At the beginning of the season, the Utah Jazz were expected to be one of the laughingstocks of the NBA. They traded Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert and seemed to be on a collision course for the Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes.
However, all of the pieces they got back in the Mitchell and Gobert trades ended up elevating their success.
Lauri Markkanen turned into an All-Star.
Walker Kessler looks like one of the best defensive big men in the league.
Despite his injuries, Collin Sexton looks like a quality bench piece.
Everybody Utah added to their team this summer made their mark. There are very few players on the team this year that were also on last year’s squad.
Utah still has Jordan Clarkson, a former Sixth Man of the Year winner, Rudy Gay, and Udoka Azubuike. Other than that, the whole team is comprised of first-year Jazz players.
3 Utah Jazz players who improved their trade value in 2023
With how much roster turnover the Jazz had last summer, they might want to keep some consistency this year. However, at the same time, they don’t want to stay stagnant.
Markkanen looks like a bonafide star, and Kessler also seems ready to break out into stardom. Add Sexton, Ochai Agbaji, and Talen Horton-Tucker into the mix, and they have a nice young squad ready to push for the Play-In Tournament.
But adding extra pieces to that core could help propel the Jazz forward. At that point, it would involve trading players who have improved their value, including some of the players lumped into that core.
Here are the three Jazz players who improved their trade value in 2023.
3 Utah Jazz players who improved their trade value in 2023: Jordan Clarkson
Just two seasons removed from winning the Sixth Man of the Year award in 2020-21, Clarkson was thrust into a larger role with the Utah Jazz this season.
With Mitchell, Gobert, Bojan Bogdanovic, and the rest of Utah’s primary scorers gone, Clarkson was left as one of the lone veterans on a team of youngsters.
In the end, Clarkson played roughly five more minutes than he did last season and took over 2.5 more shots per game. He took the same number of threes at around 7.5 per contest.
The impressive part of his statistical variation from season to season is that Clarkson’s efficiency actually improved. He went from shooting 41.9% from the field to 44.4% from the field on higher volume. Clarkson’s three-point percentage also improved from 31.8% to 33.8%.
For a sparkplug scorer off the bench, 33.8% isn’t a great percentage, but it’s still an improvement from his previous year. However, if he accepts his player option, he would be in the final year of his deal, so a team could take a chance on him.
That’s the only qualifier that could take Clarkson out of trade conversations. Clarkson will be free to sign elsewhere if he declines his player option. At the same time, the Jazz could look to move him in a sign-and-trade.
Regardless, he improved his value this season as he took on a larger role in Utah’s offense.
3 Utah Jazz players who improved their trade value in 2023: Kris Dunn
In one of the more unexpected moves of the 2023 season, the Utah Jazz brought veteran guard Kris Dunn on board midway through the year. They inked him to a two-year deal, with the second season being non-guaranteed.
With how well Dunn played, it would be hard to imagine the Jazz letting him walk, as he became a crucial part of their rotation for the 22 games he appeared in.
In those 22 games, Dunn played 25.8 minutes per contest, including three starts. He averaged 13.2 points, 4.5 rebounds, 5.6 assists, and 1.1 steals per game. Dunn shot 53.7% from the field and 47.2% from behind the three-point line.
Throughout the course of his career, Dunn was known as a defensive-minded guard. He has averaged 2.0 steals or more twice in his four full NBA seasons.
However, the biggest question mark when it’s come to Dunn has always been his three-point shot. Over the course of his career, he’s shot it at a 31.0% clip from behind the arc.
Although he only attempted 36 total threes during his time in Utah, the fact that he made 17 of them should be considered serious progress.
With how good his shot looked and the fact that he’s still only 29 years old, Dunn’s trade value is potentially higher than ever.
3 Utah Jazz players who improved their trade value in 2023: Collin Sexton
While Sexton may be viewed as a part of Utah’s core, he also made his case as a top-tier trade piece. Utah inked him to a massive extension this past summer, but that doesn’t mean they couldn’t potentially look to move him.
After playing just 11 games with the Cleveland Cavaliers last year due to a season-ending injury, Sexton missed a large portion of the end of this year, too.
However, as far as proving that he’s still able to contribute at a high level, his season was successful. When he was healthy, Sexton settled into a couple of nice roles with Utah.
Coming off the bench, Sexton showed his abilities as a 40% three-point shooter and a guy who can change the pace of the game upon entry.
Meanwhile, when he acted as a starter, his efficiency dropped a bit, but it was still solid. His scoring improved, his playmaking improved, and he looked comfortable in a larger role within the team.
It would be a pretty big surprise to see the Utah Jazz trade Sexton, who is just 24 years old, after only one year with the team. However, if they wanted to capitalize on his trade value, swapping him for draft picks and/or younger project players could be interesting.