Sports
NBA Rumors: Jordan Clarkson, Collin Sexton Among 2024 Jazz Trade Deadline Candidates – Bleacher Report
Amid a 9-16 start to the season, the Utah Jazz reportedly may be willing to part with multiple veteran players ahead of the Feb. 8 trade deadline.
According to NBA insider Marc Stein, rival executives believe the Jazz are open to parting with guards Jordan Clarkson and Collin Sexton, as well as center Kelly Olynyk.
The Jazz are building for the future after trading center Rudy Gobert to the Minnesota Timberwolves and guard Donovan Mitchell to the Cleveland Cavaliers prior to the 2022-23 season in exchange for a bevy of players and draft picks.
While both Gobert and Mitchell led their teams to the playoffs last season, the trades also worked out for the Jazz, as they acquired a ton of draft capital that should aid in their rebuild, along with promising players such as center Walker Kessler and forward Lauri Markkanen, who was an All-Star last season.
If the Jazz intend on building around Kessler, Markkanen and the players they draft in the coming years, it is understandable why they would want to trade some of their more productive veterans.
Clarkson, 31, is Utah’s second-leading scorer this season with 16.6 points per game. He is in the midst of his fifth season with the Jazz and was the 2020-21 NBA Sixth Man of the Year.
Last season, Clarkson set a career-high with 20.8 points per game, which led to him signing a two-year, $28.37 million contract extension.
Clarkson is nursing a hamstring injury that is expected to keep him out for at least two weeks, but essentially every contender could benefit from his offensive punch off the bench once he heals up.
Sexton came to Utah as part of the Mitchell trade, and he was Clarkson’s teammate for parts of two seasons in Cleveland before they reunited with the Jazz.
The 24-year-old Sexton was the No. 8 overall pick in the 2018 NBA draft, and he averaged over 20 points per game in both the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons, although his skill set became somewhat redundant with that of Darius Garland.
Sexton has not had as big of a role in Utah as he did in Cleveland, as he has primarily come off the bench, but like Clarkson, he has big-time potential as a scorer.
He averaged 14.3 points and 2.9 assists per game in 48 contests last season, and so far in 25 games and two starts this season, he is averaging 13.8 points and 3.4 assists per game.
Both Clarkson and Sexton are signed through 2025-26, so any team that trades for them would be getting players who are much more than rentals.
At 32 years old, Olynyk is the Jazz’s oldest player, but he plays a key role in terms of frontcourt depth.
Last season in Olynyk’s first campaign with the Jazz, he averaged 12.5 points, 6.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists in what was one of the most productive years of his career.
Olynyk started all 68 games he appeared in last season, but due to the acquisition of John Collins, he has moved to the bench this season, and his production has dipped because of it.
In 21.4 minutes per game over 23 contests, Olynyk is averaging 7.4 points, 5.9 rebounds and 4.0 assists.
Olynyk is a pending unrestricted free agent, so any team that trades for him would not have to make any type of long-term commitment.
Given that the Jazz primarily have their sights set on the future, trading any of Clarkson, Sexton or Olynyk would be understandable, as it would land them more draft picks and open up even more playing time for younger players like Kessler, Keyonte George, Talen Horton-Tucker, Taylor Hendricks and Ochai Agbaji.
