The Utah Jazz may look at trade deals with Trey Burke, Derrick Favors or Gordon Hayward after the NBA draft now that the team has selected Dante Exum with the number five overall pick and teams like the Cleveland Cavaliers or LA Clippers could be interested in making the deal, as the Jazz now have a prime young prospect to build around and this comes as Hayward is a restricted free agent.
The Jazz already had Burke after trading for him last season and now Exum will either join up with Burke to form a nice backcourt, or he will take over when the team trades Burke since they play similar positions. According to ESPN.com, the Jazz came into the draft after talking to the Cavaliers about a major package involving Derrick Favors that would have netted the team the number one pick, but the Cavs decided to keep it and take Andrew Wiggins. Utah wanted to move up to number one to take Jabari Parker since he is a Mormon and a great prospect, but he ended up going number two to the Milwaukee Bucks.
Favors is an interesting player to watch the rest of the summer, as he is had a $48 million contract for four years and that is one reason why he could get moved. Hayward is a player the Jazz like a lot, but they are not sure how much to pay him and coupling that with Favors' money makes for some big contracts and the team could be looking to offload some of that. According to SBNation.com, the Jazz may look at trading Burke since he is also a point guard, but they also may keep him since Exum is so young and will need some development. Exum will be 19 this summer and he comes in at 6-foot-6 and 200 lbs and his father played professionally, so he knows what to expect in the NBA.
The Australian player comes in at just 18 years old and while he hasn't played much recently and hasn't had as much experience as other players in this draft, the Jazz saw talent and went after it. He had some solid stats playing at the 2013 Nike Hoops Summit and that is one reason why he was picked so high. Exum had over 15 points in just 20 minutes of play and he was impressive while playing for some of the Australia FIBA teams.
The Jazz have done a good job of clearing salary over the past couple years and they are not locked in past 2015 and that leaves the possibility of signing Hayward. The team was mentioned in trade rumors with the Celtics for Hayward this season after they could not agree on a contract extension and now money could be what decides if he stays or goes. Burke is a very talented payer and now the Jazz also have a major choice to make here, as Exum and Burke both play at the point. Favors had his best season as a pro, playing in over 70 games and he also averaged 13.3 points and 8.7 rebounds per game for the best numbers in his short career and he is looking like a franchise player.