Mobile Menu
HEADLINES

Jordan Clarkson

Atlantic Notes: Quickley, Clarkson, Pagliuca, Maxey

August 4th, 2025 at 1:09pm CST by Luke Adams

A signing completed by the Raptors in July 2024 is looming over large over the current offseason, according to ESPN’s Bobby Marks (YouTube link), who points to the five-year deal Immanuel Quickley signed as a restricted free agent last offseason as a major outlier. That contract had a base value of $162.5MM, with an additional $12.5MM in bonuses. It’s worth $32.5MM per year, with a maximum value of $35MM per year.

“The Immanuel Quickley contract has totally screwed up restricted free agency,” Marks said. “Because that’s where agents are looking at like the benchmark. Certainly, (Bulls guard) Josh Giddey‘s like, ‘I want that contract.’ That number has screwed up a lot of things.”

As Marks goes on to explain, while the agents for extension candidates or current restricted free agents like Giddey will be eager to use the Quickley deal as a point of comparison for their clients, teams around the NBA haven’t been willing to go that high for players with somewhat similar résumés.

“… I don’t think Toronto got enough heat for that number,” Marks continued. “Because Immanuel Quickley is not a $32, $33 million guy.”

Here’s more from around the Atlantic:

  • It has been so long since Jordan Clarkson played meaningful basketball that it’s difficult to predict exactly what he’ll bring to the Knicks in 2025/26, one Western Conference scout tells Stefan Bondy of The New York Post (subscription required). Clarkson remains a talented scorer and one team source believes he’s “exactly what we needed” off the bench, Bondy writes, though a veteran NBA coach notes that the veteran guard comes with some downside too. “High-level shooter. Good going right,” the coach said. “Wild-card-type player. Throw him out there and see if he can get hot. But there’s not much else from a production standpoint. And it’s ugly on defense.”
  • Jennifer Rizzotti, the president of the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun, said on Sunday that a deal to sell the franchise to Celtics minority owner Steve Pagliuca is “not quite at the finish line yet” and that the Sun will remain in Connecticut for the 2026 season, per ESPN’s Alexa Philippou. While both Rizzotti and Pagliuca (Twitter link) offered statements about the potential transaction, neither one disputed the fact that the plan is to move the team to Boston by 2027. Pagliuca spoke repeatedly in his statement about keeping the franchise “in New England.”
  • Keith Pompey of The Philadelphia Inquirer takes a look at the off-court work Tyrese Maxey is doing in the Philadelphia community, noting that Maxey’s foundation donated $60K this weekend while the Sixers guard hosted a free basketball camp for kids on Saturday.
Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

Atlantic Notes: Simons, M. Brown, Knicks, Edgecombe

July 11th, 2025 at 11:27am CST by Luke Adams

The Celtics moved forward with their Jrue Holiday/Anfernee Simons swap earlier this week, completing the trade with Portland as a straight-up, one-for-one swap after exploring ways to expand the deal during the July moratorium. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean Boston is committed to having Simons on its roster to open the season.

“I have talked to other teams who have said the Celtics are actively trying to trade Anfernee Simons,” ESPN’s Brian Windhorst said on Wednesday’s episode of The Hoop Collective podcast (YouTube link). “Whether they can or not (remains to be seen).”

Swapping out Holiday’s $32.4MM cap hit for Simons’ $27.7MM figure will help the Celtics operate below the second tax apron in 2025/26. However, as Windhorst and his ESPN colleagues Tim MacMahon and Tim Bontemps went on to speculate, the club may be looking to cut costs more significantly in what will essentially be a “gap year.” Getting out of the luxury tax entirely would be a step toward resetting the repeater tax clock.

A team operating above the cap but below the tax aprons would only have to send out about $19.2MM in matching salary to legally acquire Simons and his expiring contract.

Here’s more from around the Atlantic:

  • During his introductory press conference as the Knicks‘ head coach this week, Mike Brown said he’s not bothered by the fact that the team is essentially in championship-or-bust mode as he takes over the job. “Nobody has any bigger expectations than I do. My expectations are high,” Brown said, per Chris Herring of ESPN. “This is the Knicks and Madison Square Garden. It’s iconic. … I love and embrace the expectations that come along with it.”
  • While a lack of reliable depth was an issue for the Knicks last season, Brown lauded president of basketball operations Leon Rose for continuing to add more talent to the roster after the team signed Jordan Clarkson and Guerschon Yabusele in free agency, as Zach Braziller of The New York Post relays. “Jordan, the things that he can do, especially offensively,” Brown said. “He’s a veteran guy. I know he’s hungry to win. He can score at all three levels. You’re excited with that coming to the table. He’s also a better play-maker than he’s given credit (for). I’m looking forward to seeing some of that, too, because I’m huge when it comes to touching the paint and looking to spray that basketball out to get your teammates easy shots. And then Guerschon, an unbelievable young man. His size, his versatility, he can play the four, the five, maybe some three, who knows?”
  • No. 3 overall pick VJ Edgecombe missed the Sixers‘ first game of the Las Vegas Summer League on Thursday after being diagnosed with a left thumb sprain. He’s still taking part in on-court workouts and will have the injury reevaluated on Saturday, tweets Michael Scotto of HoopsHype.
Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

Free Agency Notes: Turner, Lillard, Kuminga, Clarkson, Beasley

July 1st, 2025 at 9:03pm CST by Luke Adams

According to Gregg Doyel of The Indianapolis Star (subscription required), the Pacers offered up to $95MM over four years for Myles Turner before he agreed to sign with the Bucks. Earlier reporting suggested Indiana didn’t go above roughly $60MM over three years.

Doyel shares that tidbit within a column defending the Pacers and castigating Turner’s camp for referring to Indiana’s “aversion to the tax” in leaks to ESPN, portraying the four-year, $95MM bid as a strong offer. Given the slant of the piece, it’s worth taking the report with a grain of salt.

Even if the Pacers did get up to $95MM, that offer would have come in quite a bit below the $107MM deal Turner is getting in Milwaukee and would also fall well short of the going rate for quality starting centers in recent years — Jarrett Allen and Jakob Poeltl have gotten $30MM and $28MM annually on their most recent extensions, for example. Even Naz Reid, who has been a reserve in recent years, received $25MM per year over the weekend.

Here are a few more notes and rumors related to free agency:

  • During a TV appearance on ESPN (Twitter video link), Marc J. Spears of Andscape says star point guard Damian Lillard intends to rehab his Achilles tear in Portland to be close to his family, whether or not he signs with a team in the near future. Spears also says that at least 10 clubs – including the Warriors (Twitter link via Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN) – have touched base with Lillard since word of his release broke, and adds that there’s “speculation” the 34-year-old could be back around the All-Star break. Given that Lillard just sustained the injury in late April, that timeline feels a little aggressive to me, but it sounds like he might aim to make it back before the end of the 2025/26 season.
  • There’s very little money available on the open market for this summer’s top restricted free agents, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst stated during a TV appearance (Twitter video link). Windhorst went on to say that it might be in the Warriors‘ and Jonathan Kuminga‘s best interests to work out a deal and possibly revisit the trade market down the road. K.C. Johnson of the Chicago Sports Network (Twitter video link) says he hasn’t heard “any traction” about a sign-and-trade deal to the Bulls, who have been rumored as a potential suitor for Kuminga.
  • As first reported by Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Twitter link), veteran guard Jordan Clarkson gave up the exact amount of his minimum salary (roughly $3.6MM) when he agreed to a buyout with the Jazz, Hoops Rumors has confirmed. That will reduce his cap hit on Utah’s books from about $14.3MM to roughly $10.7MM, and he’ll make up the difference when he signs his new contract with the Knicks.
  • In another troubling report on free agent sharpshooter Malik Beasley, who is under federal investigation for gambling allegations, Robert Snell of The Detroit News takes a deep dive into court records that paint a picture of Beasley’s financial issues in recent years. According to Snell, Beasley owed debts to his landlord, barber, and dentist, and pledged his current and future NBA contracts as collateral last August when he signed a deal with a Florida firm for a bridge loan.
Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

Jordan Clarkson Signs With Knicks

June 30th, 2025 at 8:51pm CST by Eli Cohen

July 7: Clarkson has officially signed with the Knicks, according to the NBA’s transaction log.

June 30: Jordan Clarkson will sign with the Knicks after he clears waivers, reports NBA insider Chris Haynes (via Twitter).

The Knicks had been expected to target Clarkson since news broke that he would be waived by the Jazz, writes Steve Popper of Newsday Sports (Twitter link). The veteran guard agreed to a buyout with Utah and was officially waived earlier today.

Ian Begley of SNY (Twitter link) confirms Popper’s report, saying that Clarkson had been considered a priority signing for the Knicks. Stefan Bondy of the New York Post reported (via Twitter) that the deal would likely be for the veteran’s minimum, around $3.6MM.

Clarkson averaged 16.2 points and 3.7 assists per game for the Jazz last season while shooting 36.2% from three. He played a career-low 37 games, with his season impacted both by injuries and by Utah’s tanking efforts.

The 2021 Sixth Man of the Year has been in Utah for over five years, with his best statistical season occurring in 2022/23, when he averaged 20.8 points, 4.4 assists, and 4.0 rebounds per contest. While he holds a career average of 2.9 assists per game, he became a better play-maker with the Jazz, whose point guard rotation was up-and-down during his tenure. He has averaged 4.5 assists to 2.7 turnovers over his last three seasons.

Clarkson brings a much-needed dose of ball-handling off the bench to the Knicks, whose reliance on star point guard Jalen Brunson at times left the team vulnerable to intense ball-pressure. A capable shot-creator, Clarkson will pair with fifth-year guard Miles McBride to firm up the Knicks’ depth as they look to build on last year’s Eastern Conference Finals run.

Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

Pre-FA Rumors: LeBron, Ayton, Knicks, Kennard, Rozier

June 30th, 2025 at 4:27pm CST by Luke Adams

Despite the fact that Rich Paul‘s statement accompanying LeBron James‘ opt-in on Sunday raised eyebrows around the NBA, that doesn’t mean that there are any active trade talks involving the Lakers star, NBA insider Chris Haynes said during an appearance on NBA TV (Twitter video link).

“(Paul) told me there have been no trade discussions, there have been no trade talks with the Lakers,” Haynes said. “People have been speculating on certain teams that he might be interested in. I’m told all that talk is false. There has been no trade talks.

“… He clearly opted in and he wants to win. He believes the Lakers have what it takes to maximize Luka (Doncic)‘s timeline, but also maximize and prioritize his timeline.”

While trade speculation has run rampant since Paul asserted that James will be closely monitoring the Lakers’ offseason moves, it hasn’t been uncommon over the years for LeBron to publicly or privately put pressure on his teams to upgrade their respective rosters — he never requested a trade in any of those instances. This may simply be a case of him making sure Los Angeles does all it can to build a roster capable of contending in what could be James’ final NBA season.

With free agency set to officially open at the top of the hour, here are a few rumors – about free agents and other topics – from around the NBA:

  • During his NBA TV spot (Twitter video link), Haynes also said that there’s a “strong possibility” of Deandre Ayton joining the Lakers in free agency. The former No. 1 overall pick gave up $10MM in his buyout agreement with the Trail Blazers, according to Jake Fischer of The Stein Line (Twitter link).
  • After previous reports indicated that Russell Westbrook and Jordan Clarkson are expected to be among the guards on the Knicks‘ radar in free agency, Ian Begley of SNY.tv (Twitter link) says the team’s interest in Westbrook is mutual, while Steve Popper of Newsday (Twitter link) says the same of Clarkson.
  • In addition to confirming several previously reported teams who have interest in sharpshooter Luke Kennard – including Denver, Atlanta, Houston, and New York – Michael Scotto of HoopsHype (Twitter link) adds the Clippers, Trail Blazers, and Pistons to the list of suitors for the 29-year-old. Scotto also reiterates, as he reported earlier, that Kennard isn’t expected to return to Memphis.
  • During a discussion on The Pat McAfee Show about the federal probe into Malik Beasley for gambling allegations, ESPN’s Shams Charania suggested that Heat guard Terry Rozier may be out of the woods in regard to a similar investigation into him. “Terry Rozier, as of right now, has been cleared,” Charania said. “… There’s really nothing active, as of right now, with him.” Since Charania mentioned this in passing rather than explicitly reporting it, we should probably take it with a grain of salt rather than treating it as a formal update, but it sounds like it could be a promising development for Rozier.
Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

Jazz, Jordan Clarkson Agree To Contract Buyout

June 30th, 2025 at 1:52pm CST by Rory Maher

6:30 pm: Clarkson has officially been bought out and waived, according to a press release from the Jazz.

1:52 pm: Veteran guard Jordan Clarkson is finalizing a buyout agreement with the Jazz, sources tell Shams Charania of ESPN (Twitter link).

According to Charania, Clarkson plans to prioritize contenders when he becomes a free agent, which will occur two days after he’s officially released by Utah. “Multiple playoff teams” are expected to be interested in the 33-year-old, Charania adds.

Clarkson was on an expiring contract that will pay him approximately $14.3MM in 2025/26. It remains to be seen how much of that he’ll be giving back, but the Jazz could have about $30MM in breathing room beneath the luxury tax line to make further moves, notes Yossi Gozlan of The Third Apron (via Twitter).

The Knicks are a team to monitor for Clarkson, according to Steve Popper of Newsday (Twitter link), who says New York has expressed a level of interest in the former Sixth Man of the Year winner in prior trade talks.

Multiple recent reports indicated that Utah was looking to find a trade partner to take on Clarkson’s contract, but the team was unable to find a deal to its liking.

A former second-round pick (46th overall in 2014), Clarkson has spent the past five-and-a-half years with the Jazz after previous stops with the Lakers and Cavaliers. He’s known for providing instant offense off the bench, but appeared in a career-low 37 games last season due to a left foot injury (Utah was also trying to improve its lottery standing).

Overall, Clarkson averaged 16.2 points, 3.7 assists and 3.2 rebounds in his 37 appearances (26.0 minutes per contest). His shooting slash line was .408/.362/.797.

The Jazz clearly plan to give major backcourt minutes to their recent draft picks for the upcoming season, having traded Collin Sexton to Charlotte for Jusuf Nurkic. They’re also waiving Johnny Juzang and, once the buyout is complete, Clarkson.

Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

Northwest Notes: Clarkson, Collins, Randle, Thunder

June 29th, 2025 at 9:01pm CST by Eli Cohen

The Jazz are looking to trade Jordan Clarkson, but are having difficulty finding takers, says Andy Larsen of the Salt Lake City Tribune (via Twitter).

Larsen says that there is “next to no interest” in Clarkson on the trade market after a couple up-and-down seasons following his best years in Utah. Clarkson played a career-low 37 games this season after having his year cut short due to plantar fasciitis in his left foot. Prior to that, he was averaging 16.2 points and 3.7 assists in 26.0 minutes per night, primarily off the bench.

Larsen adds that the Jazz extended Clarkson in 2023 with the hopes that they could move him later, but the market they expected to be there for him appears to have moved on.

After trading the productive Collin Sexton to the Hornets for Jusuf Nurkic, the Jazz appear to be focusing on opening up rotation minutes for their young players while positioning themselves for the 2026 draft.

We have more from the Northwest division:

  • Larsen also confirms (via Twitter) that the Jazz are actively attempting to move combo forward/center John Collins this summer, saying he considers it unlikely that either Collins or Clarkson are on the roster going into next season. Collins averaged 19.0 points and 8.2 rebounds per game this season while shooting 39.9% from three, but his presence may impede great roles for youngsters like Taylor Hendricks and Kyle Filipowski.
  • Julius Randle is expected to remain trade-eligible after agreeing to a three-year, $100MM deal with the Timberwolves, according to The Athletic’s Jon Krawczynski (Twitter links). That suggests his contract will be completed as an extension – not a free agent deal – and that the annual raises won’t exceed 5%. Krawczynski adds that the Wolves aren’t planning on moving Randle, but this deal should allow them the flexibility to do so if the right opportunity presents itself.
  • The Thunder didn’t change their draft strategy or identity after winning the championship, writes Rylan Stiles of Sports Illustrated. “Every draft that we have is an opportunity to reflect back on the others and figure out what we can do better,” head of basketball operations Sam Presti said. “But the one thing we’ve never really strayed from, and I don’t think we will, is the focus on drafting people and not players. I think the characteristics of winning players, they multiply at a greater level than just talented players. They scale up better.” After selecting Thomas Sorber and Brooks Barnhizer in the 2025 draft, the Thunder took care of a pair of their previous draftees, signing Jaylin Williams and Ajay Mitchell to three-year extensions.
Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

Jazz Reportedly Interested In Ty Jerome

June 29th, 2025 at 8:51am CST by Arthur Hill

The Jazz are among the teams hoping to sign free agent guard Ty Jerome, league sources tell Grant Afseth of RG.

The Cavaliers would prefer to keep the 27-year-old shooting guard, who’s coming off the best season of his career. However, they made several moves this week that indicate they might be preparing for his departure.

Cleveland added backcourt depth on Saturday by agreeing to a trade that will send Isaac Okoro to Chicago in exchange for Lonzo Ball. The Cavs also drafted Duke guard Tyrese Proctor with the 49th pick on Thursday and reached an early free agent agreement with guard Sam Merrill.

Cleveland is currently projected to have a payroll well above the second apron in 2025/26. A new contract with Jerome would result in significant luxury tax penalties.

Utah, which is in the market for experienced backcourt help, looks like a natural suitor. Sources tell Afseth that Collin Sexton and Jordan Clarkson, who are both entering the final year of their contracts, are considered to be trade candidates this summer. He adds that the team has “explored scenarios” involving both players.

Afseth also points out that the Jazz opted to pass on point guard Jeremiah Fears in the draft, even though they had expressed interest in him during the pre-draft process. They took forward Ace Bailey instead, which leaves an opportunity to upgrade the backcourt through trades or free agency.

Jerome was a finalist for Sixth Man of the Year honors after averaging 12.5 points, 2.5 rebounds and 3.4 assists in 70 games.

Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

Trade Rumors: Brown, White, Holiday, Hawks, NAW, Collins

June 25th, 2025 at 8:06am CST by Luke Adams

After having agreed to trades that send out Jrue Holiday and Kristaps Porzingis, the Celtics have moved below the second tax apron. However, they may not be done dealing yet. Appearing on ESPN’s SportsCenter on Tuesday night (YouTube link), Shams Charania reported that Boston is fielding calls from teams with interest in Jaylen Brown and/or Derrick White.

According to Charania, the Celtics’ preference is still to hang onto Brown and White, and they’ve set “high price thresholds” for both players. But they’re also not entirely shutting down inquiries on those guys, so it remains possible that there will be a team willing to meet Boston’s high asking price.

“At minimum,” Charania says, the Celtics are still a strong candidate to make additional deals involving role players who are a little less valuable than Brown and White. Charania specifically identifies Sam Hauser and Anfernee Simons as players who might fit that bill.

Simons technically isn’t even a Celtic yet, so the agreed-upon deal involving him and Jrue Holiday could be expanded to include more pieces and send Simons to a third team before it’s officially finalized. Even if that trade is completed as currently constructed, Simons could be flipped to another team immediately — his salary simply couldn’t be aggregated with another player’s salary for two months after he’s traded.

Here are a few more trade rumors from around the NBA:

Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0

Jazz’s Austin Ainge On Tanking: ‘Won’t See That’ In 2025/26

June 3rd, 2025 at 4:00pm CST by Luke Adams

Asked during his introductory press conference on Monday about whether the Jazz intend to continue tanking and manipulating players’ minutes in 2025/26, new president of basketball operations Austin Ainge offered a succinct response, per Kevin Reynolds and Andy Larsen of The Salt Lake Tribune and Tony Jones of The Athletic.

“You won’t see that this year,” Ainge said.

The Jazz held several of their most effective veteran players – including Lauri Markkanen, Walker Kessler, John Collins, Collin Sexton, and Jordan Clarkson – out of games or limited their minutes down the stretch last season. While the team’s leaders might have said that approach was about developing young players, it was more about improving Utah’s lottery odds. That backfired on lottery night last month, as the Jazz fell to No. 5 in the 2025 draft after posting an NBA-worst 17-65 record.

Based on conversations with team sources, Jones writes, Ainge’s vow not to tank in 2025/26 could mean one of two things. While it’s possible that Utah focuses on improving its roster and adding veteran talent around Markkanen in the hopes of moving up the standings next season, it also could mean the Jazz simply double down on their youth movement and trade away some of their current vets who would help them win more games.

Even without manipulating players’ minutes, Utah could very well be the worst team in a competitive Western Conference in ’25/26. All 10 clubs that made the playoffs or play-in tournament are expected to remain in win-now mode, with the Suns, Trail Blazers, Spurs, and Pelicans potentially all looking to break into that group as well. In other words, the Jazz don’t necessarily need to explicitly tank to end up with another high draft pick in 2026.

It’s also worth noting that the Jazz will owe their 2026 first-round pick to the Thunder if it lands outside the top eight. If it falls within the top eight, Utah would keep it and would no longer owe Oklahoma City a pick. That figures to be a major factor working against the idea of trying to move up the standings by adding veteran help this summer.

We have more out of Utah:

  • While the Jazz were disappointed that the lottery didn’t put them in position to draft a potential franchise cornerstone like Cooper Flagg or Dylan Harper, Ainge said on Monday that winning the lottery isn’t the only way to find that kind of player. “If you look at the playoffs and look at all the best players in the NBA, and how many of them went No. 1, it’s better to have the No. 1 pick,” Ainge said, per Reynolds of The Salt Lake Tribune. “But there’s a lot of other stars that came from all over the draft, and certainly the Jazz have a long history of second-rounders that become All-Stars. So (getting the No. 1 pick) is not the only way to do it.”
  • Utah isn’t known as a popular free agent destination, but Ainge believes players will want to come if the team can build a positive culture, like his old team in Boston did. “It’s the same. Honestly, I think this is a great place,” he said, according to Reynolds. “Players want hope. They want to win. They want great culture. They want great coaching. They want great teammates. So that’s what we have to give.”
  • The Jazz’s pre-draft workouts to this point have mostly featured prospects they view as second-round picks or undrafted free agent targets, according to Jones. The club intends to bring in candidates for its No. 21 pick within the next couple weeks and potential targets at No. 5 later this month, Jones adds. Besides No. 5 and No. 21, Utah owns the 43rd and 53rd overall picks, though Ainge said on Monday that everything is on the table with all of those picks, so the club may end up trading one or more of them.
  • At least one team drafting in the lottery has already engaged the Jazz in discussions about a possible deal, sources tell Jones.
Retweet 0 Share 0 Send via email0
Load More Posts