NBA rumors: Jordan Clarkson and Kelly Olynyk continue with the Jazz
The Utah Jazz are sidestepping a full rebuild by keeping Kelly Olynyk and with Jordan Clarkson picking up his player option for next season.
According to Sarah Todd of Deseret News, Jordan Clarkson has picked up his player option with the Utah Jazz. In our rankings of the best shooting guards available in free agency, Clarkson was in the top five players available.
The expectation was that he would decline the option and enter free agency, even though he appeared to want to come back to Utah. Exercising his option may be a prelude to Utah extending him down the road.
According to Michael Scotto of Hoophype, the Jazz are also guaranteeing Kelly Olynyk’s contract for next season. This is a bit of a shocking move due to the fact that the Jazz already have Lauri Markkanan, Walker Kessler and just traded for John Collins. In addition, Utah spent a high-quality draft pick on Taylor Hendricks in this year’s draft creating a big logjam in the frontcourt.
What do these moves mean for the Jazz?
In addition to the John Collins trade, this shows that the team will not be as active in free agency as previously thought. Utah was linked to Fred VanVleet and Austin Reaves at times during this offseason. The Jazz may be interested in making trades this offseason but it seems unlikely they will make any blockbuster signings.
The Clarkson news is a bit unexpected given that he could have gotten solid deals from contenders. As stated guaranteeing Olynyk’s contract doesn’t really make any sense due to the glut of forwards that this team already has. Still, this could be a precursor to a trade where Utah is able to get assets in return.
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