Why The Utah Jazz Should Make An Offer For Tobias Harris

When will the time arise for the Utah Jazz to pull the trigger?

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There’s no time to sleep in the competitive Western Conference. Good coaches are getting fired with winning records, general managers are trading players to bring in family for help. Everyone’s trying to find the next competitive edge.

So think of a lineup that the Jazz could assemble in their offseason to start off the new year.

Dante Exum,Gordon Hayward, Rudy Gobert, Derrick Favors….

and Tobias Harris.

This summer Harris signing with the Jazz could be a possibility and it would give them the brightest youthful, potential-filled roster in the league.

Harris is a 6’9″, 235-pound forward with great perimeter skills and at 22 years old he’s already the leader of the Orlando Magic.

Chances are you’ve seen Harris dismantle your favorite team quietly but so gracefully that it looks like he’s one of the best pickup ballers you’ve ever seen. Or maybe you’ve seen him as the man who once got heated and started barking at LeBron James. The King ended up with the 98-89 win, but Harris showed he wasn’t backing down to the 30-year-old, five-time MVP.

Harris finished the game with a tail between his legs finishing with 16 points, four rebounds, one assist, one steal and one blocked shot. But what he accomplished was bigger than the stat sheet. During the game Harris got the ear of one of the best in the league (not like Lance Stephenson) and was ready to lead his troops.

On a Jazz team with leaders who are more known for their ability to lead not the octaves in their voice, Harris could become a missing link.

Outside of the awesome weather and living in Florida, playing for the Magic can be a bit of a task. Harris was in a situation where he was waiting for a competitive challenge but his team was two years away from being one.

Harris took the challenge to James and didn’t back down. In a Western Conference where the Jazz face against elite forwards including the “If You’re Watching The Spurs You’re Already Famous” Kawhi Leonard, as well as playing against a pissed off Kevin Durant, who wants to still prove he belongs in the All-Star game, Harris could grow into an even better player.

The Western Conference is its own animal and having another 6’9″, 235-pound forward with scoring ability and a resolve to win that’s so strong that it’ll be contagious will be more than enough firepower to snag a playoff spot.

In addition Harris is also on his way to reaching the ceiling of his potential just like every other player on the Jazz. In his third year in the league Harris scored 17.1 points, shot 46 percent from the floor and 36 percent from the three-point line, grabbed 6.3 rebounds, dished 1.8 assists, and a had a steal per game.

Getting Harris to play for the Jazz is a power move from the organization uttering, “Why not now? Why not us?

Feb 27, 2015; Atlanta, GA, USA; Orlando Magic forward Tobias Harris (12) drives to the basket against the Atlanta Hawks in the first quarter at Philips Arena. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-USA TODAY Sports /

On a team with no 20-point scorers, five double-digit scorers and three other players who average more than seven points a night, Harris would be a blended fit. He’d be encouraged to score and learn how to share the ball with his teammates more in the same process.

It’ll be interesting next year to see how many national televised games the Jazz will finally get now that they’re talented enough, young enough and compelling enough to the rest of the NBA.

Gobert is on his way to becoming the Defensive Player of the Year. Meanwhile, Favors and Hayward are only a moments notice away from getting to their first All-Star game. It’s not a stretch that the Jazz could win at least 45 games next year and put themselves into the playoffs.

To the Magic who are a few years away from competing in the Eastern Conference they realize how important having Harris is, they’re intelligent. Since the Dwight Howard trade, Harris has been the biggest draw to watching their team.

It’s not surprising that Harris could be on the market for $20 million and $25 million a year if he chose to because the salary cap is only a year away from exploding. However, according to reports from Orlando Sentinel, the Magic might only be matching offers between $10 million and $15 million for the next four years.

(On another note: Is Harris worth $10 million to $15 million for the next four years? You bet he is.)

In this era where basketball is dominated by the world’s greatest AAU teams, the Jazz are on their way to playing for more meaningful games by bolstering their entire roster and getting Harris.

They’ve been one of the deepest in the league and that 15 strong mentality worked for the 2006 Miami Heat team.

Next: Utah Jazz: 5 Reasons Why Gordon Hayward Should Make The All-NBA Team

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Utah Jazz: Why The Utah Jazz Should Make An Offer To Sign Tobias Harris

By DJoumbarey A. Moreau | Apr 29, 2015

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