Keyonte George. Johnny Juzang. Isaiah Collier.
The trio of young Jazz guards combined for 51 points in Utah’s 42-point win over Portland on Friday. All aged 23 or younger, this trio has seen their minutes spike since Jordan Clarkson started missing games due to plantar fasciitis.
Clarkson, the former 6th Man of The Year, has long occupied the role of microwave bench scorer. Taking a page out of Lou Williams‘ playbook, Clarkson is a shoot-to-get-hot, shoot-to-stay-hot player who can change the game in a matter of minutes if he catches heat.
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This skillset especially bodes well for a contending team that needs a scoring punch off the bench. But the 5-18 Jazz are anything but a contending team.
Why trade him?
According to Michael Scotto, “With Keyonte George starting full-time this season, executives are monitoring [Collin] Sexton and Clarkson’s availability for potential backcourt depth.”
Clarkson is the type of player who needs the ball in his hands to be effective. As a team looking to develop its young talent, he’s not the ideal veteran to play alongside rookies and sophomores.
It’s not that Clarkson is obstructing the Jazz’s tanking attempt— Cooper Flagg is still well within reach. Rather, if your goal is to lose games, why not do so while discovering what young guard talent you are really working with? And if Clarkson is on the court, it will be much harder to evaluate guys like Collier, Juzang, and Brice Sensabaugh.
Jordan Clarkson is 32 and only has one year left on his contract after this season. With the myriad of injuries around the league this season, some teams in win-now mode are actively looking for a bench scorer. Additionally, Clarkson has a plug-and-play skillset. You can put him on just about any bench in the league and get immediate offensive production.
Potential suitors
Let’s take a team like the Nuggets, Pelicans, or Magic, which have struggled with injuries, depth, or both. There’s certainly a world in which one of these teams bites on a deal that sends Clarkson for a young, unproven player and some second-round draft compensation.
What Utah gets in return is relatively unimportant. What is important, however, is giving the young guards on this roster a chance to show what they’re made of.
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