The Utah Jazz are rumored to be interested in signing free agent wing Tobias Harris this offseason.
It may be the offseason, but the Utah Jazz continue to circle the rumor mill.
With the conference finals coming to a close, Jazz fans are shifting their focus onto who their team might acquire in the 2019 NBA Draft, as well as who they might bring to Salt Lake City in free agency.
About a week ago, the first potential name that popped up among rumor mills as a player that Utah might go out and try and bring to the squad for the 2019-20 campaign was Memphis Grizzlies point guard Mike Conley.
The Jazz, who have been rumored to be interested in Conley for a few years now and almost completed a deal for him around the 2019 NBA Trade Deadline, would have to complete a trade in order to pull him away from Memphis this offseason.
Since those rumors involving Conley and the Jazz arose, there has been another name that has come up as someone Utah might target during the offseason.
That player is Tobias Harris, who spent the latter portion of the past year with the Philadelphia 76ers.
The Philadelphia Inquirer‘s Keith Pompey reported earlier in the week that Utah is one of a handful of teams interested in going after Harris if he enters the unrestricted free agency pool on June 30.
According to Pompey, the Jazz are joined by the Sacramento Kings, Dallas Mavericks, Indiana Pacers and Brooklyn Nets as teams that are willing and able to offer Harris a max contract this offseason.
It’s a bit more complicated than that for Utah and the handful of teams looking to add Harris, however. Pompey added that since the Sixers hold Harris’ Bird Rights, they would be able to offer Harris a five-year, $188 million contract rather than the four-year, $141 million contract that other teams would be able to offer the wing in free agency.
If he agrees to come to Utah, it would be much easier for the Jazz to bring him to Salt Lake City this summer rather than say a player like Conley. That’s simply due to the fact that Harris is set to be a free agent and wouldn’t require the Jazz to give up any assets in a trade to bring him aboard.
If Utah happened to strike out on potentially trading for Conley before the free agency market opens up, Harris would make for an interesting avenue to go down for the Jazz, and he would be a nice fit within their rotation.
Throughout the course of the 2018-19 season, Utah experimented more and more with putting Donovan Mitchell at the point guard position, lining him next to Joe Ingles in the starting lineup at the guard spots.
With the post presence of Rudy Gobert at center and Derrick Favors at the power forward position, that would leave a spot open for Harris to fit in within the starting lineup in Utah.
Harris, who will turn 27 in July, averaged 20.0 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.8 assists, 0.6 steals and 0.5 blocks in 34.7 minutes per game in a season that was split between playing for Philadelphia and the Los Angeles Clippers.
Whether it’s Conley or Harris, it appears the Jazz are looking to make a splash by adding a key piece to their team this offseason. The addition of Harris could end up being a nice pairing in Salt Lake City for the upcoming season and beyond.