Former Portland Trail Blazers center Jusuf Nurkic is on the move again.
The Charlotte Hornets are trading Nurkic to the Utah Jazz for guard Collin Sexton and a 2031 second-round draft pick, ESPN’s Shams Charania reported.
Hornets acquire a competitive, tough-minded guard in Sexton for their backcourt — while Utah gets frontcourt depth in Nurkic, whom Jazz have liked.
Nurkic, 30, arrived in Charlotte this past February after falling out of the Phoenix Suns’ rotation during his second season with the club. In 26 games with the Hornets, including nine starts, the big man averaged 9.2 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 18.1 minutes per game while shooting 49.7% from the field.
Of course, Nurkic played over six seasons in Portland from 2017 to 2023. The Blazers traded Nurkic to the Suns during the 2023 offseason in the three-team deal with the Milwaukee Bucks that also moved Damian Lillard out of town, while bringing back center Deandre Ayton, forward Toumani Camara and the soon-to-be-moved (then later-returned-in-two-years) Jrue Holiday.
Sexton, 26, averaged 18.4 points, 4.2 assists and 2.7 rebounds per game this past season in Utah through 63 appearances. Sexton started in 61 games and shot 40.6% from behind the 3-point line.