It's recently come out that new Utah Jazz center Jusuf Nurkic is out of shape and can barely run, as confirmed by his Bosnian coach yesterday. It's not the end of the world for the Jazz if Nurkic's conditioning remains that way when the season starts, but it does raise one question: why didn't the Jazz just waive Collin Sexton?
No, this is not a shot at Sexton, an excellent basketball player who embraced life as a Jazzman, who everyone in Utah wishes well. However, when the trade was announced, everyone was baffled by what Utah got in the deal. Not only was it only Nurkic, but they also had to give up a second-round pick to get it done. They didn't even save money from the deal.
While that was all baffling by itself, it also confirmed something else: guys like Sexton simply aren't valued all that much by today's NBA. It's why his now ex-teammate, Jordan Clarkson, got waived. There just wasn't a market for Clarkson, and while there technically was for Sexton, by all accounts, it was a negative market.
What was the point of taking someone like Nurkic, then? If that was the best return out there, and the Jazz had to attach something with Sexton to get the deal done, why not waive Sexton and keep that second-rounder instead? No one's losing sleep over a second-round pick, but trading the better player and a draft asset feels all sorts of wrong.
It made all the sense in the world for the Jazz to get rid of Sexton primarily because they wanted to take the training wheels off their young guards. It wouldn't have looked good on their part to waive Sexton, but it would have been better than the situation they have now put themselves in with Nurkic instead.
Will Nurkic last the season in Utah?
It's not like acquiring Nurkic is all bad, but it's not exactly great either. With him in the twilight of his career, he likely won't take minutes away from their other big men who will want minutes. His contract is also set to expire, which may explain why they preferred him over potentially better players on the table who were on longer-term deals.
Even though all indications are that Nurkic will be on the team come opening night, he also seems like a prime candidate to be waived on the buyout market. If Clarkson couldn't find a trade market, then it's hard to see how Nurkic, a worse player who's declining, could mid-season.
Luckily, there's no pressure on Utah, so it's not like swapping Sexton for Nurkic will have any major implications for the team now or in the long term. Still, the way this went down, how it's somehow aged poorly despite how little time has passed, and how it could all end just feels highly off-putting even if it will mean nothing in the end.