Former Bruin Hopes To Get on Track in Summer League

After missing his first season due to an Achilles rupture, Minnesota Timberwolves Jaylen Clark played in 40 regular season games and five games for the NBA playoffs before heading into the 2025 postseason. The UCLA alumni had a strong but turbulent rookie year, and needs a good showing in the NBA's 2K26 Summer League to earn more minutes in the regular season.

Through three games in the Summer League, against the Pelicans, Nuggets, and Pistons respectively, Clark has been lackluster offensively, being in the lower half of his team in scoring on top notch minutes played at around 27 minutes each match-up.

He has averaged less than seven points a game on a low 25.9% shooting percentage only attempting around nine shots a game, much less than expected for a starter. Clark needs to up his numbers on the attacking side of the ball if he wants to receive another extension with Minnesota when his current contract ends.

If he was an excellent defensive player, then his offensive prowess, even though still important, would be less of a concern than it is right now. The NBA has quite recently seen many great defensive minds that won games through their defensive capabilities instead of shooting, players such as Alex Caruso and Draymond Green.

Guys that play as well as Caruso and Green on defense, whether through leadership or the ability to generate turnovers, don't have to worry about shooting as much compared to offensive players, like Clark, who is mainly known for his defensive prowess.

Unfortunately, Clark has not been very capable on defense in his start to the Summer League, and the numbers show it. Through three games Jaylen has averaged 1.3 defensive rebounds per game, the second lowest on his team.

Not everything surrounding Jaylen Clark is doom and gloom, he has averaged close to two steals a game, tied with teammates Terrance Shannon Jr. and Tristan Newton for second best on the team; his game is still alive, it just needs to be tapped into.

As of current, Clark still has a firm place on the Timberwolves as he warms up to playing again and his capabilities shown in the 2024-2025 season. Going forward he will still need to do much better than he has done on both sides of the ball; however, he has a couple years, and the former Bruin should continue to grow as the Summer league winds on in time for the regular season.