The Utah Jazz continued to be active this offseason as the team traded Bogan Bogdanovic to the Detroit Pistons for Kelly Olynyk and Saben Lee. The trade package really was not anything special and removes the possibility of the Los Angeles Lakers trading Russell Westbrook to Utah before the season.
This was a weird trade for Utah, who did not get any first-round picks in return and added even more players to the roster. The Jazz already had to cut down the roster and this only adds more players to cut, especially after the team signed Cody Zeller this week.
Players will have to be cut/bought out and the Lakers could capitalize. Los Angeles has one more roster spot to utilize and if the right player becomes available, LA could make a move.
Here are 3 Jazz players on the chopping block that the Lakers could sign:
1. Jared Vanderbilt
Perhaps the worst potential option, Jared Vanderbilt is absolutely a candidate to be cut by the Jazz before the season. The young power forward was included in the Rudy Gobert trade and despite his youth, he does not really offer all that much right now to Utah.
The Jazz are very crowded in the frontcourt and the team might opt to cut the player who won’t warrant any type of trade return and cannot really shoot three-pointers.
That is why he is the worst of the potential options for the Lakers. Los Angeles already struggles with three-point shooting and floor spacing and Vanderbilt does nothing to really help that issue. That being said, he would still add depth where it is needed for LA and the team could potentially unlock something in him that was not there before — albeit it won’t be a three-point shot.