The Jazz will guarantee the 2014/15 contract of second year shooting guard Ian Clark, reports Jody Genessy of the Deseret News. GM Dennis Lindsey indicated earlier today that the team would address the contract situation of the Belmont product, who signed a two-year deal with the Jazz last July that wasn’t guaranteed for the upcoming season. Aaron Falk of the Salt Lake Tribune confirms Genessy’s report (via Twitter). Clark’s salary was set to become fully guaranteed for $816,482 if he wasn’t waived by the end of today, as shown in our schedule of contract guarantee dates.
The Bill Duffy client played in 23 games for the Jazz in his rookie season, averaging three points in 7.5 minutes per game. Clark shuttled between Utah and the D-League for much of the year, where he averaged 12.4 points and 5.6 assists in eight games for the Bakersfield Jam. While he’s only 23, Clark’s minutes figure to remain limited with the Jazz due to a crowded backcourt that already includes Dante Exum, Trey Burke, Gordon Hayward and Alec Burks.
As Genessy reminds us, the Jazz now have 13 players on guaranteed deals entering this season and speculates that they could add one more. In addition to adding Exum and Rodney Hood in the draft, Utah has traded for Steve Novak and signed Trevor Booker this summer. Their most significant move, of course, was retaining highly sought after Hayward, who was a restricted free agent.