The Utah Jazz reportedly have explored a sign-and-trade deal that would send guard Mike Conley to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for guard Collin Sexton.
Sexton, who is a restricted free agent, missed the majority of the 2021-22 season with a torn meniscus.
“Like the [Houston] Rockets before them, the Jazz remain engaged in various trade conversations to retool around [Donovan] Mitchell,” Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer wrote. “Utah has explored a sign-and-trade scenario that would send veteran point guard Mike Conley to Cleveland in exchange for restricted free agent Collin Sexton, sources said. The Cavaliers wouldn’t appear to have a need for an additional point guard, and it seems unlikely that Conley would be the returning player Cleveland would prioritize if talks ever gained legitimate traction.”
Conley, 34, doesn’t exactly fit the timeline of the Cavs’ current young core, and he is coming off of one of the worst seasons of his career in the 2021-22 campaign.
He averaged 13.7 points (his fewest since the 2011-12 season), 3.0 rebounds and 5.3 assists per game while shooting 43.5 percent from the field and 40.8 percent from beyond the arc.
While he still is an efficient player, the aging Conley is owed over $22 million in the 2022-23 season and has his contract partially guaranteed for the following season.
Sexton, who the Cavs drafted with the No. 8 overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, averaged 16.0 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.1 assists in 28.7 minutes per game last season before tearing his meniscus.
The Cavs could still use his scoring ability as part of their young core. Sexton’s best season came in the 2020-21 campaign, as he averaged 24.3 points, 3.1 rebounds, 4.4 assists and 1.0 steal per game while shooting 47.5 percent from the field and 37.1 percent from beyond the arc.
