Interpreting Jordan Clarkson's Curious Remarks About His Future
Jordan Clarkson has a big decision to make. After spending the last four seasons with the Utah Jazz, Clarkson is on the brink of becoming a free agent.
The former Sixth Man of the Year reportedly rejected a contract extension Utah offered mid-season, which implies that he plans to decline his player option and hit the open waters of unrestricted free agency. Or is that his intention?
In Clarkson's end-of-season press conference, it was the first direct question he was asked as he held court with local media for what could be the last time as a Jazzman.
"I don't know," Clarkson said on April 11. "Just kind of think that we'll all sit down—[agent] Rich [Paul] and my family and stuff and figure out what the best decision is for me. But that's probably where it ends for me on the comment because I kind of wasn't even thinking about that—looking at that throughout the whole year. So just a conversation we'll end up having, and figure it all out."
Not a lot to be gleaned from Clarkson's remarks, but cut him some slack. The season had ended just two days prior. I believe that he hadn't put much thought into the subject yet.
But Clarkson has sunk some roots in Utah, which could help this summer, depending on how interested he is in sticking around on a new contract, and whether the Jazz front office feels spurned by him rejecting its extension a few months back.
"It's been amazing," Clarkson said of Utah. "Since I got here, the first day, it was kind of just eye-opening, just because of not knowing much about Utah and the organization, the team, how people are. It's been amazing. A great time for me and my family. It's a place that we definitely call home. My brother lives out here now. My parents love coming back here every time, visiting, and stay for a while. It's just been great. All love."
Although his season ended with a whimper due to a finger injury, Clarkson started the 2022-23 campaign off with a bang. He finished with career highs in points (20.8 ppg) and assists (4.4). He saw 32.6 minutes per game on average, which also was a career-high.
First-year head coach Will Hardy relied on Clarkson out of the gates, making him a starter and leaning on him heavily in end-of-game sequences when the chips were down. Clarkson elevated his game to meet the new expectation.
"I think this year I just fell into the role of being a leader, being able to lead us to wins. Finishing games," Clarkson said. "I've worked hard and been put in those positions and stuff but this year was kind of like, I really could do that. Finishing games late at the end, making decisions. When Mike [Conley] ended up getting traded, I was in those positions to kind of put us into plays and just figuring games out. That was all growing for me, especially making plays for my teammates, and seeing the different defenses teams were throwing. I think in terms of that, I've proved a lot to myself, too, and just proved it to the game."
After Clarkson's injury, which coincided with Collin Sexton's hamstring issue, the Jazz turned to Talen Horton-Tucker and rookie Ochai Agbaji as their starting backcourt, and it was a combination that definitely bore some fruit. Those two young players gained valuable minutes in meaningful games and even Clarkson recognizes that.
"Look at guys— Collin, Ochai, Walker [Kessler] coming back next year, all these guys have played in meaningful games," Clarkson said. "I don't think any of these minutes have been wasted. I think they've all grown as players."
Interpreting Clarkson's tone, he sounded like a man who understands what the immediate future holds for his young teammates, but genuinely, not for him. To be frank, it doesn't appear he's leaning toward returning to the Jazz.
Utah GM Justin Zanik could alter that view by blowing Clarkson's hair back with an offer he couldn't refuse, but while the front-office czar was complimentary of Clarkson in his end-of-season presser, he was as non-committal as it gets.
"If he's a free agent, then, obviously, we love Jordan," Zanik said on April 11. "And he's contributed so much to this year and during his entire tenure here. But being a free agent—if he is a free agent—then he has a chance to go look at other places and look at the market and hopefully, we'll be one of them as well."
The Jazz would love to have every good player back but at times, the team brass has to be pragmatic. Clarkson is coming off a career year, but he's also 30 years old now, so the odds of Utah paying him big-market money are slim. There's a reason he turned down Utah's offer.
Time will tell what the Basketball Gods have in store for Clarkson. But as fans await a resolution on the subject, for now, take some comfort in reflecting on all his contributions to Jazz Nation over the past four years.
Follow Inside The Jazz on Facebook and Twitter.
Subscribe on YouTube for breaking Jazz news videos and live-stream podcasts!
