Jordan Clarkson was finally a free agent after agreeing to a buyout with the rebuilding Utah Jazz. The veteran guard had numerous potential landing spots but chose New York — a decision he made while at Wimbledon to watch Carlos Alcaraz, he told Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart, during a rain-soaked public taping of The Roommates Podcast in Central Park (as relayed by The New York Post’s Stefan Bondy).
It all started with a call from Clarkson’s agent Rich Paul.
“Where you wanna go?” Paul asked.
“I said, ‘I wanna come to New York,’” Clarkson recalled Saturday night. Paul then reached out to the Knicks to relay Clarkson’s interest.
“It all happened in two minutes,” Clarkson said. “Then I was a Knick.”
Clarkson said the reason he wanted to come to the Knicks was the chance to play at Madison Square Garden and “Feeling the energy from the fans.”
Clarkson fills a desperate need for the Knicks. New York was dead last in the league in bench scoring last season at 21.7 points a game (part of that was then coach Tom Thibodeau leaning so hard into his starters). New coach Mike Brown will increase bench minutes and will give Clarkson the green light to light up the scoreboard. The former Sixth Man of the Year is going to be asked to reprise his role as a high-level bench scorer.
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