'No reason not to join Gilas': Negotiations underway for Clarkson's FIBA World Cup stint
JERSEY CITY, New Jersey — Now that Utah Jazz guard Jordan Clarkson has decided to skip this year’s NBA free agency and is likely to sign an extension, his focus can begin to shift to rejoining Gilas Pilipinas for the 2023 FIBA World Cup in Manila.
“There should be no other reason for him not to join Gilas now,” a source familiar with the negotiations told Philstar.com on Friday (Saturday, Manila time).
However, there has yet to be a firm timeline for when Clarkson will link up with Gilas, which is now in the thick of preparation in Europe.
“That’s being negotiated,” the source added.
On Thursday (Friday Manila time), Clarkson picked up his $14.2 million player option, the final season of his original four-year, $51.5 million deal. The next day, Clarkson and the Jazz are in active discussion on a three-year contract extension, per NBA insider Marc Stein.
Yahoo! Sports’ Jake Fischer pegs the value of Clarkson’s looming new deal at around $18 million annually.
Once Clarkson finalizes his new contract with the Jazz, the only negotiation he has to deal with is with the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas.
The 31-year-old Clarkson is coming off a career season as a full-time starter with the rebuilding Jazz after they trade away their All-Star duo of Donovan Mitchell and Rudy Gobert and veteran guard Mike Conley to contenders.
Clarkson, whose mother, Annette Tullao Davis traces her roots to Bacolor, Pampanga, is expected to banner the Gilas campaign in the world championship on Philippine soil. In his two-game stint with Gilas during the second round of the FIBA World Cup qualifiers, Clarkson averaged 25.0 points, 5.5 rebounds and 6.5 assists on a 50/41/79 shooting split.
If negotiations between the SBP and Clarkson’s camp bog down, Barangay Ginebra resident import Justin Brownlee is waiting in the wings. Brownlee has already been training with the national pool in Europe.
But the best-case scenario for Gilas is to have both Clarkson and Brownlee play together as they aim to finish in the world championships as the best Asian team to qualify for next year’s Paris Olympics.
The Philippine basketball federation is lobbying for Brownlee to be considered a local player.
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Alder Almo is a former senior sportswriter for Philstar.com and NBA.com Philippines. He is now based in Jersey City, New Jersey, and writes for the New York-based website Heavy.com.
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