NO glare from the starrier, bigger-market teams could pry Jordan Clarkson away from the Utah Jazz.
In an interview with Utah-based reporters, the Filipino-American combo guard explained his decision to stay with the Jazz and sign a four-year $52-million contract extension.
Asked by Eric Walden of The Salt Lake Tribune about picking the Jazz despite opportunities from “glamour markets,” Clarkson cited the team’s strong bond under coach Quin Snyder and the same direction they’re looking at convinced him.
“Just the relationships with everybody,” Clarkson said. “The guys, they’ve been great. The relationship with coach, and overall, just the fit, and the city has been great to me as well. Just comfortable, peace of mind, and everybody just having the same goal of winning and growing together.
“I feel like that’s where it all came for me and wanting to continue to grow here, continue to do great things in Utah with this team,” he added. “Definitely didn’t want to leave these guys. It’s crazy how fast I connected with these guys and this group. It’s been great for me and I just didn’t want to lose that.”
Indeed. After joining the Jazz last December in a trade with the Cleveland Cavaliers for Dante Exum and two second-round picks, the 28-year-old playmaker wasted no time to jell with his new team, averaging 15.6 points, 2.2 triples, 46.2-percent shooting, 2.8 boards, and 1.6 assists in 24.7 minutes as the Sixth Man.
Clarkson helped the Jazz finish as the sixth seed with a 44-28 record, just falling short of reaching the second round of the playoffs after taking the third-seeded Denver Nuggets to the limit.
Eager to help the Jazz get over the hump, the 6-foot-4 guard agreed to a four-year extension – enough, he believes, for them to grow and reach their potential.
“You look at key guys, key players here, we’re all kind of still young in years,” Clarkson said, explaining the reasoning behind the four-year extension. “Definitely giving it some time to accomplish what we want to accomplish and that’s win and try to win a championship soon.”
“So that really went in to everything. It just gives us time to grow and become what we want to do,” he added.
Just being in frequent playoff contention is already something to cherish for Clarkson, who toiled on losing teams with the Los Angeles Lakers and the Cavaliers.
“Losing isn’t fun. It takes a toll on you, mentally, your body and stuff, like that,” he said. “Coming into a winning situation, a winning environment kind of brings the best out of everybody and pull people together.”
“I feel like that and everyone accepting me with open arms, and telling me to be who I am, go out there and do what you do, be who you are around the guys, and everything, it was really big for me. And that’s why it translated so early for me when we played,” he added.
With an intact roster led by Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert, Clarkson is thrilled at the Jazz’s future.
“What you saw in the bubble was a small sample size,” Clarkson said. “No Bojan (Bogdanovic), Mike (Conley) was in and out. Just a lot of changes here and there. We know we’re going to have to face adversity through the year just the uncertainty and stuff that’s going to happen through the year.” “But I feel like with this team in full strength, I think we can really make some noise,” he was quick to add.
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