The Utah Jazz are in an intriguing spot before the NBA trade deadline. Much like last season, Utah is in the Play-In race. They are currently tied with the Los Angeles Lakers for the ninth spot in the West at 24-25 and have outplayed preseason expectations again. But last season, general manager Danny Ainge kept the long view in mind and traded a series of veterans like Mike Conley, Jarred Vanderbilt and Malik Beasley for more draft picks. They could do something similar at the trade deadline this year with Jordan Clarkson.
Clarkson is, has and will always be a bucket. That scoring prowess really began to translate into wins since he arrived in Salt Lake City. But with Utah still in the beginning stages of a rebuild and the Jazz plush with guards like Keyonte George, Kris Dunn and Collin Sexton, it would be prudent to explore the market for Clarkson on an expiring contract. A few teams around the NBA really could use him. A couple stand out more than the rest.
New York Knicks
A great spot for Clarkson could be the New York Knicks. After trading away Immanuel Quickley as part of the deal that brought in OG Anunoby, the Knicks could really use another perimeter shot creator behind Jalen Brunson. To that point: New York has a +1.4 net rating this season when both Brunson and Quickley are not on the floor according to Cleaning the Glass. The Knicks have gotten stellar play from Miles McBride in Quickley's absence, but he is not someone who creates offense regularly.
That is Jordan Clarkson's game in a nutshell. He'd fill all the shoes that Quickley left behind. The Knicks seem to think so as well. They have already had trade talks with the Jazz that could send Quentin Grimes to Salt Lake City.
Potential trade between the Knicks and Jazz:
• Knicks acquire Jordan Clarkson
• Jazz receive Evan Fournier, Quentin Grimes, 2024 first-round pick
There’s mutual interest on a deal with New York reportedly targeting Clarkson and Utah captivated by Grimes and draft picks.
— Jake Weinbach (@JWeinbachNBA) January 26, 2024
Whether those talks come into fruition or not remains to be seen, but the Knicks could use another scorer off the bench. The Jazz have a plethora of guards and would love to add more draft picks to their arsenal. A trade seems to make sense for both sides. This will bear watching.
Minnesota Timberwolves
The Timberwolves already have three former Jazz players on their roster; why not add another one? They acquired Nickeil Alexander-Walker along with Rudy Gobert in that blockbuster trade in the summer of 2022 and added Mike Conley at the trade deadline last year. Jordan Clarkson could make some sense for Minnesota as well. They could stand to add another guard who can ease some of the shot creation burden off of Anthony Edwards.
The Timberwolves have three players on their roster with a usage rate above 20% according to NBA.com. Two of those are big men: Karl-Anthony Towns and Naz Reid. The next guard after Edwards in terms of usage is Shake Milton. Milton is a fine player, but he is not even a regular in the Wolves' rotation. Clarkson would be a upgrade over him.
Minnesota doesn't have many draft picks available to trade. They do not have a first-round pick that they can trade at the moment. However, they do have five second-round picks at their disposal. The Wolves could send a few of those Utah's way and maybe a young player like Leonard Miller or Wendell Moore Jr.. That may not be enough, but Minnesota could really use Clarkson and his skillset. They should try to bring him in.
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