The Utah Jazz are reported to have Trey Burke on the table to trade to the Houston Rockets for Ty Lawson. Should they make the deal?
You’ve really got to love the NBA.
The trades that are being floated around keep getting more outrageous by the second. We’ve seen Pat Riley give away two second-round picks in order to dump salary and get under the luxury tax.
We’ve seen players get triple-doubles with blocks (and no one’s doing it with blocks, right Hassan Whiteside?) become trade options for players with a history of injuries and very little in the way of offensive post moves (looking at you, Dwight Howard).
You would think we need David Stern policing trades again like he did for Chris Paul going to to the Los Angeles Lakers because it’s starting to get alarming.
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Speaking of Paul, one of the players in the NBA that used to look up to him is none other than the Utah Jazz point guard Trey Burke. Similar to his former idol, Burke’s name is in trade rumors with the team that originally drafted him. The fact that Utah’s shopping Burke around speaks volumes about how they feel about him as a player.
It’s reported that Utah’s looking for a veteran point guard in the market and the person they’ve got their eyes set on is Howard’s teammate, Ty Lawson. Is this potential idea another ludicrous trade being thrown against the wall, or is this actually a good idea?
Who Are You Taking?
If you look at the raw numbers, then there’s no comparison between the two.
Burke is shooting much better, as he’s averaged 42 percent from the floor and 34 percent from the three-point line. Remember when that looked like good shooting percentages? The Splash Brothers ruined it for everybody. Nevertheless, Burke averages more points, rebounds, assists, and fewer turnovers while playing in the same amount of minutes.
Did we also mention that Burke is 23 years old?
On the other hand with Lawson, you’ve got a point guard that hasn’t been really motivated to play basketball. Lawson’s career looks like it’s trending down because as a 28-year-old point guard, he’s putting up the worst averages of his career. He’s also playing for a team that made the Western Conference Finals a year ago, which is even more scary.
Lawson may have blazing speed and awesome handles that we’ve grown to love, but is that more to love than Burke’s production? Burke’s salary is cheaper, he’s a younger player, and his best years are still ahead of him.
If Utah were to ship out Burke, there would be nothing more than they would love than another young guard who loves to shoot when he’s open and can develop into their system. Houston would be the franchise that Burke would develop into a starting guard, which is exactly why Utah would have to demand their first-round pick in exchange for taking on their Lawson problem.
The only way, I repeat, the only way Utah should make this trade is if a first-round pick is on the board. Then Utah would still have Raul Neto, and he could still develop as the starting point guard.
It might be a terrible risk for Utah because of Lawson’s production but the good news is the final year and $13.2 million of Lawson’s contract is completely unguaranteed, which was a condition to trade him to from Denver to Houston. If drama ensues in Salt Lake City, Utah could move on without Lawson on their roster and still have a first-round pick on their team.
Then they’d be able to draft Melo Trimble from Maryland with their pick (but that’s way down the road).
Additionally, that move and having other pieces moved around before the beginning of next season could give Utah a big opportunity to sign Mike Conley.
Conley’s having a down year this season scoring wise because he’s only 14.9 points on 41 percent shooting but his averaging 6.1 assists and only 1.5 turnovers a game, which is the best in his career. Conley also enjoys playing in the half-court style which the Memphis Grizzlies are known for.
He’s also a playoff-tested guard who should be a two-time All-Star and he’s reliable for the most part, playing in at least 70 games six different times.
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If Utah can get a first-round pick from Houston, to take their Lawson problem, they’ve got to pull the trigger. Otherise, they’ve got to worry about making this a playoff run.