KSL Sports Utah Jazz Insider Ben Anderson Breaks Down Offseason Moves

KSL Sports Utah Jazz Insider Ben Anderson Breaks Down Offseason Moves

All right, let’s continue talking about the Utah Jazz off seasonason with our Utah Jazz insider Ben Anderson. Ben, thanks for hopping on again to talk about the Jazz. It’s been an eventful offseason to say the least, right? Yeah. I mean, they get all these young guys in the draft to add on to the previous two drafts. They’ve got to make room for these guys somehow and so what did they do this week? They went out and made a few moves to clear up some room for them to to play this year. Yeah, it’s hard to imagine this team’s going to be even younger this year than it was last year, but it seems like that’s going to be the case. They had quite a load of veterans in the back court and that’s where they started making these moves and cuts in some instances uh trading Colin Ston to the Charlotte Hornets for Ysef Nerkich and then just straight up waving Jordan Clarkson. They buy him out. They get a little bit of money back in his contract buyout, but he’s going to now sign with the New York Knicks it sounds like and and go play the next step of his career there. But yeah, the Jazz want to clear room in their crowded back court for Isaiah Collier, for Keonte George, for Walter Clayton Jr. who they just drafted. Okay, so let’s talk about a few of these moves. you know, the the Jordan Clarkson move. I don’t know if it was shocking that they bought him out to to help him move on and to clear up space there, but he was a fan favorite here in Utah. He was the last hold over, I guess you could say, from the the Quinn, Donovan, Rudy years. Um, you know, this was the right move for the team, though. I think it’s the right move for both sides in all honesty. You look at Colin, Colin’s going to Charlotte. It’s like it’s not really a winning situation, but he’s in his mid20s. That’s fine. He’s going to get a new contract next year. Jordan Clarkson’s in his early 30s. He’s probably on the later half, second half of his career. So, let him go pick a spot where he wants to play. Let him find his next home instead of saying, “Well, you know, the Wizards, we’re offering a second round pick for you.” It’s like, “No, let’s we’ve taken care of you. You’ve taken care of us. Let’s make sure that this is a happy divorce and everyone can go their own ways and yes, the Jazz benefit by clearing space, but Jordan Clarkson picks an opportunity to go play in Madison Square Garden and play at Mecca. How could you not be happy for him?” Yeah. A chance for him to compete and and maybe find a ring. Okay. So, with this trade that you mentioned, Colin going to Charlotte for Yousef Nerkage. First of all, I guess how would you grade this this trade overall? And was this a good deal for the Jazz? How many Fs can I give? That’s a terrible trade. Yeah, in all honesty, Colin’s a really good player and I know, you know, he was on a losing team in Cleveland and he was on a losing team with the Jazz. I think a lot of that is more circumstantial than it is an issue with Colin not being a winning player. I think he’s going to go and help and I think he’s going to help Charlotte win some games if they’re ready to take that step. But, I think Colin’s a good player. So, you know, the Jazz cleared room. They they basically waved him. They just didn’t have to eat his $19 million salary. Unfortunately, they had to give up a second round pick with it. So, yeah, this is a bad trade in all honesty when you just think about the value of what you hoped Colin Ston would have on the market. And I think the Jazz are a little surprised that they didn’t get more for him. How does Nerkish fit in with with the Jazz? You know, we heard his press conference. He talked about how he had to erase everything he knew about Utah before when he came here. Uh how does he fit in with this new program? He’s less redundant than these guards, you know, so he will have a role and he’ll come in and be a backup and he’s one of the 40 best centers in the NBA. Now, the value of finding a backup center is low. It’s easy to find backup centers. You get a sevenfooter and you come in, especially on a team that’s not expecting to win a whole lot this year, and you can find these types of guys. So, in that sense, the value is he matches Collins salary exactly. He’s expiring, though expiring contracts may not have as much value as they once did. But if you do want to make a deal mid-season and you need to return $19 million to somebody, he does make that and big guys do become invogue at the trade deadline. So there might be a little value there, but the truth is he probably plays out as one year and goes elsewhere. Yeah. Okay. So this really is the youth movement here for the Utah Jazz and it begins right now. Salt Lake City summer league continues through Tuesday and then they’ve got Vegas after that. What do we look forward to with the Jazz in this summer league this year? Yeah, I want to see the second year players. I know everyone’s excited about Ace Bailey. I know everyone’s excited about Walter Clayton and and rightfully so. This is maybe the future of the franchise, but you want to see if Cody Williams has added weight, has gotten better since a rough first year. Uh I want to see if Bryce Sensib is ready to just dominate. You remember last year Kante George only played in Salt Lake City and that’s going to be the same thing for Bryce Sensah. He’s only going to play here, but he’s in his third year now and I think he’s a pretty good player. He should be better than everybody else on the floor pretty clearly. And then I want to see, yeah, how does the rest of the team come together? How do they fit together? And do guys start to play maybe different roles than we saw them in college? It’s just summer league, but there’s still a little bit to get excited. I remember I remember Donovan Mitchell’s summer league. You mentioned Keonte’s time in So like those were moments that got Jazz fans excited. Do you think there would be a moment like that this this year, too? Yeah. You don’t want to blow it up because Yeah. They’re playing against other rookies or guys who aren’t going to make the NBA at all, but you remember back to when the Donovan Mitchells blew up. You remember Darren Williams at the Rocky Mountain Review blowing up and just thinking, “Oh yeah, there’s something here.” That’s what I think you’re looking for this weekend. Okay, awesome. Ben, thanks a lot for joining us these past few weeks talking about Utah Jazz.

KSL Sports Utah Jazz insider joined KSL Sports Live to discuss the team’s offseason moves.