The Charlotte Hornets are trading center Jusuf Nurkic to Utah Jazz for guard Collin Sexton and a second-round draft pick in 2031, ESPN’s Shams Charania reports.
With Sexton, the Hornets add another perimeter scorer to a roster that already features LaMelo Ball, Brandon Miller and newly drafted forward Kon Knueppel, whom they selected out of Duke with the No. 4 pick in last week’s draft. Sexton projects to come off the bench behind Ball and Miller and provide the Hornets with a secondary playmaker to the oft-injured Ball.
The trade will leave Charlotte thin in the post after the Hornets traded center Mark Williams to the Phoenix Suns on draft night. The deal could open a path to minutes for second-round rookie center Ryan Kalkbrenner, who was drafted last week with the No. 34 pick.
Collin Sexton is joining the Hornets for his third NBA stop after playing for the Jazz and Cavaliers. (Matt Krohn/Getty Images)
(Matt Krohn via Getty Images)
Nurkic joins a Jazz team that features rising fourth-year pro Walker Kessler as its starting center. Nurkic played just 26 games in Charlotte after arriving to the Hornets prior to the in-season trade deadline from the Suns.
Sexton, 26, averaged 18.4 points and 4.2 assists last season while shooting 48% from the floor and 40.6% from 3-point distance in 63 games, including 61 starts. Nurkic averaged 8.9 points and 7.8 rebounds per game while shooting 47.7% from the floor and 30.5% from 3 in 51 games with the Hornets and Suns, 32 of which were starts.
Both players are playing on expiring contracts. Sexton is due $19 million in 2025-26 and will become a free agent the following offseason without a new deal. Nurkic is due $19.4 million on the final season of his contract.
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