Why Trevor Booker Needs a New Contract

Trevor Booker is in the middle of a contract season, and here’s why the Utah Jazz should consider bringing him back.

Preparation.

They say that the best ability that an athlete can possess is their availability. In professional sports, nothing is promised and the athletes who participate are blessed with a clean enough bill of health to play. All it takes is one injury and then everything can change in an instant and that’s why if you’re a bench player and you’re prepared to play it doesn’t hurt the team.

For the Utah Jazz they’ve had one of the worst stretches of luck. Last year after having a tremendous finish to their season where they went 19-10 after the All-Star break, many people thought that this team would be ready to compete for a playoff spot. To everyone that thought that they were right, but the injuries to their team have only slowed down their playoff goals. Thankfully, even with the injuries Utah hasn’t been decimated and a large part of that goes to their bench.

When you think about the Utah Jazz bench (outside of Trey Burke because he should be the starting point guard in my mind, and why he’s not starting is still beyond me) you think about hustle, energy, passion and intelligence. The person that personifies this more than anyone is the leader of the bench mob, Trevor Booker.

Book Em’

In his sixth year in the league, Booker has shown himself as an irreplaceable commodity for Utah’s bench.

When Derrick Favors went down with his injury, the team hasn’t missed much defensively because Booker has stepped up and filled in his shoes. Now, because Booker is in the middle of a contract season, it might be time for management to start reconsidering if they want to watch him walk in free agency.

During the last 10 games in which Favors has missed because of injuries, Booker has put together solid efforts on the defensive glass averaging eight rebounds per night. One of his best defensive performances came against the Memphis Grizzlies where Booker had to guard All-Star center Marc Gasol. Booker finished with four points, 11 rebounds, three assists, and two blocked shots in 35 minutes. Meanwhile, Gasol had one of his toughest nights as he finished with 20 points, but he needed 20 shots to get there, going 8-for-20 from the floor.

Although not known for his offense, Booker also provided a bit of a spark offensively for Utah. Booker had 12 points and nine rebounds in his limited playing time against the Houston Rockets. He also attempted nine shots, which is surprising because he doesn’t shoot often. Booker this season only has nine games where he’s shot the basketball seven or more times.

Follow The Leader

What has been very encouraging to see recently because of Booker’s leadership is the way that others are starting to follow his lead. They say that positive energy is contagious, and one person on Utah’s team who has seemed to contract a lot of energy is none other than rookie power forward Trey Lyles.

The 2015 first round pick of Utah has played exceptionally well during his time within the starting lineup. Furthermore, it looks as if Lyles and Booker have created a productive tandem inside of the interior.

Lyles had seen a major increase in playing time because of the injuries to Favors and Rudy Gobert. The only positive that comes out of their injury is that Utah has gotten a chance to develop Lyles without their time on the court. Lyles played in 34 minutes against the Houston Rockets and had himself a fairly decent rookie outing as he nearly finished with a double-double, totaling nine points on 4-of-11 shooting, nine rebounds, three assists, two steals and two blocked shots.

This performance marked the second-highest rebounding total of the season for Lyles. It also marked personal bests in blocked shots. Then, against the Portland Trail Blazers, Lyles had the game of his career as he scored a career-high 16 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the floor, including making both of his three-pointers.

During the month of January, Lyles is averaging 7.7 points, 5.9 rebounds, 1.1 assists in 27 minutes and he’s shooting an incredible 52 percent from the floor.

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For Utah, developing their young players is key, and Booker’s impact on Lyles is profound. Additionally, the fact that Booker always holds down his value because of his production only further adds to the reason why the team should re-sign him.

Booker is on pace to average a career-high in rebounding on a team that wants to defend. They need to defend his contract as well.