Shams Charania: Utah Jazz interested in Washington’s Otto Porter Jr

This morning, The Athletic’s NBA insider Shams Charania wrote an article with updates on the upcoming Feb. 7 NBA trade deadline.

Firstly, Charania re-hashed a talking point that most familiar with the current trade market are already aware of: There are almost no sellers at this point.

One of the few possible sellers at this point are the Washington Wizards, who, after losing John Wall to season-ending surgery, may look to move Otto Porter. In this section of his article, Shams dropped the Utah Jazz as one of the teams interested in the 25-year old forward.

Depending on how the next week to two weeks shape up, the Wizards could look more aggressively toward moving Otto Porter. The Utah Jazz have been an interested suitor for Porter, league sources said. Beal has helped lead the Wizards to seven wins in their past 10 games, carrying a squad that lost All-Star John Wall to season-ending heel surgery before the New Year.

The Wizards are 7-4 since Wall decided to undergo surgery and end his season prematurely. His backcourt partner, Bradley Beal, has been averaging 28.5 points, 6.0 assists and 5.4 rebounds in Wall’s absence. Charania noted that he believes “Beal is not going anywhere” based on his sources.

Utah has previously shown interest in Porter. The front office reportedly scheduled a meeting with the 6-foot-8 combo forward after the departure of former Jazz guard/forward Gordon Hayward in the summer of 2017.

This season, Porter is averaging 13.0 points and 5.7 rebounds while playing 42 percent of his minutes at power forward and 53 percent at small forward. Since Wall left the lineup, Porter has averaged 16.8 points and 5.8 rebounds. He has shot 40.3 percent from the 3-point line this season — 47.7 percent since Wall’s injury departure.