Trade targets: All 30 teams
Utah Jazz
Record: 25-25
8th in West
Status: Buyers
Though Utah is just a game up on the Portland Trail Blazers for the eighth spot in the Western Conference playoffs, simulations using ESPN's Basketball Power Index show the Jazz as a heavy favorite to land a playoff spot. In fact, Utah ends up winning more games on average than the seventh-place Houston Rockets and as many as the Dallas Mavericks, currently in sixth.
The Jazz's plus-1.5 point differential is better than those of Houston (minus-1.4), Dallas (minus-0.9) and even the fifth-place Memphis Grizzlies (minus-1.2). And Utah has lost the league's second-most wins above replacement player to injuries (4.7), according to my tracking, another reason to expect better play the rest of the season.
So the Jazz are surely more buyers than sellers, especially since there's little they would want sell on their youthful roster (fourth-youngest in the NBA based on age weighted by minutes played, and youngest among teams that would make the playoffs if the season ended today).
Yet Utah's front office has its eyes on bigger goals than merely making the playoffs, so don't expect the Jazz to look for a rental player in order to win now.
Potential targets
Jeff Teague
If the Atlanta Hawks look to move one of their point guards -- presumably Teague rather than younger backup Dennis Schroder -- Utah figures to get a phone call given the Jazz's need for an upgrade at point guard.
Teague isn't an ideal fit, however, because of his age (28 in June), ability to become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2017 and the return next season of Dante Exum.
Jrue Holiday
Holiday, who will be 26 in June, matches up better with Utah's timetable and fits the team's need for a defender with length who can play off the ball given the playmaking ability of wings Alec Burks, Gordon Hayward and Rodney Hood as well as the possibility of playing alongside a healthy Exum.
If the Pelicans are willing to move Holiday, the Jazz would have to weigh his history of stress injuries to his right tibia before making an offer.
P.J. Tucker
While point guard is the obvious need for Utah, a wing upgrade might allow Quin Snyder to make more use of lineups without a true point guard where Burks, Hayward and Hood serve as the primary facilitators. Tucker would be a defensive upgrade off the bench, and the Jazz could take his $5.5 million salary into cap space without needing to send a player in return.
Chris Andersen
Alternatively, if the Jazz don't make a splashier move, look for them to try to use their cap space to give another team cap relief in exchange for cash or draft picks. With the Miami Heat in the tax, Andersen and Udonis Haslem are likely candidates, as is Steve Novak of the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Most trade value
1. Rudy Gobert
According to NBA.com/Stats, Utah ranked 23rd in defensive rating during the 18 games Gobert missed with an MCL sprain in December and January. Before his injury, the Jazz were 10th, and since his return only the Atlanta Hawks have been better defensively.
Such is Gobert's value as a rim protector, and he's making just $1.2 million this season and $2.1 million in 2016-17 before becoming eligible for a long-term extension.
2. Derrick Favors
It's an open question whether Favors or Hayward is Utah's best player at this point. There's little debate that Favors has the better contract. His rookie extension pays him $12 million this season and in 2017-18, dipping to $11 million next year in between.
3. Gordon Hayward
Meanwhile, the offer the Jazz matched from the Charlotte Hornets to Hayward pays him $15.4 million this season and $16.1 million in 2016-17 before an identical player option in 2017-18. Barring injury, Hayward will assuredly opt out and command a handsome raise.
4. Rodney Hood
In his second season, Hood has established himself as a starter and valuable secondary playmaker. He tends to score with high efficiency only when his 3-pointers are dropping at a high rate, but even at his overall 36 percent shooting Hood is a bargain over the remainder of his rookie contract.
5. Dante Exum
It's tough to assess Exum's value as he rehabs from a torn ACL suffered playing for the Australian National Team over the summer. His individual stats as a rookie were poor, though the team played far better with Exum at point guard. One way or another, we'll have a clearer sense of his value and role going forward after he returns next season.
6. Trey Lyles
Injuries to Favors and Gobert opened the door for Lyles to start 29 games so far as a rookie, during which he has shot 43.9 percent from 3-point range. Lyles' playmaking and shooting ability are valuable for a power forward, and he should be a capable defender as he adds strength and experience.
7. Alec Burks
With the cap skyrocketing, the $32.5 million Burks is due over the next three seasons is a reasonable sum even if he proves most effective as a source of reserve scoring punch.
Most valuable draft pick
2016 first-rounder
With the Jazz on the ascent, this year might be the team's most valuable pick in the near future. And the other picks the team has -- Golden State's 2017 first-rounder and a protected pick from the Oklahoma City Thunder, likely in 2018 -- don't have much upside.
Toughest contract to trade
Tibor Pleiss
Utah's books are in excellent shape, but the team might have had second thoughts about giving Pleiss a three-year, $9 million deal. The German center has struggled with the transition to the NBA and played sparingly, while minimum-salary pickup Jeff Withey has proven a solid backup to Gobert.
Still, the long-term risk for the Jazz is minimal because just $500,000 of Pleiss' 2017-18 salary is guaranteed, according to BasketballInsiders.com.