Charlotte Hornets: Utah Jazz players to target in free agency

As a part of our ongoing series detailing which players the Charlotte Hornets should target during free agency, our attention shifts to the Utah Jazz. The Jazz finished with a 49-33 record, which earned them a 5th-place finish in the Western Conference. On the back of two All-Star players, Utah had a down year compared to their 2020-21 campaign, as they were defeated by the Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the playoffs in six games.

With a stalling core of Rudy Gobert, Donovan Mitchell, and Mike Conley all under contract for the future, Utah is expected to make quite a few moves this summer. Although reports have surfaced that Gobert, Mitchell, or both may be on the move, nothing has happened at the moment, so this will simply cover Utah’s free agents.

With no player or team options on their roster, the Jazz will have a pretty straightforward 2022 offseason. The restricted contracts of Eric Paschall and Trent Forrest could get matched. While Paschall and Forrest are NBA-caliber players, they were not a large part of Utah’s rotation this season. If they receive large contracts elsewhere, Utah will probably let them walk. Charlotte could look at Paschall as a solid wing/big hybrid, which is a need on the Hornets’ current roster.

As for the unrestricted free agents, Hassan Whiteside and Danuel House are the only prospects on Utah’s roster. House should not be considered in Charlotte due to his lack of impact on the rotation, but Whiteside could provide incredible value as a defensive, rebound-oriented, low-usage big man. Whiteside could slide into the starting lineup if another big-name center does not venture to Charlotte, and he could be a temporary solution to Charlotte’s center problem.

While it would be nice to snag a player like Gobert from the Jazz, Whiteside may have to do. He will be 33 at the start of next season, which means he would have to come over on a cheap, non-long-term deal, but Charlotte could definitely do worse on the open market.