Utah Jazz fans know all about NBA conspiracy theories. From "MJ pushed off" to Karl Malone sandbagging Utah in the franchise's most important game to the Jazz's infamously bad lottery history, the fans have some justified skepticism about the system. Here's another newer (and lesser) theory: the Jazz traded Collin Sexton for Jusuf Nurkic because they knew Walker Kessler was at risk of bowing out early.
As everyone knows, Utah was tenaciously lambasted for making that trade when it was announced. Many wondered why the Jazz would make that trade when Sexton was considered the better player just entering his prime, while Nurkic was considered the lesser player, very much falling out of his prime.
However, the trade would suddenly make a lot more sense if the Jazz were aware of Kessler's gimpy shoulder in advance and wanted to address it before it became a problem. From the horse's mouth, Kessler had admitted that his shoulder had been troublesome before he had even entered the NBA, so if Utah was aware of this, they knew they needed to get a placeholder in case missing games were on the table.
Nurkic isn't better than Kessler. Let's not even delude ourselves on that front, but as far as filling in as the Jazz's starting center, they could have done a lot worse. One could argue now that the Jazz were trying to hit two birds with one stone: get rid of a veteran who didn't fit the timeline and have Kessler's replacement on the roster if and when his hurt shoulder couldn't be ignored any longer.
Not many saw Nurkic having as big a role as he's had with the Jazz this season, as no one knew Kessler's body wasn't 100%. Because he's been thrust into the starting center spot, suddenly, the move now makes sense and makes a lot more if they knew they needed a temporary replacement for Kessler.
The one flaw in this theory
Like any conspiracy theory, there are holes to poke in this Kessler-Nurkic notion. The biggest one is, if the Jazz were aware ahead of time that Kessler could miss the majority of the season to repair his shoulder, then why did they trade John Collins?
Collins was coming off an excellent season with Utah and was traded after Sexton was. Trading Collins, a big man, while knowing Kessler may have had to undergo season-ending surgery, doesn't make much sense. He and Nurkic are apples and oranges as big men, but Collins is the better long-term option between the two of them. Here's the one flawed explanation for it.
The Jazz had already signaled to Collins that he wasn't in their plans way before they sent him to the Clippers. They had a trade lined up to send him to Sacramento before De'Aaron Fox's trade request stopped it. After going through their most blatant tankjob, they had already confirmed to Collins that his days as a Jazzman were numbered before it was even over.
Plus, trading Collins gave them a big trade exception and saved them a lot of money, which is what the Jazz wanted to give them options. Because Nurkic is the lesser player, he also could have made it easier for Utah to tank again. That's a passable explanation, but it's clearly quite flawed.
All in all, this conspiracy theory has some degree of believability, but it would also breed some skepticism. The