NBA Rumors: Why Houston’s Patrick Beverley is a great fit for Utah

5.9. Five point 9 wins. That is what Utah is looking to replace in the offseason to show Gordon Hayward that they are serious about contending. 5.9 wins is what George Hill provided for the Utah Jazz. With George Hill and the Utah Jazz unable to come to an extension last year, the Utah Jazz will enter the offseason a point guard short of a convincing offer to Gordon Hayward. Which is why the Utah Jazz would be wise to trade for Patrick Beverley. The 28 year old point Houston guard provided the Rockets with 5.3 wins.

Let’s talk some moneyball. Let’s simplify replacing George Hill. You are not going to be able to replace his high WS/48 which was .182 WS/48. A player like that is a max player or near max. The Utah Jazz are not going to be able to afford that and afford Hayward. Unluckily for Utah, George Hill only played in 49 games. That only translated to 5.9 wins. They key for Utah is not to take a step back. How does Utah get back to 51 wins? They have to replace those wins at a budget.

Patrick Beverley’s salary for the next two years is $5.5M and $5.0M. That amount combined is less than half of what the Utah Jazz would pay for George Hill for just one season. With the savings the Utah Jazz could add even more wins in free agency or on the trade market.

The salary savings is key as it was just reported that the salary cap this year is not going to be as plentiful as once projected.

The Utah Jazz are going to need every last dime of savings to pull Hayward back in. But beyond the savings let’s look at what Patrick Beverley does on the court.

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Patrick Beverley was on the All-Defensive Team 2013-2014. He’s a pest on the defensive end. He’ll fight through screens making Rudy Gobert’s job in the paint much easier. He matches the Jazz’s slow plodding style. Beverley had a defensive rebounding percentage of 15.9% which allows Utah to have more expediency in transition on offense. Adding to Beverley’s talents on offense is his ability to get steals, averaging 1.5 steals a game. Adding Beverley to a lineup that hosts Ingles & Gobert is guaranteed to frustrate opponents.

On the offensive end, Beverley isn’t going to light it up like George but he’s no slouch. He’ll be able to stretch the floor shooting a respectable 38.2% from the 3 point line. Most of those threes coming from the corner. He also is a great facilitator. He averaged 4.2 assists per game last year and that was with James Harden playing point guard last year.

If the Utah Jazz could create a point guard in lab until Dante Exum is ready to take over as the starter, it would be Patrick Beverley. Beverley available via trade is a godsend for Utah and hopefully they seize the opportunity.