Utah Jazz Should Sign Recently Cut Mavericks Forward

The 24th pick in 2023 out of Marquette, Maxence-Prosper was primarily a rotational frontcourt piece for the Mavericks. The 6-foot-8 forward played in 92 regular-season games for the franchise. In those games, he averaged 3.5 points, 2.2 rebounds, and 0.7 assists while shooting 39.6% from the field.

However, in just two seasons, the 23-year-old will now be seeking out a new NBA home– where he'll likely have some decent interest across a few clubs willing to give him that opportunity.

But there's one team in the mix of potential suitors who present a compelling fit for the former Mavericks forward: the Utah Jazz, who should be wasting no time investigating the idea of signing him.

Why the Jazz Make Sense for Olivier Maxence-Prosper

The one aspect of Maxence-Prosper's game that can prove extremely appealing from the perspective of the Jazz is his defensive versatility and upside on that side of the ball.

He's got a strong 6-foot-8 size with a long 7-foot-1 wingspan, making him a physically strong presence as a defender with great length, and able to switch across multiple positions– a type of player the Jazz have been lacking in their rotation as is for the past couple of seasons.

Guys like Cody Williams and Taylor Hendricks were brought in across the past two seasons for such a purpose, but have since seen the start of their careers off to a turbulent start in their respective ways. Maxence-Prosper can be yet another hopeful two-way presence to add to this young roster for little to no investment.

Sure, he may not have worked out in Dallas, but Utah presents a widely different situation.

The Jazz are doubling down on their development, while the Mavericks are doubling down on contending now, even with a number-one pick in Cooper Flagg in the fold. That makes the environment Utah has in store pretty appealing from Maxence-Prosper's perspective, too.

While the Jazz may already have an abundance of budding young players in the mix for next season, eager to get minutes and find an expanded role on the floor following a busy offseason meant to amplify this youth movement, what's the harm in adding another low-risk, high-reward dart throw in Maxence-Prosper? Especially with a defensive-focused skillset, it could be a nice assist to the Jazz's bottom-ranked offense that they've carried out for the past two seasons.

The one hurdle that would prevent the Jazz from bringing in Maxence-Prosper would be roster space, as Utah is currently at 19 players on the team with 16 of those being traditional contracts, meaning they have to cut at least one player before thinking of adding another face to the roster. Though with Kevin Love on the verge of a buyout and KJ Martin on a non-guaranteed contract, those issues can easily be surpassed by this front office.

Simply put, the Jazz would be foolish to not at least check in on what adding Maxence-Prosper may look like. Maybe it doesn't come to fruition in the end, but on paper, the fit looks pretty ideal for both sides.

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