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The Utah Jazz are entering a rebuild after trading both Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert, a harsh reality that Jordan Clarkson may find hard to accept if he stays with the team.
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Clarkson admitted as much in his recent interview with Complex, emphasizing that he wants to win and continue playing at the same high level they did over the past few years.
“If I’m here in Utah, I want to win. I want to strive for the playoffs, try to put a team together that could win something. It’s hard to go down from [where we were], bro. We’ve been winning for like three years straight,” Clarkson shared.
“We had the best record in the league two years ago. This last year wasn’t the greatest, but we still finished top four in the West. We had another chance to win a championship and it all got squandered. It gets frustrating, but the sun comes out the next day and you’ve got to figure it out.”
It's not hard to see where Jordan Clarkson is coming from. The Jazz have been consistent playoff contenders in the past six years, with the team finishing within the Top 6 in the West since Clarkson's arrival in 2019. As the 30-year-old mentioned, they even finished at the top of the conference and the league in 2020-21.
However, perhaps Clarkson s overlooking the fact that they have never been to the conference finale, let alone the NBA Finals, despite years of playoff contention. Considering that, it's difficult to blame the Jazz for deciding to blow things up.
Clarkson's future in Utah remains in limbo, though. He has been linked with a potential return to the Los Angeles Lakers, which should be a welcome development for him considering his title aspirations.