How long should fans expect Jordan Clarkson to remain on the roster for?

The Utah Jazz will likely look very different in probably six months time. With the NBA Draft coming up, free agency, and trades galore expected to take place, the Salt Lake City crew will likely look very different between now and August. One name that is almost certainly expected to be traded is Jordan Clarkson, a name many thought would get dealt almost as soon as the hold on his new contract would allow the Jazz to do so.

Alas, they didn't. Not when the no-trade hold was up, not before the NBA Trade Deadline and not certainly during the closing moments of it. Despite the soon-to-be 32-year-old no longer being in the plans for the squad, and despite the team not looking to compete this season, the Jazz opted to not move him during the deadline's closing hours.

So does that mean that maybe they have plans for him beyond this season? Not if you ask Greg Swartz of Bleacher Report. According to Swartz, Clarkson is expected to get dealt this summer;

"The Jazz made the surprising move to keep Clarkson at the trade deadline despite the team seeming destined to fall out of the West play-in picture. There could have been a financial reason for this, however. While Utah used some of their 2023-24 cap space to give Clarkson a raise, his $23.5 million salary this year falls all the way to $14.1 million in 2024-25 with another reasonable $14.3 million coming the season after. This should make the 31-year-old guard far easier to trade simply from a salary-matching standpoint... Barring a big trade, the Jazz won't be ready to go on a playoff run anytime soon. Moving Clarkson to a contender is probably something that should have been done at the deadline and will almost certainly be orchestrated this summer."

With his contract dipping, however, just trading him for the sake of trading him doesn't make the most sense. The team has been close to competing for the playoffs the last two seasons, and had it not been for Danny Ainge pulling the plug, the squad would've likely been among the top six Western Conference teams. So we don't agree that the team is far away from the playoffs.

That said, we don't disagree that moving Clarkson is probably in the best interest of everybody.