NBA Playoff Breakouts May Impact Jordan Clarkson's Free Agency Value

After a dominant Game 6 win vs. the Golden State Warriors, the Los Angeles Lakers have surpassed numerous expectations to reach the Western Conference Finals. Aside from the greatness we've seen from LeBron James and Anthony Davis, we've seen the emergence of guards like Austin Reaves and Lonnie Walker IV contribute to the most recent Laker wins as well.

Both Reaves and Walker IV are slated to hit the free agency market this upcoming offseason. Reaves is fresh off his undrafted rookie contract, while Walker IV is entering back into the open market one year removed from signing a one-year, $6.1 million deal. You'd have to imagine with this recent Lakers success that these guys could be in for a big payday this summer.

Along with the Lakers, there's also some more playoff standout guards set to hit the open market this offseason: Miami Heat's Gabe Vincent and Max Strus, as well as New York Knicks' Josh Hart have also had some significant impact for their respective teams this offseason.

With this, GMs and front offices around the league have been able to scout these players now playing with all eyes on them on a national level; potentially ready to hand out some money for them to come play for their organization.

However, the more interest and money invested into these hot commodities, the less that Utah Jazz guard Jordan Clarkson will be able to generate for himself. Entering the 2023 summer on a pending player option worth a little over $14m, he will have the opportunity to hit the open market to get paid bigger, long-term deal.

We got a sense of what we'd expect Clarkson to ask for this upcoming summer back in January. Jake Fischer of Yahoo! Sports reported about his desired deal when there was some trade discussions surrounding the Jazz guard around the deadline:

“Jordan Clarkson is not considered a trade candidate at this time, as Utah would like to keep the veteran scorer beyond this season, sources said. The Jazz, though, are prohibited by CBA rules from offering Clarkson a contract extension in his desired range of $20 million of average annual value, and Clarkson appears set to reach unrestricted free agency.”

When you now combine the injuries Clarkson sustained towards the end of the season, his age of 31, along with now potentially younger, higher ceiling players entering the market, it doesn't particularly bode well for his original ask.

The Jazz have more than enough open cap in order to bring back Clarkson if they really wanted. Spotrac projects Utah to have the fourth-most practical cap in the league this summer with $41 million. However, if an opposing team decided to come in and offer a steeper price for him than the Jazz thought he was worth, it may be smarter to instead save the cap space.

Now considering the recent playoff production from guards around the league, maybe we could see Clarkson eventually lower his asking price as free agency goes. With free agency starting on July 30th, we could have a little over a month until we see some traction on a deal involving the former Sixth Man of the Year.

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