With the re-signing of Jordan Clarkson, the Utah Jazz have bought back their core from last season, giving them a good shot at a deep playoff run.
The Utah Jazz re-signed Jordan Clarkson to a four year, $52 million deal after making several moves to make sure this was possible. The Jazz jettisoned Tony Bradley and Ed Davis in two separate moves to save $8.4 million which was enough to get the deal done.
The news broke per Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN at the same time as the news broke that the Jazz had solidified their frontcourt with the signing of Derrick Favors. The Jazz ticked off their free agency checklist very early.
Clarkson came over to the Jazz via trade, he gave the Jazz a reliable scoring option off the bench. He played 42 games averaging 15.6 points, 2.8 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 0.7 steals in 24.7 minutes per game.
Clarkson’s efficiency was crucial for the Utah Jazz
The only player that Clarkson cost the Jazz was Dante Exum. While Exum was a terrific ball-handler, he was not a good shooter. In fact, he struggled to get any consistent playing time during his time with the franchise.
Clarkson came in and from game two in a Jazz uniform, he was producing at an impressive level. In the first 10 games, Clarkson had five games of 16 or more points off the bench. In his first 12 games, he only failed to get to double figures twice.
The Jazz won the first ten games that Clarkson played in. In fact, they went 14-1 in his first 15 games with the franchise. They would end up going 26-16 with Clarkson in the squad which gave them a 44-28 record, good for sixth in the Western Conference.
Where Clarkson is an upgrade over Exum is that his shooting required a defender to respect him, so that they can’t cheat off his to help on the likes of Donovan Mitchell, Bojan Bogdanovic, Mike Conley, or Joe Ingles. This allows them to provide a more efficient offense for the Jazz.
Clarkson averaged the third-highest points per game on the Jazz squad last season. He was only behind Mitchell and Bogdanovic who both averaged more than 20 points per game. This was a big reason the Jazz needed to re-sign him.
Traditionally the Jazz have always had trouble scoring, preferring to rely on their defense so they can score more than their opposition, With Clarkson on the team, this is changing. They averaged 111.3 points per game which was good enough for 18th in the NBA last season.
Last season was the most efficient shooting by the Jazz from the floor since the 2008-09 season. It was the best that they had shot from deep ever. This was made possible by the Jazz having four players average 15 points per game or more.
With the shortened break between seasons, it is going to be incredibly important for any team hoping to compete in the playoffs that they are able to hit the ground running. Having early chemistry could impact whether you get home court-seeding in the playoffs.
By getting Clarkson back the Jazz returns their core from last season which means they are able to indeed hit the ground running. They should be able to move up to the highest seeds some of the teams above them will certainly be sliding down the standings.