9. The sign-and-trade candidates: Jordan Clarkson, Rudy Gay, Talen Horton-Tucker
There are three players on the Utah Jazz roster who will have to make decisions about their futures in free agency. Jordan Clarkson, Rudy Gay, and Talen Horton-Tucker each have player options for next season. While they could each return to the team, I find that unlikely. Especially considering that the Jazz is in the very early stages of a rebuild. In the event that any one of these players wanted to play elsewhere, the Jazz could work a sign-and-trade.
While that doesn’t equate to great trade value, it could be worth it for the Jazz if they could add another draft asset (which is generally the case when it comes to sign-and-trade deals in the NBA). The big, or main, trade asset here for the Jazz is Clarkson. If he wants to play for a contender that may not have cap space, a sign-and-trade is probably the best way to get a deal done.
And that’s where Utah can take advantage. Again, the Jazz isn’t likely to clean up with any sign-and-trade deal, but even adding a second-round pick or two for a player that was probably leaving anyway is a huge win.