Utah Jazz Trade Deadline Primer 2025

SALT LAKE CITY – The Utah Jazz are less than one week away from the 2025 NBA Trade Deadline, a traditionally busy time of year for Danny Ainge, Justin Zanik, and the team’s front office.

Over the last two seasons, the Jazz have shipped out seven players at the trade deadline, including a blockbuster move in 2023 that saw a core piece in Mike Conley traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for Russell Westbrook’s massive expiring contract.

Related: Jazz Acquire Jalen Hood-Schifino In Luka Doncic Blockbuster

Utah Jazz Trade Deadline, Buyers Or Sellers?

Sitting at 10-36 on the season, the Jazz own the second-worst record in the NBA, and conventional wisdom would imply they’d be sellers at the deadline.

With veterans John Collins, Collin Sexton, Jordan Clarkson, and Svi Mykhailiuk on the roster, the Jazz have a versatile collection of players and expiring contracts that could help contending teams add talent to their roster, or alleviate the financial burden under the NBA’s new collective bargaining agreement.

Related: Jazz Trade Three First-Round Draft Picks To Phoenix Suns

But with Ainge and Zanik running the show, don’t rule out the possibility of bringing talent to Utah ahead of the February 6 deadline.

The Jazz decision-makers have maintained that their primary goal is to get the franchise closer to winning a championship, and they’ll explore every opportunity to improve the roster.

There’s never a bad time to revisit the @utahjazz draft pick tracker to see which selections they have this year, and in upcoming drafts. #TakeNote https://t.co/1MNfXyS537

— KSL Sports (@kslsports) December 4, 2023

Through the first half of the season, the best strategy has been to position themselves for a high draft pick, and with the worst record in the Western Conference, they’ve met that goal.

While the Jazz are positioned to land a high pick in the 2025 draft, they will have no better than a 14 percent chance of picking first overall regardless of how they perform over the final 36 games of the season.

With that in mind, the Jazz could justify adding talent in February to hedge their bets on June’s draft, as long as they don’t significantly alter the number of games they expect to win before April.

Though that may seem like a risky bet, fortune has favored bold moves in the NBA in the past, and could do so again with the Jazz.

In 2017, the Oklahoma City Thunder surprised many when they traded for Indiana Pacers superstar Paul George, who had openly said he preferred to join the Los Angeles Lakers in free agency in 2018.

The Thunder convinced George to re-sign in the summer of 2018 and later used his contract as the central piece in the trade that brought Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and a whopping five first-round draft picks to Oklahoma City.

While there’s no player of George’s caliber expected on the block this year, the Jazz could certainly up their talent level with several names available over the next week.

Make no mistake, the Jazz are more likely to be sellers than buyers, but after being rumored to have kicked the tires on acquiring Kyrie Irving at the 2023 trade deadline, and buying low on John Collins later that summer,  don’t rule out Ainge and Zanik zigging when the league expects them to zag.

What Do Jazz Have To Trade?

The Jazz did lose some flexibility in the trade market earlier this month when they consolidated three first-round picks into one in their trade with the Phoenix Suns.

Though the draft pick they got from Phoenix may be the most valuable asset on the market, the Jazz now have fewer late first-round picks to operate with at the deadline.

Regardless, the Jazz are flush with movable players and draft picks and could piece together nearly any type of trade package imaginable.

Let’s begin by looking at the names most frequently mentioned in trade rumors tied to the Jazz.

John Collins is the most popular name when it comes to the Jazz at the trade deadline. The bouncing forward is having a resurgence in Utah and with no more than one year and $26.5 million left on his deal, Collins is the type of versatile piece that could help solidify a playoff team’s frontcourt ahead of the postseason.

Collins has been closely tied with the Sacramento Kings in rumors, but with the news that All-Star guard De’Aaron Fox has been placed on the trading block, that interest may have lessened.

The forward has a player option for $26.5 million for the 2025-26 season.

we’ve missed ya 20 💜#TakeNote | @jcollins20_ pic.twitter.com/O0L9OCGIex

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) January 31, 2025

Collin Sexton might have the best combination of talent and price tag that the Jazz have to offer, though those two pieces might make it less likely that he gets traded.

Sexton is owed just $19.1 million next season and has quickly become one of the most underrated players in the NBA. Having just turned 26, Sexton is a lights-out shooter, a top-tier competitor, and hasn’t yet reached his prime.

However, the NBA is flush with talented guards, and the Jazz’s asking price should be relatively high based on Sexton’s production-to-cost ratio.

Sexton would provide a boost for any team that traded for him, but the Jazz shouldn’t be anxious to give him away.

the bucket: the bench: pic.twitter.com/A0MqC6uels

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) January 31, 2025

Jordan Clarkson is perhaps the least talked about Jazz veteran at the deadline, largely due to ongoing plantar fasciitis issues that have kept him off the floor.

Clarkson has returned in recent games and still appears capable of adding an offensive spark for any team’s second unit.

The former Sixth Man of the Year is shooting a respectable 35 percent from three on 5.7 attempts per game and would offer depth and playoff experience to every roster in the NBA.

Clarkson has one year and $14 million left on his contract.

‼️𝐉𝐂 𝐃𝐔𝐍𝐊‼️

😏😉 pic.twitter.com/FK5jDeOwPa

— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) January 31, 2025

PJ Tucker was acquired in a minor trade with the Los Angeles Clippers that netted the Jazz a 2030 second-round pick, and whether or not he’s traded by Thursday’s deadline, he’ll never appear in a Jazz uniform.

In Tucker, the Jazz have an $11.5 million expiring contract that they can attempt to move this week for a team looking to shed higher salaries to get below the luxury tax.

Some people might be surprised that the @utahjazz waived Mo Bamba instead of PJ Tucker to complete the Jalen Hood-Schifino trade.

The value in holding onto Tucker this week is that the Jazz can take back as much as $19 million in a trade for Tucker’s $11.5 salary.

— Ben Anderson (@BensHoops) February 2, 2025

Though Tucker is owed only $11.5 million, the Jazz can take back a contract worth as much as $19 million in a deal due to their existing cap space.

While the Jazz can trade Tucker before the deadline, they are unable to aggregate his salary with another Jazz player to make the financial figures match in an outgoing trade.

Svi Mykhailiuk is a certified shooting specialist whose gravity on the court is stronger than his 35 percent three-point success rate would imply.

Mykhailiuk is averaging a career-high 10 points per game in just under 19 minutes, and with a contract of $3.5 million, could fit on most roster in the NBA.

For teams lacking floor spacing, Mykhailiuk might be an attractive option at the deadline.

The guard has three years and $11.5 million left on his contract after this season, but each year is non-guaranteed.

What Will Happen At Trade Deadline?

Unless the Jazz are certain that Collins will opt out of the final year of his contract this summer, they should feel no urgency to make a trade before the deadline if the right deal isn’t presented.

With a litany of future draft picks under their control, nine first and second-year players on the roster already, and a high lottery pick on the way this summer, the Jazz don’t need to make moves to accomplish their goals this season.

I recognize fans always have interest at the trade deadline in making moves, but if the Jazz simply sit out this cycle, and John Collins picks up his player option in June, they’ll have roughly $71 million in expiring deals starting July and running through February 2026.

— Ben Anderson (@BensHoops) January 21, 2025

But, having round Isaiah Collier and Kyle Filipowski in the late first, and early second rounds of the draft, the Jazz might be willing to acquire another low-value pick as long as it doesn’t mean sacrificing long-term financial flexibility.

With less than a week until the February 6 trade deadline, this might be a quieter year for the Jazz than in seasons past. However, with Ainge and Zanik manning the phones, anything is possible.

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Ben Anderson is the Utah Jazz insider for KSL Sports and the co-host of Jake and Ben from 10-12p with Jake Scott on 97.5 The KSL Sports Zone. Find Ben on Twitter at @BensHoops, on Instagram @BensHoops, or on BlueSky. 

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