Jody Genessy at Deseret News is reporting that the Jazz are interested in trading for Garrett Temple. In the wake of Dante Exum’s ACL tear, Temple would help fill in for Exum by giving them a more defensive-minded option at point guard. Current Jazz coach Quin Snyder is familiar with Temple from his time with the Spurs. There have been no reports so far about whether or not the Wizards are interested in dealing Temple.
The case for trading Temple
As has been noted many times here and elsewhere, the Wizard’s current roster is unbalanced. Beal, Porter, Anderson, Neal, Dudley and maybe even Sessions will be ahead of Temple on the SG/SF depth chart. At the same time, we’re one injury to Gortat or Nene away from having a defensive crisis in the post. Even if the Wizards only receive a trade exception in return for Temple, the empty roster spot can be used to acquire another big body to play down low.
The case against trading Temple
Garrett Temple is in many ways the ideal guy minimum to have on the end of the bench: He’s versatile, he works hard, and by all accounts he’s a terrific teammate. He is an above average defender, making him a good player to put in the game for the final seconds of a period to prevent the opposing team from scoring while giving the starters a little extra rest. And a little more on that versatility: The Wizards may be stacked on the wings, but there are only two real point guards on the roster. In the event that either John Wall or Sessions get injured, I’m not convinced that Gary Neal will be a better backup PG than Temple is.
Verdict: Trade Temple if and only if the Wizards know that they can use the trade exception and whatever picks they get to land a backup center who is an OK defender.