The Jazz rebuffed “one or two” trade proposals before the deadline that would have netted them a late first-round pick in return for Marvin Williams, as Chad Ford of ESPN.com writes in his latest Insider-only “Tank Rank” piece. There were apparently other intriguing offers on the table as well, but Utah chose to hang on to the ninth-year veteran in hopes of re-signing him this summer, Ford writes.
No first-round picks changed hands at the deadline for a second straight year, so it seems odd that Williams, who’s averaging just 10.1 points and 5.4 rebounds per game on a team with a 19-36 record, could have netted the Jazz such a return. Williams was the No. 2 overall pick in 2005, but he’s never lived up to his draft position. He’s still just 27 years old, and has canned a career-high 40.1% of his three-point attempts this season, serving as a fairly productive stretch power forward.
Utah will have its own first-round pick plus Golden State’s unprotected first-rounder this year, and the Warriors pick stands a decent chance to become a lottery selection, since the W’s are only two and a half games up on the ninth-place Grizzlies. Utah also has an unprotected first-rounder coming its way from Golden State in 2017, and while the Jazz, who don’t owe any first-rounders, are well-stocked for the draft, it’s surprising that they’d turn down another first-round pick, even if it was destined to fall in the 20s.
wow, someone actually offered a 1st for Williams? He’s having a decent season offensively, but brings nothing to the table on the defensive end.
I claim bs. No one would want to give up any first rounder for him.
I wouldn’t be surprised if the team that made that offer attached an extremely player-friendly contract to the pick. The Jazz showed a willingness to absorb Richard Jefferson and Andris Biedrins this summer in exchange for first-rounders, so perhaps a GM somewhere felt the team would be willing to do so again. That’s just my speculation, of course, but it would help the idea make more sense.
–Chuck
I think it is BS too. He is not worth a first rounder in this draft, and the Jazz are not looking to hold onto him. The only reason he is playing good this year is because his contract is up. Pay him for another four years, and we will see three years of mediocrity followed by one year of effort.
the jazz like marvin and marvin likes being a jazz player. dennis must have felt that resigning him as one of our vets would be more valuable than another pic. I have herd marvin is a good mentor like big al was. losing marvin would have helped out “tank” plan so im surprised dennis let marvin for that combined with a 1st rounder. it eats me up that the lakers will get a lower pic than us.
Yeah notice no team name discussed! I am just puzzled, I guess the truly great teams, do everything truly great, ie Lakers, Knicks, they even know how to tank effectively, Corbin needs to be starting Gobert, Clarke, Evans, and making sure there is always a lineup playing that cannot win, they are in danger of falling into that medium area, that teams never seem to get out of, not bad enough to get a good pick, not good enough to get into the playoffs, I just dont understand any of this, and starting the 2 veterans and giving them so many minutes, bench them, who cares if they dont like it, they arent staying anyways, frustration.