With the rising tension in New Orleans, the Pelicans might be interested in trading Zion Williamson in the offseason if things continue to go poorly. If Williamson actually becomes available, the Utah Jazz should explore the possibility of acquiring him, especially if they falter in the playoffs again.

The young forward has been involved in plenty of speculation about his future. Furthermore, former Pelicans guard JJ Redick recently called him out as a “detached teammate” in response to Williamson not reaching out to CJ McCollum initially after the big trade. Zion has reached out since and has done other damage control, but the speculation will continue.

The Jazz are a strong team once again, but with rumors surrounding their own stars, Danny Ainge could look to shake things up in the near future. Here are two reasons Utah should look into trading for Zion this summer.

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Jazz Zion Williamson Trade Breakdown 

Serious championship contention 

The Jazz are a force to be reckoned with in the Western Conference. They are 38-22 and currently occupy the fourth spot in the West. However, the general feeling is they will falter in the postseason. This is no real knock to the Jazz and their roster, of course, but a recognition of the pure strength other squads have. In reality, Utah is excellent on both ends, yet many will favor the Suns, Warriors, and even Grizzlies when talking about who is coming out of the West. There are other teams as well that could beat them in the playoffs, where the Jazz have been vulnerable and not as dominant as their regular-season selves.

Zion Williamson would help change that.

Right now, the Jazz are reliant on 3-point shooting and the slashing ability of their star, Donovan Mitchell, to get their points. Their offense mostly comes from Mitchell, Bojan Bogdanovic, Rudy Gobert, and Jordan Clarkson. In reality, when it comes to the playoffs, they will need to get more easy points, and all of those usually come from Gobert and his 70.4% field goal shooting this season. Of course, Mitchell will get his, that is without question, but it might be a lot tougher when teams specifically make defensive schemes to close the team down.

With Zion on the roster, the Jazz would be able to rely on his ability to get easy points in the middle. In his only full season for the Pelicans, playing 61 games, Williamson averaged 27 points and shot 61.1% from the field. When a deeper dive is taken into his numbers, we will see that most of his points came from inside the paint. 69.6% of all his shots came from 0-3 feet and he converted on 70.1% of these attempts, according to Basketball Reference. These are easy points that are the preferred choice of all teams when the postseason comes.

It is again worth saying that the Jazz already have a proven scorer in Mitchell, who averaged 36.3 and 32.3 points per contest in his last two playoff runs, respectively. However, having one more player who can be counted on could be the difference between being just a great team and a true championship contender. The Jazz would not have to rely on Bogdanovic or Clarkson getting hot, or on Rudy Gobert getting up more shots and wasting his energy on offense when defense is where he thrives. With Zion Williamson there, the Jazz would have two massive weapons who can get them very easy buckets in the postseason.

Looking beyond this core 

The Jazz have a great core with the aforementioned players, joined by Mike Conley. However, there are aging pieces in that core. Bogdanovic is 32 and Conley is 34, while both Clarkson and Gobert will be 30 in June. Donovan Mitchell is 25 and will need a mate who will be there once he hits his prime. Of course, all the players already mentioned could be there, but they will be older once Mitchell comes into his own. He is great right now, but he should be even better in three to four years, once he is really in his prime.

Zion Williamson is going to be 22 in July and once Mitchell hits his prime, he will be very close to it as well. They could be the dynamic duo that Jazz fans put all their hopes in. Of course, they will be in full support of this squad of players, but as explained above, they might have some limitations when push comes to shove. Just imagining an offense where Mitchell and Williamson dominate the pick-and-roll should make a lot of NBA executives and fans of other teams fear.

Also, with this duo, the Jazz should have absolutely no problems getting free agents to sign there. Playing with two of the top young players in the entire league should be incentive enough to come to Salt Lake City. It is not a huge market, granted, but if the Jazz are able to pull this off, free agents will be looking to join the future best team in the NBA.

The Jazz might not have the capacity, in terms of young players and picks, that some other teams have. However, one thing to consider is that if Zion Williamson really becomes available, he is not being traded for by any team unless they have guarantees he is staying put. Thus, it is logical that offers from teams such as the Thunder or Magic do not have the same weight to Williamson as one from the Jazz might have. They have a great team currently, they have a star to build around in the future, they have a strong organization, and Zion could very well be happy to carry on his career with the Utah Jazz.