Before delving into this season, let the record show that no one on the Utah Jazz has a problem with Jordan Clarkson. He's done everything they've asked of him and has voiced his love for Utah. He even admitted that he wants to take more of a mentor role this season.
The only reason he's showing up in trade proposals is that he'd be better off playing for a playoff team. It's all a matter of who.
It's only fair that the Jazz do right by him and put him on a team that needs him more than they do. Behind the Bucks Pass' Dalton Sell proposed a four-way trade that would put Clarkson on a team that could definitely use him.
He proposed the following trade between the Jazz, Bucks, Grizzlies, and Lakers in which the following would be swapped.
Bucks get: Marcus Smart
Grizzlies get: Clarkson and Jarred Vanderbilt
Lakers get: Brook Lopez
Jazz get: D'Angelo Russell and 2025 Second Round pick via Lakers
"Utah is a team that should be looking to stack as many draft picks as possible. Russell and a pick may not be the most exciting return for Clarkson, but it would give them another draft selection that could be added to their war chest. Russell's contract will also be coming off the books this summer, so they would have more wiggle room financially.
At this point, the Jazz should probably not expect anything particularly good in return for Clarkson. Teams are more careful now about who they trade for because of the ramifications of the salary cap. At best, their ideal trade return is getting an expiring contract like Russell's back so that they have more cap flexibility.
Better yet, in a trade like this, it wouldn't have to take including Walker Kessler to pull it off. For that alone, from the Jazz's side of things, this is a home run.
Grade: A
However, one thing would remain in question.
What would the Jazz do with Russell?
Since the Jazz don't have much use for Clarkson, it goes without saying that the same applies to Russell, if not more so. Because he's on an expiring contract, the Jazz don't have much to lose in cutting him, but that doesn't necessarily mean they have to do that right away.
Since his contract will expire anyway, the Jazz can wait until the trade deadline to see if they can raise his value enough to extract more assets from him. Russell doesn't have much value as a player, but he can score, and teams will get more desperate if their season isn't going as well as they had hoped. Even with Russell's low value, his expiring contract offers cap flexibility on top of what he does.
If the Jazz can get something out of Russell, then by extension, this proposed trade from Sell goes from an A to an A+ on their part. Even if it may not be much.