Veterans and rebuilding basketball teams—it’s not always the most natural fit. For the Utah Jazz, a team knee-deep into an all-out tank job, discovering the proper role for each player on the depth chart is essential for both player development and creating a strong team culture to build from when the team has (in theory) developed into a championship contender.

The Jazz have struggled to find the proper balance for their roster since blowing up their all-star core of Mitchell and Gobert, with ruins of that era littering the locker room with no real direction. Now, with Utah’s ship veering into the vicious waves of the NBA lottery chase, signing talented veterans can feel like stuffing a square peg into a round hole—even a toddler knows that’s a bad idea.

I present the Jordan Clarkson dilemma. Clarkson is a flamethrower scorer, capable of offensive fireworks at a moment’s notice. With the contending Jazz, he was the perfect sparkplug scorer off the bench for offensive lulls. Now, as the roster is populated with young and developing talent, Clarkson’s value has become somewhat uncertain.

Now 31 years old, Clarkson is a former 6th Man of the Year who averaged 17 points per night during the 2023-24 season. He’s expanded his game with the Jazz—especially in regards to playmaking and rebounding. Don’t you remember when he earned the first triple-double the Jazz have seen in over a decade?

But if he’s such a valuable asset, why hasn’t he been picked up by a serious championship contender ready to go all-in for a title run?

Good question, and one that’s sort of tricky to really stake down as we don’t have a solid answer. My thoughts boil down to a trio of roadblocks (some less easily ignored than others).

Finding Clarkson’s trade value is like a classic game of Pitfall. Obtaining the prize goes deeper than simply going through the motions. Swinging from vines, vaulting bottomless pits, and clearing crocodile-infested ponds, making a Jordan Clarkson Trade is no walk in the park. We have to explore beyond why teams would want to add the scoring machine, and instead shift toward the pitfalls of spending valuable assets on a player with his skill set.

So let’s journey deeper into the jungle of roster manipulation and better understand what may stand in the way for teams hoping to bolster their team into a championship-ready squad.

Obstacle 1: Defensive Disability

It’s no secret that Clarkson brings very little on the defensive end of the floor.

Not that he doesn’t bring effort and hustle to that half of the game—he takes great pride in his performance when taking the court, but one physical aspect of his resume leaves Clarkson at a disadvantage.

To be blunt: he’s small. And unlike Ash from Fantastic Mr. Fox, he doesn’t utilize that attribute much to his advantage. When protecting the basket, Jordan is frequently outmuscled and overpowered by larger opponents. Too small to be a shooting guard, but without the natural point guard repertoire, Clarkson is in positional limbo, and that’s a serious negative for teams that may want to add the Filipino to their active list.

How can a playoff team keep Clarkson on the floor while understanding full well that he’s likely to become the target of the strategy known as the Grayson Allen treatment? If he’s on the floor, attack him on defense!

Defense wins championships. It may be a cliche, but you can’t deny that defense is a vital aspect of championship contention. Any team looking to transplant the flamethrower into their delicate ecosystem may get burned come playoff time, and Clarkson is likely too deep into his career to change who he is.

Obstacle 2: Mo’ Money, Mo’ Problems

In this money-driven age of player empowerment, installing the Jordan Clarkson firmware onto your bench will be an expensive undertaking. After signing a contract extension with Utah last summer, he inked a contract for $55 million from that date until the 2026-27 season.

The good news? For the next two years, Clarkson’s salary will dip to $15 million per year for the next two seasons, a significant discount when taking his $25 million 2023-24 season into account.

A team pushing their chips to the center of the table should be more than willing to add $15 million to their payroll, but is Clarkson available enough to make this premium worth the pain?

Last season, Clarkson was a bit of a hobbled cheerleader—often injured, rarely playing, and only earning time off the bench when he was available. Jordan appeared in 55 games with the Jazz last season, which was his lowest mark since his 2017-18 season in Cleveland.

If he were on a championship contender—think New York or Boston—it’s not hard to imagine Clarkson bragging about his Mark Breen-flavored highlight reel in the same way Nick Kroll celebrated his new hairstyle: “I GOT BANGS!” His scoring ability is phenomenal at his size, and he would bring real value to any team that adds him.

But what you see is what you get, and for some teams, it may not be enough to justify flirting with the aprons of the salary cap.

Obstacle 3: Never Ever Ever Trade With Danny Ainge

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Photo by Chris Gardner/Getty Images

In the ancient lore of the National Basketball Association, a prophecy describes a man capable of creating a masterpiece and destroying a nation in one effortless motion. Capable of trading a washed-up Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce for the Nets’ entire future and trading down from the number one pick just to select the best draft prospect a few spots later.

This man, nay, this myth, is Danny Ainge, and you don’t trade with him.

After building the Boston Celtics’ championship core, the former BYU basketball star turned NBA champion left his comfy position in Boston’s front office in favor of leading a rebuild in Utah. Tearing down the foundation and replacing cherished family heirlooms with draft capital and a new generation of residents, Ainge has taken control of the Jazz and has a stranglehold on any who feel bold enough to engage in trade negotiations.

Ainge ripped 5 first-round picks from the Timberwolves for Rudy Gobert, 3 for Donovan Mitchell, and a plethora (yes, I said a plethora) of young talented players who have become beloved figures across the Salt Lake Valley.

Though his offerings are enticing, trading with Danny Ainge has proven to only lead to pain and heartache down the road, as the players and draft picks that were once your own become players you would do anything to get your hands on.

Never trade with Danny Ainge. Not even for something as innocent as Jordan Clarkson.

Does Clarkson bring value to the Jazz? As a veteran presence in the locker room, young players look up to him and follow his example as they weave their way through the dizzying tapestry of their NBA careers. That’s the whole reason why the Jazz signed aging point guard Patty Mills this offseason—Utah’s roster is full of young players who will need to develop into serious NBA-level contributors if this rebuild will ever be successful.

By all indications, Clarkson loves living in Utah and loves his role with the Jazz—we aren’t likely to see Jordan demand a trade any time soon. How long will it be until Clarkson’s trade value falls, though? As he grows older, league-wide interest will decrease.

He isn’t a one-man wrecking crew capable of carrying the Jazz on his back, so his presence is far from a detriment to Utah’s rebuild. I just can’t help but wonder what his purpose with this Jazz team will be moving forward, and if both parties may be better off if they were to part ways.

For the 2024-25 season, I say keep the phone lines open and listen to every offer that may come your way, but don’t settle for a trade that’s “good enough” (that’s never been the Ainge way, so why start now?). This may be one of the last opportunities to get value in return for Clarkson, but maybe the Jazz are comfortable where they stand.