SALT LAKE CITY — Dante Exum was sent to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday in a trade that made Jordan Clarkson the newest member of the Utah Jazz. So who is Clarkson, and what can the Jazz expect from him?
A 2014 second-round draft pick out of Missouri, Clarkson spent his first three and a half seasons with the Lakers before being traded to the Cavaliers.
First and foremost Clarkson is a scorer. Even though the six-year guard lacks at times in the defensive department, he is a reliable option for the second unit who has improved his efficiency and is shooting at the best clip of his career, 37.1 percent from three-point range on 5.5 attempts per game.
In addition to being someone who can knock down a shot, Clarkson is able to create on his own and works well off the dribble. He is shooting just under 50 percent of his shots from beyond the arc and about 20 percent of his treys are pull-ups.
His ability to create ultimately could take some of the creating pressure off others during his minutes, freeing them up for open looks of their own and allowing them to keep their legs under them through the full 48-minute haul.
Clarkson is averaging 14.6 points per game this season, has an effective field goal percentage of 53.2 and is not afraid of contact. He is taking a career-high three free throws per game and hitting at a career-best 88.4 percent.
In addition to his abilities as a scorer, Clarkson isn’t a messy player, and has never averaged more than two turnovers per game and is at a career-low 1.3 per game so far this season.
That’s all good stuff, and it looks from the outside like he will be able to add a boost to the Jazz’s often underwhelming bench unit.
So what are the not-so cheery and rosy sides to Clarkson’s game?
There is some belief that because Clarkson has spent the majority of his career on bad teams that his percentages might not be real or even sustainable. The argument against that is that Clarkson’s best shooting came when he first joined the Cavs in LeBron James’ final year.
On the Finals-bound team he shot 40.3 percent from three during the stretch run of the regular season before teetering off during the playoffs.
Outside of scoring Clarkson doesn’t offer a ton of impact or affect the game all that much. He’s not known as a defender, he isn’t going to get a ton of rebounds, and he isn’t much of a playmaking or passing guard.
The biggest knock to Clarkson’s game is that he can have the tendency to ignore designed actions and just go for his own gold. That can definitely be a problem at times, but for the Jazz it could be a good thing to have a guy off the bench who can be assertive and score in clusters.
On the business side of the situation, Clarkson comes to the Jazz on an expiring $13.4 million contract. Instead of having Exum’s contract on the books next season, the expiring deal gives the Jazz some flexibility moving forward.
It all remains to be seen how the whole thing will pan out, but for now it looks like a fairly low-risk move for the Jazz to have made with the potential to boost the team where they need it the most.