The Jazz just had a turbulent season.
Now, Utah will prioritize familiar comforts – Jordan Clarkson and Derrick Favors.
Adrian Wojnarowski of ESPN:
Free agent Jordan Clarkson has agreed to a four-year, $52M deal with the Utah Jazz, his agent Rich Paul of Klutch Sports tells ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) November 21, 2020
Tony Jones of The Athletic:
Favors and the Jazz have agreed to a three year 27 million dollar deal, league sources tell The Athletic. The third year is a player option
— Tony Jones (@Tjonesonthenba) November 21, 2020
Acquired from the Cavaliers in a trade last season, Clarkson immediately upgraded Utah’s bench with his scoring. His overall contributions were sometimes overrated. But he added dynamic creation ability to a second unit that badly needed it.
How deep of a hole he filled is evident in this contract. Clarkson probably didn’t get outside offers above the non-taxpayer mid-level exception ($9,258,000). But he had the internal leverage to command $14 million annually.
Favors returns to the Jazz after one season with the Pelicans. He’s a quality defender who can play power forward next to Rudy Gobert or – maybe more importantly – center behind Gobert. Utah really missed Favors’ defense when Gobert sat last season. Spacing could be an issue when Gobert and Favors share the floor, but Donovan Mitchell can create scoring opportunities anyway.
This is why the Jazz traded draft picks to dump Ed Davis (Knicks) and Tony Bradley (Pistons). Signing Favors with the non-taxpayer mid-level exception triggers the hard cap. With Davis and Bradley gone, Utah had room below the hard cap to re-sign Clarkson to this deal.
