The New York Knicks’ brand-new acquisition Jordan Clarkson arrives after a six-season spell with the Utah Jazz. The No. 46 pick in the 2014 NBA Draft joined the Knicks on a minimum contract which guarantees him $3.6 million for the upcoming season.
The move, as it happens, came to fruition after a call from his agent Rich Paul while he was attending a Carlos Alcaraz match at Wimbledon. Alcaraz had a strong run at the tournament and eventually lost in the final to World No. 1 Jannik Sinner.
“Where you wanna go?” Paul had asked him while he was attending the match on Centre Court. The response was simple.
“I said, ‘I wanna come to New York,’” Clarkson revealed during his appearance on The Roommates podcast which is hosted by Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart, per the New York Post. This was followed by the Klutch Sports CEO relaying his interest to the franchise.
Clarkson had previously agreed to a buyout with the Jazz, with the franchise looking to build their future around younger players. He signed with the Knicks as an unrestricted free agent, partly because of the arena and the fans.
“The arena [MSG], honestly. Feeling the energy from the fans. Knowing they’re going to let you have it if you’re playing like s**t. But when you’re playing great, it’s all love. At the end of the day, I just want to feel the energy. Get to play with y’all [Brunson and Hart],” he said.
The 2021 Sixth Man of the Year averaged 16.2 points, 3.7 assists and 3.2 rebounds across 37 games last season for the Jazz. He shot almost 50% from the field and had a healthy 36.2% efficiency from the 3-point line on 6.3 attempts per game. Clarkson is not expected to slot into the Knicks' starting five and is likely to be used as an off-the-bench scoring threat.
