3 Jazz Players Who Shouldn’t Be Traded Amid Recent Winning Stretch

The Utah Jazz continue to find success, now 14-4 across their last 18 games.

Jared Koch | Jan 14, 2024

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Utah Jazz

Leading up to the NBA trade deadline, the Utah Jazz were a team many pegged as a potential seller in hopes of building more towards the future. They have many assets on their roster that could be welcomed by a variety of contenders and potentially add more luster to their already appealing young core and draft stash.

However, with the team recently on a hot streak, lifting them to 9th in the Western Conference, it leads to the question of if going in that direction is the right way to go. The Jazz have won 14 of their last 18 games, jumping just over a .500 record at 21-20. If there was any hope of tanking and bottoming out this season, those dreams are now dead.

The focus for the Jazz has effectively shifted to how this team can get better around the edges rather than another total teardown like some could have expected. Some names previously available or on the market for Utah may have some added hesitancy on a potential deal with fear of disrupting their newfound chemistry.

While we can still expect a deal or two to be enacted by an avid trader like Danny Ainge, it’s difficult to see some of their key contributors get shipped off.

With that, here are three names for the Jazz that should not be traded in the coming weeks:

John Collins

The resurgence of John Collins during Utah’s latest stretch is one that all Jazz fans should be taking note of. After his name swirled around in trade rumors earlier in the season based on a “lack of effort", it seems he has taken those whispers in stride.

His recent shift to starting center has opened up way more versatility on the offensive end and allowed for a much more fluid operation. Given his elite ability around the rim, it makes him a great option in the pick-and-roll and a lob threat when needed. Collins’s ability to step outside and stretch the floor has also provided much-improved spacing in this unit.

Simply, he has been a vital cog in what has made this offense work so well across their recent slate of games. Since returning from injury in mid-December, Collins has averaged 13.0 points, 6.5 rebounds, and 1.1 assists on 54.2/38.9/80.0 splits.

Instead of putting his name on the trade market with his hefty contract that is difficult to move as is, continuing to ride the wave and keep moving forward with what has worked seems like the more logical decision for Collins.

Collin Sexton

While Collin Sexton was seen as a valuable trade piece for the Jazz to utilize before this season started, their recent winning ways should put those talks to rest. The six-year NBA vet might be having his best season yet, finally back to 100% health in Utah.

Since filling his role as a starter, Sexton has been unmatched with the intensity he brings each night while putting the ball in the basket as the team's secondary option. During his 18 games within the first five, he’s averaging 21.5 points, 2.6 rebounds, and 4.8 assists while holding a 14-4 record.

If the Jazz have any intentions to push forward in the Western Conference standings, having Sexton on board is crucial. Sure, while you could get a first-round pick or equal value in return for him, the layer of energy he provides while on an extremely team-friendly contract is borderline invaluable.

As a front office, you should always keep your options open, but it would take a tough offer in order to pry Collin away from Salt Lake City.

Kris Dunn

From getting DNPs to begin the year in Utah, all the way to securing a nightly role as a starter, what a rise it’s been for the 2016 5th-overall pick, Kris Dunn. His ability to defend on the perimeter and facilitate at an efficient rate has been a massive factor in the Jazz’s mid-season turnaround.

Two of the most substantial issues when the Jazz sputtered out of the gates beginning of the season were their perimeter defense and lack of ball security. Turnovers that then turned to easy buckets in transition were the Achilles heel preventing Utah from finding that success on both ends of the floor.

Enter Dunn, and those concerns have started to mend incredibly. While Utah still does lead the league in turnovers per game, the steady improvement we’ve seen from the unit as a whole provides some solid optimism.

The ball is moving better, the defense is working more efficiently, and we’re starting to see more positive games than negative when it comes to those giveaways. Since he’s been a nightly starter, the team has averaged 13.2 turnovers a game, an improvement from their rate of 15.4 on the season.

The impact Dunn brings on both ends is probably unmatched in the trade market. Instead of seeking a deal for him, the focus for the Utah front office should instead be on how to keep him in a Jazz uniform for the long haul.

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Published Jan 14, 2024

JARED KOCH

Jared Koch is the Associate Editor of The Frozen Rope — SI.com's team website covering the Utah Jazz. He's covered the NBA and NFL for the past two years, also being the Managing Editor of Inside The Kings — SI.com's team website covering the Sacramento Kings.