No RoCo: Why the Jazz Won’t Be Major Trade Players For Now

Covington to Utah? For reasons our newest writer explains, the Jazz won’t be active trade players in the short term. (Photo: gleague.nba.com)

NBA news slows to a trickle in August, the quietest point of the year for the league. There are still nearly two months before opening night for the NBA and the eyes of the basketball world have turned to the FIBA World Cup, especially the men’s tournament which kicks off this Saturday. When news is slow, rumors inevitably arise, like some recent Jazz-related trade conjecture.

A Bleacher Report columnist recently suggested the Jazz should try to trade for Timberwolves wing Robert Covington, and that suggestion then evolved into a rumor that the Jazz were actually pursuing a trade.

Much to the chagrin of anybody eager for more NBA news, the Jazz are almost certainly not trying to trade for Covington right now, and the main reason is all of that offseason excitement from July. The Jazz (like many other NBA teams) just don’t have very much they can offer in trades after all of their offseason signings.

Under the current collective bargaining agreement, NBA teams cannot trade players who they sign as free agents until at least December 15 of the current NBA season. That means that eight Jazz players cannot be traded right now: Bojan Bogdanovic, Ed Davis, Jeff Green, Emmanuel Mudiay, Nigel Williams-Goss, Stanton Kidd, William Howard and Miye Oni are all ineligible to be traded¹

That leaves just eight trade eligible players on the roster, three of whom are completely off the table in any non-blockbuster trades. Rudy Gobert, Mike Conley and Donovan Mitchell aren’t going anywhere.

After those three, process of elimination leaves only five Jazzmen who are even trade-eligible before December 15: Joe Ingles, Dante Exum, Royce O’Neale, Georges Niang and Tony Bradley.  O’Neale, Niang and Bradley are all on track to make less then $2 million in the upcoming season, leaving just Ingles and Exum as trade-eligible pieces in the right salary range.

Since both the Jazz and the Timberwolves would need to complete such a trade operating above the salary cap, player salaries would need to roughly match for a deal to occur under CBA rules.  O’Neale, Niang and Bradley make so little that their combined salaries are not enough to acquire Covington’s $11.3M contract. So, any pre-December trade for Covington (or any other player who makes more than $9.3M this year) would have to include one of the Jazz’s Aussies.

While Ingles probably isn’t untouchable in trade discussions, he is obviously a highly valued member of the team and its culture. He is and has been one of the most important players on this team. After helping lead Australia to a major upset victory over Team USA just a few days ago, I think it is safe to say that Ingles isn’t getting traded either.

So that leaves Exum as the only trade-eligible player who earns enough salary to be involved in this particular trade. And signs point to Exum sticking around for now.

During the trade discussions when Utah expressed interest in Conley at the February 2019 trade deadline, it was reported that Exum was highly valued by the Jazz and would not be involved in any trade for Conley. There were even reports that the refusal to include Exum in any trade package may have been the reason the trade was not consummated at that time, only to be resurrected in the June talks that ultimately landed Conley in Utah.

Whether you agree with the front office’s valuation or not, the team was apparently unwilling to trade Exum for Conley, and that means they’re probably not willing to trade him for Covington, a valuable role player with defensive chops and shooting, but certainly less of an overall asset than Conley. Plus, even if the Jazz were willing to trade Exum for Covington, the Timberwolves would have to value him highly enough to be willing to make the trade too.

For better or worse, the Jazz roster after they make their training camp cuts is probably going to be the same as the Jazz roster through at least December 15.