Mar 25, 2023; Sacramento, California, USA; Utah Jazz guard Jordan Clarkson (00) sits on the bench during the fourth quarter against the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-USA TODAY Sports
Trading Jordan Clarkson may not be the worst idea for the Utah Jazz
The Utah Jazz could be on the verge of trading Jordan Clarkson.
The Utah Jazz have a huge season ahead of them. Anchored by Lauri Markkanen and Walker Kessler, the team looks like they could compete for the playoffs. This is something the team was looking like it could pull off last season. For a time they were the top team in the West and that caused a lot of people to think the Jazz may be capable of pulling off the near-impossible; making the playoffs after trading away their two best players.
They very well may have been able to do just that but several more trades later into the season, namely the departure of Jarred Vanderbilt and Mike Conley, doomed those hopes. Now, heading into 2023-2024, that same hope is here. A team just a year after trading two of their best players is once again looking like they could compete for the playoffs.
Yet, more trades may be on the horizon. More trades involving key players, more trades that may hinder the team’s present but could bolster its future. So of all the players, who could it be that gets dealt? We know Kelly Olynyk, Collin Sexton, Kris Dunn, and Talen Horton-Tucker could all be dealt to another team, but could another, less-expected name be moved?
Bleacher Report’s Andy Bailey believes that of all the names that could up their value, it’s Jordan Clarkson, who just signed a new deal with the Utah Jazz. Speaking to Bill Riley on the Bill Riley Show (via Sports Illustrated), Bailey talked about how Clarkson could be on the trade block;
I certainly wouldn’t bet on a Jordan Clarkson trade. Just because I think he’s ingratiated himself so well with the area and the organization, and it seems like the organization loves him, but with Danny Ainge running the team and sort of the phase of the rebuild that they’re in, I think in the back of your head you’ve always got to think about which veterans might play their way into a trade. If a certain guy plays well enough to garner a couple of first-round picks, it would be tough for Ainge to pass that up.
Clarkson is a key cog in the team moving forward this year but it’s not out of the realm of possibility that he could get traded if the right package comes around. He’s not as likely to be traded away as others previously mentioned but with his age, skillset, and contract, he could be seen as someone that a desperate contender would over-pay for.
And while the Jazz have hopes to compete, Clarkson isn’t so talented they can’t part with him if the right package comes across the desks of those in the Utah Jazz’s front office.
