Washington Wizards forward Rui Hachimura (8) in action during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the New York Knicks, Friday, Jan. 13, 2023, in Washington. The Knicks won 112-108.
Nick Wass, AP
The NBA trade deadline is less than a month away — Feb. 9 — and the Utah Jazz are expected by many national observers to be one of the major sellers in the league.
The Jazz are now in eighth place in the Western Conference with win-now teams like the Minnesota Timberwolves, Phoenix Suns and Los Angeles Lakers behind them in the standings.
The Jazz also have a team full of veteran NBA caliber rotation players, many of whom could be the missing piece in a contending team’s run to the title.
Rumors have already begun to fly as to who the Jazz might trade away, but on Wednesday a rumor emerged about a player Utah might actually acquire.
The Athletic’s Shams Charania and Josh Robbins reported that the Washington Wizards have “started trade talks centered on Rui Hachimura,” and the former Gonzaga star has drawn interest from several Western Conference teams.
One of those teams, per Hoops Wire’s Sam Amico, is the Utah Jazz.
Listed at 6-foot-8, 230 pounds, Hachimura is part of a group of Wizards forwards that includes former University of Utah star Kyle Kuzma, Kristaps Porziņģis and recent lottery pick Deni Avdija.
Per Charania and Robbins, “moving Hachimura would reduce a logjam at the forward spots and place the franchise in a better position financially to focus on re-signing Kuzma and potentially re-sign Kristaps Porziņģis in the offseason.”
Hachimura will become a restricted free agent this summer. At 24 years old — Hachimura turns 25 on Feb. 8 — he has yet to fulfill the promise that made him the ninth pick in the 2019 NBA Draft, but has averaged 13.0 points, 5.1 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game in his NBA career (he is in his fourth season).
Hachimura missed 16 games earlier this season because of a bone bruise in his right ankle, but when healthy, “he’s aggressively looked for his own shot off the bench,” Charania and Robbins wrote. “In 24.2 minutes per game, Hachimura is averaging 12.9 points on 49.2 percent shooting. After a slow start with his long-range shooting this season, he has regained his stroke, making 40 percent of his 3-point attempts so far this month.”