The Utah Jazz just added a guard from the Lakers deal, and it changes the calculus of their rebuild in a big way. Utah agreed to bring in Collin Sexton as part of the Walker Kessler trade fallout, and the guard now becomes a central piece of what happens next in Salt Lake City.
Sexton is 27 years old. He was the eighth overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft. He has averaged 20 points a game for stretches of his career. He can score at will when the offense runs through him. Utah gets a legitimate scoring guard in his prime.
The Kessler trade was the headline. The Lakers wanted a rim protector. Utah wanted picks and cap flexibility. Both sides got what they wanted. Sexton was the throw-in to make the money work, but he is a real player who could start on 20 teams in this league.
Here is what Utah is doing. They are stockpiling assets. They traded Kessler for picks. They now have Sexton as a scoring guard. They still have Lauri Markkanen locked up long-term. The rebuild is not a total teardown. It is a smart, patient reload.
Sexton in Utah works because the Jazz have a coaching staff that can maximize scoring guards. Will Hardy has developed players like Keyonte George and Isaiah Collier over the last few years. Adding Sexton to that room is going to make everyone better.
The concerns with Sexton have always been the defense and the shot selection. He is not a plus defender. He can chuck shots when the game gets tight. But he has grown as a passer over the last two seasons in Utah’s system, and his three-point shooting has improved to a respectable 39 percent.
What does this mean for the future? Utah likely tries to package Sexton along with other assets in a bigger deal down the road. He has one year left on his contract. He is a valuable trade chip for a team looking to add scoring at the deadline.
The Markkanen situation is also worth watching. The Finnish forward is 28 and in his prime. He wants to compete. He does not want to be part of a full teardown rebuild. Adding Sexton signals to Markkanen that Utah is trying to stay competitive while also collecting future assets.
The Western Conference is brutal. Every team is loaded. Utah is not going to be a playoff threat next year even with Sexton in the lineup. But they can be a fun, competitive team that develops young talent and plays hard every night.
The other implication is what this does for the Lakers. Los Angeles gave up Sexton and picks to get Kessler. That is a lot of ammo for a defensive-minded center. But when LeBron James, Reaves, and Luka Doncic are your offensive engine, you need a Kessler-type player at the center spot to make it work.
Utah’s front office has been aggressive this summer. Danny Ainge is not sitting still. He is moving pieces, collecting picks, and setting up the next window of contention. This is what a good rebuild looks like when there is a plan.
Sexton fits perfectly into that plan. He is either a valuable scorer for the current roster or a trade chip that returns even more assets. Either way, Utah wins. That is smart asset management.
The financial side is also favorable. Sexton makes about $19 million next year. That is fine for what he provides. If Utah moves him at the deadline, they can eat the salary or use it to match a bigger contract in a trade. The flexibility is there.
Utah fans have been through a lot. The Donovan Mitchell trade started this rebuild. The Rudy Gobert deal continued it. The Kessler trade might be the last major sale of the veteran era. Now the team is building around Markkanen, Sexton, and the young lottery picks.
Keyonte George gets to play alongside a proven scorer now. That should accelerate his development. Isaiah Collier gets to learn from Sexton on how to be aggressive off the ball. The young roster suddenly has a mentor at the guard spot.
My prediction: Utah surprises some people this year. They will not make the playoffs, but they will win 35 games and be a competitive team most nights. Sexton drops 25 a game. Markkanen makes an All-Star push. The rebuild takes shape. The next window opens sooner than people think.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
