Since everyone is posting their fantasy scenarios for this summer, and most of them involve the Jazz giving up the flexibility they have worked so hard to obtain for a washed up, soft euro, and a 40 year old that relies on quickness, here is what an intelligent GM would do.
One - get Deron. There are four possibilities for Deron this summer. Dallas, LA, Portland, Brooklyn. Here are the pros and cons of each:
Brooklyn: You are starting over. You have nothing, you have to hope that NJ gets the #1 pick in the draft, or you are going to have another year like the past year. You do have more marketing chances in Brooklyn, but is it worth another 2-3 years of not being any good? And don't think Howard is ending up there. There are rumors that LA would give up Bynum, some have even said the Heat are considering Wade and Bosh for Howard. Howard isn't ending up in Brooklyn.
LA/Dallas - Both aging teams. You will be joining a team with an aging superstar, and they both require the ball in their hands to be effective. Do you really think an old Kobe/Dirk will be good enough to battle OKC and SA? Both are very talented teams, with a lot of young talent. You can go to Dal/LA, be a 3-4 seed, then watch as you have to rebuild that franchise. And don't buy into the "these owners are rich, they will pay the luxury tax to win titles." Is that why Cuban let Chandler and Barea walk for nothing, and LA shipped off Odom for nothing? They are not willing to spend whatever to win titles.
Portland - This is the same situation as Brooklyn, but Portland has two lottery picks instead of one. There are some pluses to Portland though. You do have Aldridge to play with. He is a very talented big man. BUT, it is a small market, and there is no stability there at all. There is a good chance those two draft picks don't work out, and you are stuck in a crappy city with a crappy team. At least Brooklyn is a good city to live in.
FINALLY, your U-T-A-H J-A-Z-Z!!!
This team already has a young, talented core that compliments you perfectly. The Jazz have a budding star, that needs a great pg to give him the ball. The Jazz are vastly improved defensively. With Favors, Millsap and Kanter down low, you have amazing rebounding, toughness, and shotblocking. You have athletic bigs who are willing to play help defense. If you think Stockton to Malone was fun, picture a more athletically gifted Malone, with a Stockton more willing to take over games and control things.
You have a solid wing player in Gordon Hayward. The kid plays great defense, is a solid shooter, has shown a willingness to improve. You have a very good backup pg in Harris, who can knock down the three and play beside you.
You still have your house in Utah. All you have to do, is move furniture back. You have a young, talented team, with flexibility to add more talent around you. If Deron wants to win as much as he possibly can, Utah gives him the best chance to do so.
So, how does Utah get Deron? Simple. They trade Jefferson and Burks to NJ for Deron in a S&T. We get Deron, NJ gets a very talented offensive player, who NJ can then spend a year and see if they want to build around Jefferson. If not, they get a lot of cap space next year to go after a Harden or other max FA. They also get a long term asset in Alec Burks. Burks is a player with loads of potential, and NJ could potentially build their whole team around. Throw in a big from this upcoming draft and Lopez and Brooks, and NJ suddenly has cap room, and a lot of young talent.
Why does Utah do this? They get a superstar in Utah. They have never been able to sign a FA superstar before, and they have now broken that stigma. They give up Al, but they were probably going to trade him for other garbage, let him walk or amnesty him anyways. They do have to give up Burks, who has potential, but Burks could just as easily bust, or pull a Carmelo when his contract is coming to an end. You are trading potential for a proven, young superstar (instead of an old euro, who has flopped the last two years).
Utah's roster now looks like this:
PG - Deron, Harris, Watson
SG - Hayward, Harris
SF - FA/Carroll
PF - Millsap, Favors, Kanter, Evans
C - Favors, Kanter
This team is young, deep, and they still have financial flexibility to bring in an AK, or other shooter or both. If the Jazz somehow get lucky and get GS's pick, then they can add a shooter through the draft. We are still young, we still have options, and we now have a core (Deron, Hayward, Favors, Kanter) that Utah can build around for the next 5-8 years instead of 1-2. This is a much better idea than Nash and Pau.
