The Utah Jazz made some major moves this offseason trading away NBA All-Stars Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell. They are heading into what could be a lengthy rebuild as they also parted ways with Royce O’Neale, Bojan Bogdanovic and traded Patrick Beverley, who was acquired in the Gobert blockbuster.
Utah very well may not be done making deals. There are several other veterans on the roster that they could look to trade for long-term assets, one of them being Jordan Clarkson.
The Sixth Man of the Year award winner from the 2020-21 season is a prime trade candidate. He no longer fits the team’s timeline as he is 30 and likely heading toward free agency in 2023 as he possesses a player option for the 2023-24 season.
There have been some rumors floating around that the Jazz would like to extend Clarkson and the feeling is mutual as Clarkson loves Utah. Could that just be posturing from the organization as they are waiting for a deal they like more to be presented to them?
LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Jordan Clarkson, Utah Jazz & Toronto Raptors Updates
There is certainly a possibility that this is the case. Plenty of teams would love to add Clarkson to their roster. One team that he would be a fit for is the Toronto Raptors. Zach Buckley of Bleacher Report put together a hypothetical deal that would result in Clarkson heading north of the border.
Buckley proposed a package of Khem Birch, Malachi Flynn, D.J. Wilson and a 2023 first-round pick that is top-10 protected, heading to Utah in exchange for Clarkson. For the Jazz, they are adding another draft pick to their treasure trove of draft assets. Flynn was a first-round pick in the 2020 NBA Draft and could be seen as a long-term building block with more opportunities to play in Salt Lake City than he did in Toronto.
Clarkson has some holes in his game, as he isn’t the greatest distributor and is a so-so 3-point shooter. However, what he does well is exactly what the Raptors rotation is lacking as he is a proven scorer coming off the bench.
LATEST NBA NEWS & TRADE RUMORS: Jordan Clarkson, Utah Jazz & Toronto Raptors Updates
Toronto didn’t have anyone on their second unit average double-figure points per game. In fact, they were dead last in the NBA in bench scoring during the 2021-22 season. Scoring in double figures is something that Clarkson has accomplished every season of his career. Since his first two seasons in the NBA, almost all of that has come off the bench.
There aren’t many players that are better than Clarkson in the sixth-man role. For a team that has such a good starting lineup, bolstering the second unit behind them is a necessity so that they do not get burned out.
