as he was already on the roster, so they would most likely keep their pick in the 2025 draft, giving them a chance at drafting a top end talent. At that point, the building blocks the team already has in place will be very important.
1. OG Anunoby
OG Anunoby is the best player on this list and would be the Utah Jazz’s second-best player behind Lauri Markkanen if they were able to land him in free agency. He is a 6’8” wing who is 26 years old. He was traded to the Knicks during the 2023-2024 season and was a big part of their push to become the second seed team in the eastern conference. If not for some unfortunate injuries to key contributors, the Knicks would likely have been serious contenders to win it all. Anunoby will not come cheap, but his mix of size, defensive ability, and scoring efficiency is too valuable not to at least make an offer.
Anunoby is one of the better defenders in the NBA. He was in the 87th percentile in block percentage and the 96th percentile in steal percentage for his position in his time with the Knicks. He has consistently ranked highly in those two categories for his whole career. Anunoby would be extremely valuable for the Jazz on the defensive end, where they struggled the most in the 2023-2024 season. A starting frontcourt of Anunoby, Kessler, and Markkanen would likely be one of the better defensive frontcourts in the NBA, allowing them to clean up after the defense of Collin Sexton and Keyonte George, who both struggle on that end.
Offensively, OG Anunoby would be a significant upgrade over most of the Utah Jazz players currently on the roster. He averaged an efficient 14.7 points per game for the 2023-2024 season shooting 39% from three for the Knicks and 38% from three for the Raptors. He has also been an above average rim finisher for his whole career. Another reliable scorer is something the Jazz are in definite need of, and the fact that he is also one of the premiere defenders in the league makes him a great fit for any team, but especially the Utah Jazz.
Because Anunoby’s skillset would likely fit with any team in the NBA, the price to get him in free agency would be pretty high. The Jazz should also consider that he is good enough to make them win considerably more games, possibly making it so they would lose their draft pick to the Thunder in 2025. Despite that, the Jazz adding Anunoby would give them a strong young core to build around, and they would still have a deep trove of future assets to use to add star level talent to the team.
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