Utah Jazz Searching For Answers After Ingles Injury
Losing Joe Ingles to a torn left ACL is the last thing the Utah Jazz needed right now, especially since they are dealing with injuries to Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell.
The Jazz have lost 11 of their last 13 games and as a result, they are now just 1 game in front of the Dallas Mavericks for the 4-seed in the Western Conference and 1.5 games in front of the Denver Nuggets.
Utah’s freefall down the standings is very concerning and Ingles’ injury could very much force them to make a significant roster change. Prior to the veteran sharpshooter going down, the Jazz were in talks with the Sacramento Kings on a trade revolving around Harrison Barnes, but sources tell NBA Analysis Network that the Kings are no longer interested in continuing trade talks due to Joe Ingles being out for the year.
Who Utah will target now remains a big question mark, but they have not looked like a championship contender this season even with Mitchell and Gobert out on the floor.
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Being $16M over the tax line this season and having no real ways to free up cap space ahead of the NBA trade deadline without breaking down their core group, the Jazz are not left with many options. One thing Utah does have going for them though is the fact that they have a $7.4M TPE that was created when they sent Derrick Favors to the Oklahoma City Thunder in the offseason.
This TPE, along with Joe Ingles’ expiring salary, could be utilized for the Jazz to add some more impactful players at the NBA trade deadline. Orlando’s Terrence Ross and Indiana’s Justin Holiday are potentially two lower-cost options for the Jazz on the perimeter, but Pistons’ Jerami Grant remains a possible trade target for Utah as well.
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Donovan Mitchell, Rudy Gobert and Mike Conley seem like the only players that are safe from being traded on Utah’s roster right now as they continue to try and find ways just to win a game at this point in order to build momentum heading towards the playoffs.
