NBA Trade Rumors: Jazz Must Keep Devin Harris Through Season

If there is one word you can't use to describe the Utah Jazz it's: boring, followed closely by sensible. The franchise, still reeling from the departures of stars like Carlos Boozer and Deron Williams, is at it again. 

It just doesn't make a lot of sense. 

According to Marc Stein of ESPN, the Jazz are willing to unload Devin Harris.

This would make sense under a few circumstances. Unfortunately, none of those apply to the Jazz.

The Jazz are not a non-contending team looking to unload veteran talent for draft picks, or to clear cap space. At least they better not be.

The Jazz are 9-5, which has them in the fifth spot in the Western Conference. They are also only two-and-a-half games back of the Thunder for first place in the Northwest Division. In a 66-game season, they are well on their way to postseason play.

Utah is also not a team that has depth in the backcourt, that needs to bolster their paint presence. Actually, it's quite the opposite. Take a look at the current numbers of the Jazz's starting frontcourt.

	Age	PPG	RPG	BGP	APG
Gordon Hayward - SF	21	8.7	2.8	0.7	3.1
Paul Millsap - PF	26	15.9	8.7	0.7	1.9
Al Jefferson - C	27	18.3	9.2	1.6	1.6

In the backcourt, you have Harris and Raja Bell. The numbers there aren't so favorable.

	Age	PPG	RPG	BPG	APG
Devin Harris	28	8.1	1.4	0.4	4.6
Raja Bell	35	5.2	1.5	0.1	1.4

Harris is by far the best perimeter player on the team, and the best weapon to get the ball to those strong players on the inside. Trading your starting point guard is not a traditional success model for a contending team. 

Unless there's some talk out there that I am unaware of, that would have Deron Williams return to Utah, Harris is the best option for this team moving forward. At fewer than four points a game, Earl Watson is not a good enough option to step in immediately and make the Jazz better. 

If they are going to show a willingness to move him; that can't come until after the season. At the very least, they have to keep him until the trade deadline. If the Jazz fall and are out of contention at the deadline, then it would make sense to revisit this possibility. But until then, this can't be anything more than a rumor. 

What the Jazz are doing now is working. They can't afford to unload such a key player unless it would immediately improve the team. 

That option isn't out there, so Harris needs to be retained in Utah for the foreseeable future. 

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