The Utah Jazz swapping Collin Sexton (and a second-round pick) for Jusuf Nurkic was immediately called a disaster. Sexton's trade value may have been low, but he is unquestionably the better player, and last we heard about Nurkic, it was not good. Because of that, the best way Utah could look good from this is if the team buys out the Bosnian center.
For more context, Bleacher Report's Dan Favale predicted that the Sexton-for-Nurkic swap will be looked at as one of the offseason's worst moves for reasons that have already been explained to death by now. However, he also added how the Jazz could possibly salvage the situation.
"The only way Utah comes out of this ahead, or looking remotely sensible, is if the big man eventually gives back more money than Sexton would have in a buyout—or if, for some reason, this was the cost of convincing the Charlotte Hornets not to draft Bailey," Favale wrote.
Nurkic makes a whole lot more sense as a buyout candidate than Sexton would have for obvious reasons. He's not the player he was, and he definitely does not fit the Jazz's long-term vision. The funny thing is that Nurkic will make more than Sexton does, meaning that the Jazz added to their payroll in a deal like this.
However, if Nurkic gives back money in a potential buyout, that actually does make more sense than buying out the much more talented Sexton. The notion of buying out Sexton instead, since he makes less than Nurkic, has been brought up, but teams would have lined up for him once he cleared waivers, and everyone would have laughed at the Jazz for the move.
Even if Nurkic costs more, and that's not by much, shedding some money while also opening up a roster spot would help this trade make a little more sense for Utah. Plus, the intention of trading Sexton was to open up time for the Jazz's young guards on the roster, so no matter how they did it, mission accomplished.
It wouldn't excuse forking over a second-round pick though
The incentive to trading Sexton and potentially saving money in a Nurkic buyout would make this trade easier to digest. However, what everyone will always come back to is the fact that they traded a second-round pick too.
It's a second-round pick, so odds are the Hornets aren't getting the next Nikola Jokic from it, but it will still feel even more like an overpay when Utah also gave away the best player in the deal on top of that. It wasn't too costly in the end for the Jazz, but fans will still roll their eyes when this trade is mentioned.