It has been widely reported that the Utah Jazz and Los Angeles Lakers were involved in trade talks during the NBA offseason that could have seen Russell Westbrook get sent to the Jazz, with Bojan Bogdanovic a common name mentioned as a Lakers target.
On Monday, a story by The Athletic’s Shams Charania, Sam Amick and Jovan Buha took a deep dive into the talks the Lakers have had with various teams surrounding Westbrook, and included in the piece was a note indicating that Jazz owner Ryan Smith did not want to include Jordan Clarkson in a potential deal.
“(The Lakers) had explored ways of landing Nets star Kyrie Irving during the offseason, discussed concepts with the Jazz around Bojan Bogdanovic prior to him being traded to the Pistons for Kelly Olynyk and Saben Lee and even tried to land former Laker Jordan Clarkson from the Jazz before it was made clear that Utah owner Ryan Smith had no intentions of letting him go,” the story says.
It is unclear if Smith holds that stance regarding Clarkson generally, or just when it came to any potential deal with the Lakers.
Clarkson, 30, is still widely seen as a player whom it may make sense for a rebuilding Jazz team to trade, although he has given indication he’s fully prepared to play for the team this season despite its change in direction over the summer.
The veteran guard is due $13.3 million this season and has a player option next season that would see him be paid $14.3 million should he exercise it, according to Spotrac.