Trade No. 3
Finally, a trade that makes sense. In this trade, the Utah Jazz offer up Collin Sexton and a 2024 first-round pick from Minnesota to get back 24-year-old point guard Anfernee Simons. A trade that makes the Jazz better and gives them an obvious starter for the team. Simons isn’t a perfect point guard, he usually averages just four assists per game at his apex, but may away from Damian Lillard and as a team’s primary ball-handler, he can raise that figure.
Simmons’ near 39% shooting from three-point is also a huge bonus, as the league relies more and more on the deep ball, the Jazz have to keep up, and getting a shooter like Simmons will help. There’s just one problem.
"Jazz get: Anfernee Simons Trail Blazers get: Collin Sexton (2024 first-round pick via MIN)"
The Trail Blazers won’t make this move. They’re not going to trade away a potential All-Star for Sexton and a potential late-first-round draft pick next season. Simmons is a viable 20-point-per-game scorer and giving him up for relatively little isn’t exactly a great thing.
Sure, Sexton fits better next to Scott Henderson offensively, but it’s not like he’s Klay Thompson, a large-body shooting guard with great defense. They’re both 6’2 and have a similar style of scoring the ball. The big difference however is that Sexton can play off-ball and seems to do just fine with that. Simmons is a pure point guard and plays better as the team’s point guard.
If the Blazers are down, let’s do it.