Utah Jazz Receive: F Rui Hachimura 

Los Angeles Lakers Receive: G Jordan Clarkson 

In fact, teams trade players for all sorts of good reasons. They also want them back for equally valid ones. 

Sometimes, they’re part of a package that’s landing that team a star. Generally speaking, a team has to part with a handful of good players if they’re getting a star back – if for no other reason than to make the contracts match. 

They may want that player back because, down the line, they fill a role the team needs to be filled. On the other hand, they may simply want them back because they’ve improved significantly in the time they were gone. 

In the case of Clarkson and the Lakers, it’s a little bit of all of the above. The Lakers traded Clarkson, in part, for Isaiah Thomas, who still looked like something of a potential star at the time.

NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Jordan Clarkson, Utah Jazz & Los Angeles Lakers Updates

On the other hand, Clarkson has improved since the Lakers moved him. 

Should the Jazz really trade him back to LA?