Trade grades: Can Collin Sexton help the Hornets get more creative on offense?
The wheeling and dealing before free agency even begins is not over. A day before free agency officially opens, the Utah Jazz and Charlotte Hornets have reportedly agreed to a trade. The Jazz are sending guard Collin Sexton and a future second-round pick to the Hornets in exchange for veteran big man Jusuf Nurkić. Tony Jones confirmed the report.
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The deal was first reported by ESPN.
This is an interesting trade for both sides as they add needed depth at key positions, although it may lead to further trades or additions for either team. Let's examine it for the Jazz and Hornets before busting out the red pen and slapping some grades on this trade:
One reason behind the Hornets' surprisingly mediocre offense last season was it being too reliant on LaMelo Ball. Players like 22-year-old Brandon Miller and Miles Bridges could run plenty of action, but the Hornets were fairly predictable in needing Ball to get things started. Entering this summer, getting another guard to initiate offense was a priority for the Hornets, especially after trading Terry Rozier in January of 2024. This trade accomplishes that. While Sexton isn't a straight-up lead guard, he has enough ability to initiate offense even alongside Ball to give head coach Charles Lee more options.
Now, the Hornets can comfortably play Ball and Miller off-ball to begin offensive possessions, and utilize them on the move or have them attack off closeouts when Sexton forces the defense to collapse and recover. Sexton, who was part of the trade that sent Donovan Mitchell to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2022, struggled during his first season in Utah. However, his last two seasons saw him find more of the groove you expect from him on the court. Over that span, he averaged 18.6 points and 4.6 assists with 48.4/39.9/86.2 shooting splits in 27.2 minutes per game. Those are incredible individual numbers, and replicating that kind of production next to Ball and Miller could provide the boost the Hornets' 29th-ranked offense needs.
The offense suffered with Ball missing so much time (he was absent from 35 games), but it would have ranked only 21st in the NBA with his on-court offensive rating. So, this deal signals an improvement, but not enough for the Hornets to be truly competitive. The concern becomes how this team defends with Sexton and Ball in the backcourt together. Also, what are the Hornets going to do with their big-man rotation? The Hornets took 6-foot-7 Kon Knueppel with the fourth pick in last week's draft and traded 7-footer Mark Williams on draft night for a first-round selection that ended up being Liam McNeeley (29th overall), a wing out of UConn.
Twenty-three-year-old Moussa Diabate, Grant Williams (26) and 19-year-old Tidjane Salaun (drafted sixth overall last year) are their sole big men currently under contract, and they're not really centers who can protect the rim. The Hornets clearly aren't done filling out this roster and rotation. Nurkić wasn't exactly a short-term or long-term solution at center in the first place. Sexton is an expiring contract next season, so we'll see if the Hornets treat this as a rental or can figure out a long-term agreement with him.
Grade: B
This is a little curious to me as a move for the Jazz. Technically, they could use a veteran backup center. And while Nurkić is no longer an effective starting big in the slightest, the Jazz don't need that with Walker Kessler employed. Nurkić struggled in a backup role with the Hornets after being traded by the Phoenix Suns before the deadline, but so did everybody on Charlotte. The team was worse with him off the floor than in his 18 minutes a game of playing. In a bit more structured of an environment sans blatant tanking, maybe he can be more effective in that backup role.
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The Jazz also have a frontcourt of Kessler, John Collins (who picked up his $26.5 million player option), Lauri Markkanen, Kyle Filipowski and Taylor Hendricks, who can play plenty at power forward when healthy. There isn't a lot of room there for Nurkić to play there, but this team also isn't exactly shooting for the postseason. The Jazz should have their eyes on potential No. 1 pick AJ Dybantsa in the 2026 NBA Draft, as they still desperately search for a franchise guy to be the future of their team. They might already have drafted one in this year's fifth overall pick, Ace Bailey, but having two centerpiece options in Bailey and Dybantsa would be even better.
Like Sexton, Nurkić is also an expiring contract. It just feels like Sexton is a more valuable player or option for a team looking to win than what the Jazz received back for him. Obviously, the trade market dictated differently, but it doesn't feel like the Jazz received much value here. This will free up shots and scoring opportunities for Bailey right away, but I'm not sure the Jazz are going to just hand him the ball to do as he pleases. Next season, they're going to provide way more structure until they lean hard into the tanking push. They'll try to establish some kind of two-man game and system with him and Markkanen.
Nurkić comes in as a fun, solid veteran voice in the locker room to help out. He's just not a rim protector, and he's not a totally reliable offensive option. He does still pass the ball really well and can rebound. That will help in his minutes off the bench. I'm just a little surprised this savvy front office didn't get more for Sexton.
Grade: C+
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