They’d just resigned him for a three year contract. Turns out he slumped to start the year and it just continued to be a very roller coaster year for him, and statistically porous overall. Everyone knows that Clarkson is best used as a scorer off the bench, except Hardy, who inexplicably thinks he’s a starter and gives him starter minutes. It probably took the front office shutting Clarkson down after the break so they could give more minutes to younger players. They probably partially resigned Clarkson because they thought he was good value and because he had been a fan favorite, but turns out it was a bad resigning.

Kessler bears some of the blame for lack of offensive development but he was expected to be the starter at center and see a big increase in minutes going into the season. When you’re as bad as the Jazz were defensively you’d think the head coach might think about playing him a bit more since his best attribute is defending the rim. As is, they played a very mediocre Collin’s which damaged the relationship with Kessler so much that they had to have extra meetings after the year to try and mend fences.

You might tell that I don’t think Hardy is as good as advertised. He yells and screams at his players more than coaching them. He has a double standard for vets and young players. Way overrated.