NBA trade rumors: 7 potential Kemba Walker trades
2. Utah Jazz
According to the Salt Lake Tribune‘s Tony Jones, the Utah Jazz are actively trying to move Rodney Hood before the Feb. 8 trade deadline, putting him in the same boat as Derrick Favors.
With Ricky Rubio being so underwhelming this season, Kemba Walker becoming available and the Jazz looking to rebuild around Rudy Gobert and rookie phenom Donovan Mitchell, it’s not hard to envision a few trade scenarios between Utah and Charlotte.
Though giving up Hood would hurt the Jazz’s dwindling playoff chances, avoiding his restricted free agency and empowering Mitchell as the go-to 2-guard also makes sense. As such, our first trade option revolves around Hood, Favors, Dante Exum and a future first round pick:
The Hornets will have to navigate Hood’s restricted free agency, which would require other moves to help clear the cap sheet, but further action is implied by trading Kemba Walker anyway. Hood would be a great piece to aid Charlotte’s rebuild, and if Exum could stay healthy, he might be another.
If not, he’s a flier that will either become salary cap relief by signing with another team, or he’ll be a cheap re-sign if he draws little interest on the market as a restricted free agent. Favors represents cap relief as an expiring deal, while the first-rounder is a potentially valuable asset, especially if it’s somehow Utah’s 2018 pick for a team sliding further and further from the playoff picture.
The Jazz, meanwhile, get an upgrade on Rubio, who would immediately become expendable in a different deal. Kemba and Mitchell would be difficult to stop and form an enticing Big Three with Gobert. Marvin Williams would help spread the floor as a stretch-4 as well.
If that doesn’t work, dumbing it down to Hood, Favors and a first-rounder for Kemba straight up is another option:
If that doesn’t work, throwing more pieces at the wall and seeing what sticks is another possible avenue.
Kemba Walker, Marvin Williams and Jeremy Lamb would bolster Utah’s roster for a run back to the playoff picture, while Charlotte gets a replacement point guard in Rubio, Hood, Favors and the draft pick.
It all depends on which players the Hornets view as top priorities, but they’d get decent young talent, some cap space and a first-rounder either way.