The Utah Jazz have agreed to trade guard Dante Exum and two second-round picks to the Cleveland Cavaliers for guard Jordan Clarkson, league sources tell ESPN.
The Jazz are hoping that Clarkson can deliver a boost to its bench scoring.
Exum, the No. 5 overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft, has struggled to stay healthy in his career, but has shown glimpses of his elevated draft stock.
The Jazz will send Cleveland a 2022 (via San Antonio) and 2023 (via Golden State) second-round picks, sources said. This was the NBA’s first trade since the Houston-Oklahoma City deal centered on Russell Westbrook and Chris Paul on July 11.
Clarkson arrives with a $13.4 million expiring contract. Exum has two years, $19.2 million left on his contract. The Cavaliers will create a $3.83 million trade exception, which it has one year to use, ESPN front office insider Bobby Marks reports.
The Cavaliers are planning to start uprooting veterans on the roster to gather more draft picks and young assets. Clarkson, 27, is averaging 14.6 points a game this season — including a season-high 33 points on 12 of 27 shooting in Friday’s victory over Memphis.
The Cavaliers are projected to have $28 million-plus in salary cap space for free agency.
Cleveland general manager Koby Altman and Utah general manager Justin Zanik have a strong working relationship, which has included working together on three trades in the past three years. The Jazz acquired Kyle Korver for Alec Burks and two-second round picks in November of 2018, and Utah and Cleveland worked with Sacramento on a three-way deal at the February 2018 trade deadline that included Cleveland traded Jae Crowder for Utah’s Rodney Hood.