Kyle Kuzma expressed his interest in reuniting with Utah Jazz guard Jordan Clarkson, although not in an NBA setting. Kuzma explained how he would get the two former teammates to reunite on the basketball court.
“I mean, if I didn’t play for Team USA, I mean, I could rock out with (Clarkson). That would be cool,” Kuzma said during his interview with ALL-STAR Magazine.
Clarkson, who is half-Filipino, played for the Philippines National team during the 2023 FIBA Tournament. Regardless of whether or not they could make that happen, Kuzma clearly wants to play with Clarkson again, even if they were teammates for half of the 2017-18 season.
Could this work in an NBA setting? Well, let's confront the elephant in the room. Because both of their teams are in a rebuild, the Wizards don't want Clarkson and the Jazz don't want Kuzma, so a trade between the two sides directly won't happen.
However, that belabors the point that Clarkson and Kuzma are in the same boat with their NBA careers right now. They are both win-now players in their primes playing for teams that don't need them. That would make them obvious trade candidates, which potentially opens up the possibility of reuniting as teammates.
The odds are very low, but there are win-now teams out there who are desperate enough that they may opt to bring both in to boost their chances of winning a(nother) title. Even if their time together was brief, Kuzma and Clarkson have familiarity with each other and they've helped previous winners.
For the Jazz, this would primarily be their chance to get rid of Clarkson more than anything. If they can get assets out of it, that's a plus. More than anything, they can also give him something he may want by reuniting him with a former teammate
1. Golden State Warriors
The Warriors whiffed on Lauri Markkanen and Paul George. They have refined their rotation, adding quite a few solid pieces to an aspiring playoff roster, but Kuzma and Clarkson fill many more holes for them.
Kuzma gives them a champion who has experience as a two-way wing. It's true that he hasn't played that role in some time, but if there's one team that can get him to play the same role he did for the Lakers in 2020.
Adding Clarkson gives the Warriors the first microwave scorer they've had in their second unit in quite some time. They haven't necessarily needed one since the Stephen Curry era came into full swing, but they have changed the formula before, and it's worked.
Golden State has plenty of first-round picks at their disposal and has contracts to match with the likes of Andrew Wiggins and Gary Payton II. They can also dangle Moses Moody in a potential three-way trade or two separate trades.
With the Warriors, they would likely only do this if they are absolutely out of options. They will likely chase the bigger fish who could hit the trade market mid-season, like Jimmy Butler. However, that's far from a guarantee, and knowing Kuzma and Clarkson would likely be more attainable, this shouldn't be brushed aside.
2. Houston Rockets
The Rockets are the anti-Jazz. Despite not being too far off as teams, the Jazz are trying (and failing?) to trend downward while the Rockets are trying (and definitely failing) to trend upward.
The Rockets want a big fish, much like the Warriors, but like the Warriors, the odds of them getting a big fish don't seem likely at the moment. At the very least, Kuzma and Clarkson would be another step in the right direction for them since they want a winner now.
They are upgrades over who the Rockets have on their bench, and they have the contracts and assets to make a few deals. And hey, Jalen Green has been floated as a Jazz target before, so why can't a deal happen?
It would probably take more than Clarkson to make a deal with Utah involving Green, but the Jazz have other players to dangle. If they can get something else besides Clarkson and Kuzma, the Rockets would start to vault up considerably, even if they wouldn't have championship expectations just yet.
3. Los Angeles Lakers
The Jazz potentially taking advantage of the Lakers is beating a hypothetical dead horse. However, if there's two players could make sense for them, it's Clarkson and Kuzma.
Forget that they are Lakers alumni. Kuzma and Clarkson are also former LeBron James teammate. Both of whom have reached the NBA Finals with him, although Clarkson wasn't much of a factor for the Cavaliers as Kuzma was for the Lakers.
However, any Jazz fan knows that Clarkson is a much better player now than he was in 2018. The Lakers have also had success with deep guard rotations in recent seasons. However, then, it was Dennis Schroder who they also gave a second chance during the 2022-23 season.
Schroder and Clarkson are different players despite being combo guards, but it's fair to say that Clarkson wouldn't be too far off as an apt replacement for Schroder.
This would be a trade where the Jazz wouldn't be taking much advantage of the Lakers' desperation as much as they would be getting rid of Clarkson. If that's what it comes down to, even if it's frustrating that they couldn't squeeze any assets out of Clarkson, that might be the best they can do.
Okay, it's not going to blow anyone's mind to say that even if Clarkson and Kuzma are on different teams in the next several months, they likely won't be on that same team together.
Well, it's fun to think that two former teammates could reunite on a team that could put them to better use than their current teams. For the Jazz, they would love to do right by Clarkson at the right price.
Pairing him with Kuzma again on a playoff team would be doing just that. It would be great to get an asset out of that situation for Utah, but it's unlikely they would if they got the chance.