Utah Jazz projected starting lineup after Russell Westbrook trade

Utah finally leaned into the long-awaited tank, trading for Russell Westbrook and picks. What is the new Jazz projected starting lineup?

This was supposed to be a season of trades and subtle tanking for the Utah Jazz but an unexpected hot streak to start the season threw off the timeline. It may have taken longer than expected but the Jazz finally arrived where everyone thought they would — jumping into a three-team trade that sent out Mike Conley (to Minnesota), Malik Beasley and Jarred Vanderbilt (to the Lakers), returning Russell Westbrook and a future first-round pick.

The assumption is that the Jazz will try to negotiate a buyout with Westbrook and let him hop to a playoff team like the Heat or Bulls. If he does depart the Jazz may be lacking a traditional point guard but they still have an interesting group of players to finish the season with.

Jazz projected starting lineup

• Guard — Jordan Clarkson
• Guard — Collin Sexton
• Forward — Lauri Markkanen
• Forward — Kelly Olynyk
• Center — Walker Kessler
• Bench — Rudy Gay, Talen Horton-Tucker, Ochai Agbaji, Nickeil Alexander-Walker

The Jazz are likely going to be playing very big for the rest of the season with Lauri Markkanen, Kelly Olynyk and rookie Walker Kessler together in the starting lineup. They could look for an inexpensive fill-in point guard but rolling with Clarkson and Sexton still gives them plenty of backcourt scoring and playmaking and they aren’t exactly trying to win games, remember?

From the bench, there is an opportunity to give some more minutes to rookie Ochai Agbaji and other bit players to see if anyone is up for taking on a larger role in the future.

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