As time ticked toward the end of the Utah Jazz’s disappointing 2023-24 season, you could tell: Jordan Clarkson had given a lot of thought to the possibility that he’s already played his last game in a Jazz uniform.

“Tomorrow’s tomorrow, I don’t really try to look too far forward,” he said in the final days of the campaign.

“But I love this organization, I love this state, city.

I love playing for this team, [head coach Will Hardy] and everybody. If it’s the last, that just is what it is.”

Clarkson will turn 32 this summer, making him the oldest Jazz player left on the roster by two years.

He’s also the longest-tenured player on the team by three years, the only player left who played in the Donovan Mitchell/Rudy Gobert era.

As a result — and, of course, due to the scoring binges that turned him into one of the NBA’s most dangerous sixth men — the San Antonio native might be the most beloved player by the Jazz fanbase right now.

But Clarkson’s age and tenure with the Jazz also work against him staying with the team to some degree.

For the second consecutive season, the Jazz chose to prioritize young players over veterans down the stretch.

Clarkson played just one of the Jazz’s final 16 games, being listed out with a groin injury that did bother him somewhat, but was something he might have played through.

Therefore, his concern about his future is justified — especially given his love for his current team.

“I love playing for his organization,” Clarkson said, citing team owner Ryan Smith, CEO Danny Ainge and general manager Justin Zanik by name.

“I consider those people family to me.

The state of Utah was a place that I was able to call home and I really loved my time here.”

Despite the past tense used above, Clarkson is still a Jazzman on paper, and there’s still a realistic shot he’s in Utah next year.

Rumors have flown about the Jazz trading Clarkson during the last two deadlines, and this year, he thought there was a significant and even likely chance he was to be traded to the New York Knicks, he said.

Instead, New York traded for his old teammate Bojan Bogdanovic and fellow scoring guard Alec Burks, leaving Clarkson in Utah to consider his future.