All-Star forward Jaren Jackson Jr. has been traded to the Utah Jazz in what will be an eight-player, multiple-pick deal with the Grizzlies that results in former Florida Gator and 2025 NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player Walter Clayton Jr. and former UCF forward Taylor Hendricks also heading to Memphis.
Utah is also sending Georges Niang and Kyle Anderson and three future first-round picks to the Grizzlies.
Jackson, Jock Landale, John Konchar and Vince Williams Jr. will be going to Utah with Jackson Jr.
In the offseason, Memphis previously had traded guard Desmond Bane to the Orlando Magic for multiple draft picks and a pick swap. He apparently was the first shoe to drop.
Memphis has been engaged in talks about trading star guard Ja Morant as well. For now, the Grizzlies decided to part with Jackson, a former defensive player of the year.
Jackson averaged 19.2 points and 5.8 rebounds per game this season for Memphis, the team that drafted him No. 4 overall in 2018. He was a two-time All-Star for the Grizzlies, the 2023 defensive player of the year, a two-time blocked shot champion and a three-time all-defensive team pick.
Of the four Utah players moving to Memphis in the deal, none averaged more than 7.1 points per game this season. Niang has yet to play because of injury; he was with the Atlanta Hawks last season, got traded to the Boston Celtics in July and then sent to Utah in August.
Clayton Jr. was selected No. 18 overall by the Jazz in the 2025 NBA Draft. Hendricks, picked No. 9 overall in the 2023 draft, was in his third season with the Jazz, but he missed all but three games last season after fracturing his right fibula and dislocating his ankle.
Spectrum Sports Staff, Associated Press
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