Prediction: Jazz Will Trade at Least One Rookie Contract Player on Draft Night

[KqWIN]

Key is a fine offensive prospect. He is on a trajectory to become a +1-2 player or even more on offense. But it’s hard to understate how bad his defense is. He is indeed one of the worst defenders in the league. The good thing for him is that going from a bottom 5 percentile defender to a bottom 30 percentile defender isn’t impossible. Plenty of offensive oriented guards in the league and Key looks to be another one of them. This archetype isn’t exactly the winning archetype we see shine in the playoffs, but that doesn’t mean they have no value in this league.

I feel as though people talk past each other on Key all the time and have very different expectations. If you’re hoping for him to be star player….yeah it’s unlikely. But then you have people implying he’s not even good enough to be in the NBA at all.

 

[Basketball Novice]

Key is a fine offensive prospect. He is on a trajectory to become a +1-2 player or even more on offense. But it’s hard to understate how bad his defense is. He is indeed one of the worst defenders in the league. The good thing for him is that going from a bottom 5 percentile defender to a bottom 30 percentile defender isn’t impossible. Plenty of offensive oriented guards in the league and Key looks to be another one of them. This archetype isn’t exactly the winning archetype we see shine in the playoffs, but that doesn’t mean they have no value in this league.

I feel as though people talk past each other on Key all the time and have very different expectations. If you’re hoping for him to be star player….yeah it’s unlikely. But then you have people implying he’s not even good enough to be in the NBA at all.

Whether Key can stick and be an NBA player, I don't know. I am more focused on finding positive players that can be on the Jazz long term. It's a higher bar, for sure. I just don't have high expectations for his offensive ceiling and we don't need to get into his defense. Key is a streaky jump shooter type with a good not great jumper. The only thing that saves his efficiency is that he is great a drawing fouls. I don't think he is good enough offensively to be a high volume shooter and his other skills aren't good enough to slot him in as a role player. It's an awkward middle ground with his skillset. I would just rather move on and try other guys out. And he still has trade value precisely because there is some meat on the bone with his development.

 

[KqWIN]

Whether Key can stick and be an NBA player, I don't know. I am more focused on finding positive players that can be on the Jazz long term. It's a higher bar, for sure. I just don't have high expectations for his offensive ceiling and we don't need to get into his defense. Key is a streaky jump shooter type with a good not great jumper. The only thing that saves his efficiency is that he is great a drawing fouls. I don't think he is good enough offensively to be a high volume shooter and his other skills aren't good enough to slot him in as a role player. It's an awkward middle ground with his skillset. I would just rather move on and try other guys out. And he still has trade value precisely because there is some meat on the bone with his development.

I don’t think he’s in an awkward middle ground. He’s just not a starter level player right now. It’s too soon to pigeonhole him into a certain role, but we know enough to say that he’s probably not going to be a star but he’s also probably not going to be out of the league. Going through this thread it seems as though there are a lot of people saying we can’t possibly trade Key because 1) he’s too good of a prospect to trade or 2) he actually sucks and has no value to be traded. Reality sits in the middle methinks.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

I think you could trade Keyonte to Brooklyn for 19 or possibly Washington at 18.

 

[Saint Cy of JFC]

But if I got Fears, I would probably prefer to deal Collier and keep Keyonte as a 6th man development type player. It feels like he's on the cusp of being a pretty good offensive player and could have real value going into his 4th season if he breaks out as an efficient scorer.

 

[KqWIN]

Key can play with Fears, Collier cannot. You just don’t see many rookies traded after a good first season. I’m not looking to immediately trade Key if Fears is drafted, but I’m certainly open to it. Would probably look to get a 2026 pick instead of another pick in this draft. But some kind of pick 15-25 value wise seems right.

I think it’s probably fine to have all 3 as long as Sexton is gone.