Eh I think they would in some circumstances. Depends on the deal: maybe not that one, but I hardly think MPJ is untouchable.
You have to think, he's not old but he's also not super super young (he's 22), so it's not like he's some unknown commodity 18 year old where everyone wonders what he'll be in 3 or 4 years: he's at the end of that 3 or 4 years. That's obviously not to say he can't grow still, he obviously can, but it is to say that you expect a player at this point to be demonstrating the sort of skillset they'll be refining going forwards.
For MPJ, right now that's this:
Pros
- Still relatively young at only 22
- Good shooter, especially for height: 42% this year, although admittedly on fairly low volume.
- Can create his own shot off the dribble. He's a decent cutter as well, and he shoots well off the catch, so he's not required to be on ball which helps with offensive versatility, but the ability to create for himself is valuable.
Cons
- Is legitimately one of the worst big man defenders in the league. Obviously he's young but he moves with extreme stiffness and has a severe lack of fluidity that might never improve. The reason it might next improve is:
- He has a long history of fairly catastrophic injury. Not only did he have to have lower back surgery before making it to the NBA, but he also sat out his rookie year for another back surgery. Two back surgeries by 22 is not a great sign, and it's probably the cause of his serious movement problems on defense. His entire family is made of glass, actually: his brother Jontay tore his right ACL twice before making it to the NBA, and both his sisters retired from sports due to leg injuries.
- Cannot/will not pass. Major decision making issues, very little feel for opportunities for other people. Higher TOV% than AST% this year and 7.9%AST is really really poor anyway.
If someone comes along and offers you a legitimately very good NBA player that you think might be a key piece in you being championship contenders, but asks for MPJ in the deal, is that a dealbreaker for you? It's definitely not for me. He's going to be good, especially as a scorer, but his lack of defense, complete lack of playmaking ability, and dubious health take him off the ''untouchable'' list imo.