The beauty of being a team that is basically starting from scratch, like the Utah Jazz, is that this phase comes with minimal expectations. With those minimal expectations, there's pretty much no pressure for the Jazz to make moves.
They don't have to trade for any stars, and honestly, they don't have to trade any of their stars because they're already bad with them on the team. That doesn't mean a Lauri Markkanen trade won't happen this summer. It just means there's not too much pressure mounting for them to get rid of him.
However, even if there is no pressure, there's one move the Jazz must avoid coming into next season: keeping Jordan Clarkson.
The Jazz extended Clarkson a few years ago, believing either they would retool and keep him on their next playoff team or that they could reroute him for assets. Whoops on all counts. While it's not like Clarkson has been bad or anything for the last few years, he's looked more and more out of place in Utah.
He's actually quite aware of this, and while he has voiced his love for Utah, he knows that he's better off on a team that could use his skillset. That's not to say anyone has a problem with Clarkson, for the most part. This has been a mutually beneficial partnership, and it would be mutually beneficial for all parties involved if the partnership were to dissolve.
This has been harped on for years at this point, but the reason why the Jazz really should try their best not to run it back with Clarkson next season is that he could get in the way of the development of their young guards like Isaiah Collier and Keyonte George.
Clarkson is still good enough that he should be getting a good amount of minutes, but that just gets in the way of Utah's hopes to see if any of their young guards will evolve into anything. Collier and George are promising in their own way, but they have flaws that need to be ironed out.
Now that Utah knows that the plan is to get younger, part of that plan is also giving their young players the time they need to develop. If Clarkson's still there when the 2025-26 seaon starts, it feels entirely counter-productive.
The upside is that it's easier to trade Clarkson now
For years, the Jazz have tried to trade Clarkson, but what's been problematic is that Clarkson's deal was long enough that teams were turned off by how his deal could affect their cap flexibility.
Now that his deal is set to expire in 2026, it could be a whole lot easier to get him off. Sure, trading him could lead to a player who is worse and/or has a worse deal, but as long as it means their young guards get the playing time they need, it's worth it.
Again, this is the upside of being a team where not much is expected of them. They can afford to make trades like that, and don't really have to worry about cap stuff. Clarkson deserves to have his prime utilized on a team that will need what he does, just like the Jazz deserve to have some time open up to see if their young talent can blossom.
With all that out in the open, it's time to make a deal.