The Utah Jazz traded Donovan Mitchell to the Cleveland Cavaliers this week in return for a variety of talent and draft capital.
On the player side of things, Danny Ainge was able to pry away Lauri Markkanen, Ochai Agbaji and Collin Sexton. On the picks front, he walked away with first round picks in 2025, 2027 and 2029, plus two pick swaps in 2026 and 2028.
By any objective measure, it was a nice haul.
Now, with Mitchell and Rudy Gobert gone, the Jazz have several veterans to deal away. One of them is offensive sparkplug and former Sixth Man of the Year, Jordan Clarkson.
At the moment, two teams stand out as potential suitors for Clarkson’s services: the Los Angeles Lakers and Dallas Mavericks.
L.A. is an obvious one because they have already done one deal with the Jazz this summer, and there has been talk of another. Clarkson averaged 16 points per game last season on 32 percent shooting from beyond the arc.
Seeing as the Lakers desperately need offensively-capable players who can spread the floor, Clarkson would fit the bill.
The one fit issue with Clarkson is that he is a porous defender, and Darvin Ham has made it clear that defense will be a priority in 2022-23. In that respect, there is a player out there who would probably be a better fit.
If not the Lakers, the Mavericks would also make a ton of sense. After losing Jalen Brunson to the New York Knicks this summer they need someone who can shoulder some of the offensive burden that Luka Doncic is constantly forced to carry.
Clarkson would be perfect.
The only real impediment here would be what the Jazz determine their asking price to be. If it’s too high, it wouldn’t be all that shocking to see Mark Cuban balk.
In any case, it’s clear now that Clarkson will almost certainly not be a member of the Jazz by the time the next NBA season rolls around.
Who will he ultimately be playing for?
Time will tell.
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