Jordan Clarkson And Utah Jazz Mutually Agree to Part Ways
The Jazz have made a large sum of moves over the last few days.
From drafting Ace Bailey, Walt Clayton Jr and John Tonje to shipping Collin Sexton out to Charlotte in exchange for Jusuf Nurkic.
Utah has showed no signs of slowing down when it comes to prioritizing the newest youth movement.
Throughout today Utah has even been active only hours before free agency ends up tipping off.
For starters, Johnny Juzang has been waived after three years within the organization.
The most impactful transaction of every Jazz move so far this off season also occurred today.
Jordan Clarkson, after 5 and a half seasons in Utah, where he has been the longest tenured player for the Jazz, has finalized a contract buyout with the organization.
Clarkson, now a free agent, is welcome to sign with whoever he so chooses as he seeks out able contenders where his skill set can contribute.
This move isn’t necessarily impactful in terms of on court production as Clarkson only mustered 37 games all last season scoring 16.2 a night with 3.7 assists and 2.3 turnovers for his worst shooting season in terms of pure FG %.
The season before, Clarkson shot his worst three point percentage (29.4%) of his career.
His best days are behind him as a scorer who isn’t necessarily effective and struggles to impact the game outside of points scored.
Even so, on the right team with the right personnel, Clarkson still has something to offer, but his fit with Utah had outlived it’s expectations prior to this buyout.
It’s a good idea for both sides to finally move on, even if it should have transpired years ago.
So why is Utah losing Jordan Clarkson actually bittersweet?
For many Jazz fans, Clarkson is the last remaining piece from a time when the Jazz were one of the best in the NBA.
A time when the Delta Center was full of life and hope and championship expectations, Clarkson was not only a big part of it, but a fan favorite through it all.
When the Jazz were claiming the #1 seed and the best record in the NBA back in the 2020-2021 season, Clarkson was the NBA’s sixth man of the year.
On 18.4 points a night, JC was a sparkplug, a flamethrower if you will where he had 24 games out of 68 played where he had 20 or more points off the Utah bench.
Clarkson only had 4 games that whole season where he failed to deliver at LEAST 10 points.
The Jazz and Jazz fans could count on him for bench production practically every night.
So, for many it’s a sad day to see a fan favorite go who was there during the highest highs and the lowest lows, after all Utah fans embrace those who embrace Utah and Clarkson certainly did.
Jordan finishes his career as a Jazz man averaging 18 points, 3.5 assists, 3.7 boards all while shooting nearly 43 percent from the field and just about 33 % from deep.
He appeared in 263 total games, starting 82 of them.
Jazz fans everywhere are wishing Jordan Clarkson success wherever he ends up and now turn their attention to 4th year center Walker Kessler as the longest tenured player for the Jazz.
More From Sports Radio 97.7
