- The Utah Jazz agreed to a buyout with veteran guard Jordan Clarkson.
- Clarkson, a fan favorite, played six seasons and won Sixth Man of the Year.
- His departure marks the Jazz's shift to youth, opening space for young guards.
SALT LAKE CITY — The Utah Jazz are saying goodbye to Jordan Clarkson.
The team has agreed to a buyout with the veteran guard, KSL.com has confirmed, ending Clarkson's five-plus-season run with the team. ESPN was the first to report the buyout.
The Jazz traded for Clarkson in December 2019, where he quickly became a fan favorite as he revitalized a struggling bench unit. Clarkson was part of three playoff teams and won the Sixth Man of the Year award in 2021.
He was the last remnant of the Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert era, with the Jazz keeping him — and then re-signing him — after they had pressed the reset button.
He proved to be a good mentor for the players and even a sounding block for coach Will Hardy. He showed that he still could create some memorable moments on and off the court, too.
In January 2024, Clarkson broke Utah's nearly 16-year-long (regular season) triple-double drought when he had 20 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds in a win over Dallas.
"It's fitting for JC to get it, I think, just because he's the longest-tenured player on the Jazz and, I mean, he deserves it," Walker Kessler said that night. "So for him to get it, we're all ecstatic."
Funny enough, Kessler, who will be entering his fourth NBA season, will now be Utah's longest-tenured player.
Off the court, Clarkson regularly gave back to the community, even starting an annual Thanksgiving dinner giveaway for hundreds of families. And then there was the man-on-the-street interview when a local reporter (who clearly didn't recognize him) asked if he went to any Jazz games.
His response: "Yeah, a lot."
🕯️ out, always love 🖤
— Jordan Clarkson (@JordanClarksons) June 30, 2025
Clarkson was a good soldier as the Jazz pivoted from playoff competitive to a full-on rebuild, taking many of his younger teammates under his wing.
"That was my vet," second-year guard Isaiah Collier said of Clarkson. "Definitely sad to see him go.
"(He taught) me how to be a pro having short-term memory, those types of things," he added. "So, I mean, I think he was great for our team as a whole. I think he was the oldest guy in the locker room. So, I mean, you hate to see him go, but he helped a lot of us in many ways."
Now, Clarkson, 33, gets a chance to help a team closer to contender status.
"I would love to be playing some meaningful basketball, winning games," Clarkson said at the end of last season. "Would I love to do that here? For sure. I wouldn't trade that for nothing."
But that wasn't happening in Utah.
The Jazz explored some options over the last couple of months to see if they could accelerate the rebuild, but there just wasn't any that made sense. Instead, they are going even younger.
And as the return of Collin Sexton showed, there hasn't been much trade interest for Utah's veterans. A buyout then became the only feasible option to open up more space for the Jazz's young guards and also do right by Clarkson.
