NBA trade drought is over. According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, Cleveland Cavaliers and Utah Jazz agreed to a deal that will see them swapping guards Jordan Clarkson and Dante Exum. When made official, this will be the first trade in NBA in over five months.
Besides getting Exum, the Cavs will also get picks from Jazz. The first pick is San Antonio Spurs’ second-rounder from 2022, while Utah will also send to Cleveland Golden State Warriors’ second-round pick from 2023.
Utah Jazz is playing hot and cold this season, despite the big expectations they had in the summer when they brought in Mike Conley and Bojan Bogdanovic. With Jordan Clarkson on the roster, the team looks to elevate their bench, hoping the 27-year-old will bring them badly needed scoring.
Clarkson has been averaging 14.6 points, 2.4 rebounds and 2.4 assists per game this season. He is in the final year of his contract that pays him $13.4 million annually.
For Cleveland, the idea was to acquire additional draft assets to aid their rebuild. Dante Exum is a bonus, as he is still considered to be a talented player despite his struggles to justify the fifth overall pick that Jazz used on him in 2014.
Exum has played only 11 games this season, averaging 7.7 minutes per game and having just 2.2 points on average to show for.
