Uncertain about his future with the Jazz, Jordan Clarkson muses over his Utah legacy.
This summer, the seasoned shooting guard will turn 32, and a competing team might be a better fit for him.
You could tell as the disappointing Utah Jazz 2023–24 season came to an end that Jordan Clarkson had given serious consideration to the possibility that this was his final game wearing a Jazz uniform.
“I try not to look too far ahead; tomorrow is tomorrow,” he remarked in the last few days of the campaign. However, I adore this company, this state, and this city. I enjoy playing for everyone on this team, including [head coach] Will Hardy. It simply is what it is if it is the last.
This summer, Clarkson will turn 32, making him the oldest player still playing for the Jazz by two years. Not only is he the only player remaining from the Donovan Mitchell/Rudy Gobert era, but he also has the longest contract on the team by three years. Because of this—as well as the scoring runs that made him one of the NBA’s most potent sixth men—the native of San Antonio may be the most adored player by Jazz fans at the moment.
However, Clarkson’s age and length of service with the Jazz also somewhat preclude him from remaining with the group. For the second year in a row, the Jazz decided to put younger players ahead of veterans in the final stretch of the season.
Clarkson was listed out of the final 16 games for the Jazz due to a groin injury, which bothered him a little but may have allowed him to play through.
He is therefore right to be concerned about his future, especially considering how much he cares for his current team.
“I love playing for his organization,” Clarkson remarked, mentioning specifically general manager Justin Zanik, CEO Danny Ainge, and team owner Ryan Smith. “Those are people I consider to be family.” I was able to call the state of Utah home, and I had a great time living here.
Notwithstanding the use of the past tense above, Clarkson is still, theoretically, a Jazzman, and there’s still a chance he ends up in Utah the following season. There have been rumors that the Jazz traded Clarkson during the previous two deadlines, and he stated that this year he believed there was a good, even probable, chance he would be dealt to the New York Knicks. Rather than leaving Clarkson in Utah to contemplate his future, New York acquired fellow scoring guard Alec Burks and his former teammate Bojan Bogdanovic through trade.
Finding a fit in the trade market has been the front office’s biggest challenge. As a thirty-year-old veteran, Clarkson is best suited for a contending team. However, those teams find it challenging to trade for him due to his salary ($23 million in 2023–2024 before dropping to $14 million in each of the following two seasons); typically, strong teams with players in that salary range prefer to keep them. Additionally, they frequently lack the kind of assets that the Jazz desire.
In addition, his on-court performance this season was, to put it mildly, lackluster. It was Clarkson’s lowest effective field goal percentage ever. In the same statistic, he was the second-worst NBA player playing meaningful minutes. Teams that sign Clarkson will be hoping that he can continue to be the shooter that he proved to be during his four seasons in Utah.
Having said that, as Clarkson’s game has developed and he looks to set up teammates more than ever before, his passing has reached much greater heights.
This was the most plays I’ve ever had to write. Because of the way the team was playing and the way Will had changed things, I had to kind of get off the ball a lot this year,” Clarkson said. For the first time this season, he averaged five assists per game.
The head coach of the Jazz, Mike Hardy, stated that continuing to hone Clarkson’s playmaking ability is his top priority for this offseason.
Over the past two years, Jordan’s playwriting has improved, and I believe that it will need to continue to do so because we need more playwrights. More players who are passing the ball early are needed, according to Hardy. He continued by mentioning the Jazz’s 37-point victory over Dallas on New Year’s Day, in
Clarkson recorded his first triple-double for the Jazz in 14 years in that game, along with 33 points and 10 rebounds.
That was a more than respectable way to go out if it was his final truly brilliant moment wearing a Jazz uniform. When asked about his legacy in Utah, Clarkson gave a different response, even though that is likely how he will be remembered.
“Not to put too fine points on Thurl, but best sixth man to wear a Jazz uniform ever,” the speaker alludesd to Thurl Bailey, a former sixth man and Jazz broadcaster.
“Just a legacy of showing love, embracing people, this community,” Clarkson went on. My legacy, in my opinion, is simply being a loving person and then coming off the bench to win the sixth man of
