The Utah Jazz are currently 9th in the playoff race, good enough for the third Play-In spot, and are just a couple of games back of being the sixth seed. The Utah Jazz have two All-Star caliber players in Lauri Markkanen and Collin Sexton, two great defensive pieces in Walker Kessler and Kris Dunn, a developing three-and-D type player in Simone Fontecchio, a good all-around big off the bench in Kelly Olynyk and a solid bench scorer in Jordan Clarkson.
They are not a team to be trifled with. They've been on an ungodly tear over the last 19 games, and have the best NBA record since Christmas. Yet, despite all that, the Utah Jazz front office has not closed the book on making trades. According to rumors, Olynyk and Clarkson are on the table to be traded still.
It should be noted that the Jazz aren't calling teams about them, but are getting calls about them. The Jazz just aren't saying no. Now, on paper trading them isn't the worst thing in the world. A talent swap would be fine, assuming whoever you get from them is worth bringing in. Even going a bit younger, but keeping winning as a focus is fine
What can't happen is trading both men for just draft capital. Draft picks in basketball, maybe more than any sport, are vastly overrated. So many first-round picks fail, and there's never a guarantee that you're getting a future star or even a reliable bench player. Relying solely on the draft is just as silly as relying solely on free agency or the G-League.
Clarkson and Olynyk both make sense to keep, and both make sense to move, neither is a bad idea, but the intention behind the move matters. If this is just to clear up playing time for Taylor Hendricks or Keyonte George, don't make that move. Neither man has been overly spectacular this season to warrant a belief that you can win with them playing heavy minutes.
We already saw the Jazz get better when George's minutes got restricted, and Hendricks wasn't able to take anyone's minutes in camp, so why would we think that playing these two will help this team win this year?