Utah Jazz Would Be Crazy To Keep Trey Burke Over 2016 Offseason

By Dave Daniels

Trey Burke had a great career with the Michigan Wolverines, but he was never cut out for the NBA. The Utah Jazz found a solid point guard last season in Shelvin Mack, and they’ll need to move on from Burke as a result.

Mack was traded midseason to Utah from the Atlanta Hawks, and he averaged a fantastic 12.7 points and 5.3 assists per game during the time with his new team. But Burke is still on his rookie contract, and so the Jazz must make a trade to get him off the roster. The Detroit Pistons could be a good fit for him, because he’s already used to playing basketball in Michigan. It might even be the best thing for him.

The Jazz certainly have a lot of decisions to make, but they have a bright future. Gordon Hayward and Rudy Gobert have both proven themselves as NBA players, and they have shown chemistry together on the defensive end of the floor. But “The Stifle Tower” needs a point guard who can space the floor, and Burke isn’t that man. He can facilitate an offense, but he isn’t the type of player who can score over 15 points per game and shoot from deep range. He only shot 34.4 percent from 3-point land this season, and he’ll need to immensely improve his game for any hope of continuing his career in Utah.

The Jazz should’ve made the playoffs based on the effort they put forward, but this year things just shook out in a different way. They’re in a stellar position, because they have a lottery pick and plenty of cap room, but it would be nice to add a quality player via trade as well. Putting Burke into the exchange could help that happen.

He is going to be a career backup, and he’ll never be happy in that role with the Jazz. If he was behind someone like Kyrie Irving, then that would be a different story. Burke could still make something out of his basketball career, but it just won’t be with the Jazz.

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