Utah Jazz Receive: G Marcus Smart, BOS 2023 1st Round Pick (Top-8 Protected)
Boston Celtics Receive: G Jordan Clarkson, G Jared Butler
The Utah Jazz are one of the league’s best offensive teams, as they are averaging the second-most points per game on offense this season and rank 1st in the league in offensive rating, but they have been very mediocre on the defensive-end of the floor.
If Donovan Mitchell is expected to be out through the All-Star break with his concussion symptoms, then this team’s chances of getting back on-track are very slim. Just one game separates the Jazz from the Nuggets and Clippers, the 5-seed and 6-seed respectively in the Western Conference, which is why they really need to make some kind of a change.
Jordan Clarkson is not someone the Jazz want to trade, but he may very well be their only real trade asset at this point.
At 29-years-old, Clarkson is one of the better bench scorers in the league and he is exactly the kind of guard the Celtics are going to be looking to target ahead of the deadline.
LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Chances Of Boston Celtics Trading Marcus Smart — Revealed
He won Sixth-Man of the Year last season and so far this season, Clarkson ranks first in the league in bench points scored with 753 points, nearly 100 points in front of Buddy Hield who ranks second at 655 points off-the-bench this season.
The Celtics’ bench ranks 28th in the league in scoring this year and the only way Boston is going to have a chance at winning a playoff series is if they add more scoring talent around Jaylen Brown and Jayson Tatum, assuming they even make the playoffs at this rate!
Giving up Clarkson would be hard for the Jazz to do, yet they would address their need for a high-level defensive stopper on the perimeter.
LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Chances Of Boston Celtics Trading Marcus Smart — Revealed
Swapping Jordan Clarkson for Marcus Smart would decrease Utah’s overall offensive production from their bench and second-unit, but they should be able to become a Top-10, possibly even a Top-5 defensive team again seeing as they have two First Team All-Defensive type players in Smart and Gobert.
Three-point shooting has been a struggle for Smart though, as he has shot just 31.2% from deep this season. Utah’s whole offensive system is predicated on three-point shooting, which could make this trade a little problematic for the Jazz.
