Is Jordan Clarkson Next on Utah’s Trading Spree?
The roller coaster ride for the Utah Jazz is far from over.
The Jazz endured another first-round exit at the hands of the Luka Doncic-led Dallas Mavericks in the 2022 playoffs. A few months later, Quin Synder resigned as head coach of the team he steered to success during his eight-year tenure but failed to make it past the second round of the playoffs.
Then, the Jazz made the inevitable happen.
They opened the 2022 offseason by trading Rudy Gobert to the Minnesota Timberwolves. Gobert, the three-time Defensive Player of the Year winner, averaged 15.6 points, a league-leading 14.7 rebounds, and 2.7 blocks per game during the 2021-2022 season.
From that point on, Utah was on a trading spree- sending Patrick Beverley to the Los Angeles Lakers. And just last week, the Jazz pulled the trigger on Donovan Mitchell by sending the three-time NBA All-Star to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for a handful of young players, including Collin Sexton plus draft capital.
With Utah set to play their first game of the 2022-2023 offseason on October 2 against the Toronto Raptors, the question remains whether the Mitchell trade is the last offseason move the team would make.
Jordan Clarkson Garners Interest
Jordan Clarkson is now recognized as one of the league’s preeminent scorers off the bench. While he already has 142 starts in his eight-season career thus far, he’s at his best coming off the bench.
He’s also had the rare privilege to play alongside two of the NBA’s greatest players: Kobe Bryant with the Lakers, and LeBron James with the Cavaliers.
Now on his third team, Jordan Clarkson appeared to have embraced his role as the leading scorer off the bench. Out of the 189 regular-season games he played for the Jazz thus far, he only started in four of those games.
He won the Sixth Man of the Year award in 2021- becoming the first Utah player to win the award in franchise history.
Last season, Clarkson averaged 16 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and shot 41.9% from the field. In his lone start last season, he finished with 22 points, five assists, four rebounds, and two steals. Those numbers prove Clarkson could do more as a starter though it remains to be seen whether he’ll actually be used as one.
Those numbers are also the reason why rumours are making the rounds that Jordan Clarkson is garnering interest from a handful of other teams.
What can the Jazz Gain From Trading Clarkson?
At 30 years old, Jordan Clarkson is still in his prime. However, he still has two years left on his current contract with the Jazz and will make 14 million dollars per year. He also has a player option for the 2023-2024 season.
If Clarkson is to be traded alone, Utah shouldn’t be expecting a first-round draft pick in the package. However, putting together a package that has Clarkson plus Bojan Bogdanovic or even Mike Conley should give the Jazz a chance at receiving a first-rounder that could help the team’s rebuilding process.
The Lakers, to nobody’s surprise, are also said to be interested in acquiring Clarkson. However, Jazz CEO of basketball operations Danny Ange might need to play the waiting game on the Lakers and how they will solve the Russell Westbrook mess before even considering trading Clarkson.
One way or another, Utah fans shouldn’t be surprised if another trade is announced prior to October 2nd.
-Iggy Gonzales
Photo: Erik Drost. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.