2026 NBA Trade Discussion Thread

[KqWIN]

Funny enough, the two guys who Key has big drop offs in individual (offensive) performance are with Nurk and Svi. Probably has more to do with playing vs starters than those guys tanking his play, but on the other hand it's hard to say Key needs those guys.

 

[fishonjazz]

Key is just good. I predicted he was going to be awesome this year, not because he was going to be playing with nurk and svi (lol) but because he is extremely talented and skilled and confident and had some nba experience under his belt.
Lol at thinking if we lose nurkic then key will suddenly suck or something.

 

[Tremendous Upside]

This is also very interesting because people have partially attributed Nurkic for Keyonte’s breakout.

Not "people", literally Keyonte himself:

“He’s played with high-caliber guards and he’s got them open, he’s made their life a lot easier,” George said. “Nurk just makes the game so easy for me ... he makes the guy that’s guarding me disappear, honestly.“

Here's Hardy:

“Nurk helps us create an advantage in a way that no one else does,” Hardy said. “His screening, his ability to get his teammates open — and I think he’s done a better job of rolling and making himself available, but more than that, his teammates have rewarded him ... But his physicality in general, his screening, rebounding, is unique in our league. Like, he’s in a category almost all by himself, in terms of the way that he can help you create advantage."

Jusuf Nurkić raves about support and opportunity with Utah Jazz

On the court he’s finding ways to guide young players, and help Keyonte George succeed.

www.deseret.com

 

[Tremendous Upside]

Lol at thinking if we lose nurkic then key will suddenly suck or something.

Nice strawman. Nobody has said anything like that.

Still, Nurk has obviously been much more effective than predicted, and that's why the tankers want him gone. They don't want "development", they want us to lose. And playing Flip at 5 would be a straight tanking move.

 

[KqWIN]

Jazz net rating by Center

Minutes / Net Rating

Nurkic: 736 / -7.21
Love: 671 / -11.97
Flip: 297 / +1.96
Kessler: 154 / +4.12
Tshibewe: 15 / -9.68

The biggest tank move is keeping Flip minutes at the 4. He's played 1318 minutes with another big in his career thus far. 16% usage and 56% TS. Without another big he has played 928 minutes with 22% usage and 60% TS. You may not believe in him as a 5, but he's absolutely not a 4.

 

[Tremendous Upside]

Funny enough, the two guys who Key has big drop offs in individual (offensive) performance are with Nurk and Svi.

I don't see a "drop off" in the numbers. I see him playing great with Nurk (mostly against starters, as you yourself said), and then absolutely killing the opposing scrubs no matter who he plays with. That's also what the eye test says.

 

[KqWIN]

Just to follow up on my suspicion about Key with and without Nurk against starters. You can be the judge.

Key's against 4 or 5 starters only:

With Nurk:
Minutes: 323
Usage: 61.24%
TS%: 54.21%
AST/100: 10.03
TOV/100: 5.52
Net Rating: -13.88

Without Nurk:
Minutes: 152
Usage: 28.30%
TS%: 61.24%
AST/100: 10.63
TOV/100: 4.38
Net Rating: 14.41

 

[KqWIN]

I don't think Flip at 5 is that much better or worse than Love or Nurk at 5. All 3 guys are like back end rotation level with some strengths and also some very obvious weaknesses. But there is a big difference between Flip at 5 and Flip at 4. Flip at 4 is a terrible player on both ends.

So if your motivation is to tank, it's more important that you get a bad 5 to play minutes and keep Flip playing some minutes at the 4. Simply replacing Nurk or Love with Flip at 5 would probably make you win more because you're getting a similar caliber of C and no longer a terrible 4. If your motivation is to maximize wins this season, I'd argue that the best way to do that would be to play Flip at 5 exclusively or not at all.

 

[Ferguson_Mellochill]

I could see the Jazz moving off of Brice. He has value as a shooter, but his lack of defense and ball movement doesn't make him compelling. Someone will want him more than the Jazz do down the line, imo.

 

[Thee Jazz Fan]

Why the hell should we deal Nurkic?

Keyonte just said in an interview that Nurk's been essential in enabling him to make his offensive leap. The screening and passing have been elite. This stuff matters.

I'm more sure than ever that tankers simply do not like basketball. I'm not sure what they do like, but it probably has something to do with a feeling of superiority and a desire to control what is essentially a chaotic environment.

Ever hear the term break it down to build it up better how else are the Jazz supposed to get a championship team? Stars don’t come here. You have to build through the draft. Sometimes you have to take. That’s the only way the Jazz get stars is through the draft. Free agents aren’t coming here and we had all these draft picks and couldn’t trade for a star. What the hell is your problem? Why do you even post on here? Why are you even a Jazz fan there’s no rhyme or reason to you except for the fact that you try to puff yourself up and think you’re better than everyone else. Well guess what we’re all fans fans stands for fanatics we want a championship you apparently don’t care about that so get off your damn high horse

 

[HadAnEffectHere]

I really like the idea of a Lauri for Paolo trade, but the Magic's salary structure makes it impossible.

 

[sip]

I really like the idea of a Lauri for Paolo trade, but the Magic's salary structure makes it impossible.

I liked it for a second but then soured on it. I'm not sure if he he's a good fit with Key and I think by next year we will see Ace begin to emerge as more of a ball dominant wing that after a season of being learning and not trying to force things.