The NBA's Most Underrated Rookie: Jaylen Clark

In the Minnesota Timberwolves’ close loss to the Western Conference-leading Oklahoma City Thunder on Sunday night, rookie Jaylen Clark exited the game with a scary head injury. After the game, however, Clark tweeted out that he’s ‘good’, while thanking fans for reaching out in support. This scare came in the midst of the undrafted rookie’s best NBA game to date.

In his second career start, Clark got the initial assignment of leading MVP candidate Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. While stopping the NBA’s leading scorer is a near-impossible task these days, UCLA’s 2022-23 Naismith Defensive Player of the Year leveraged his 6-foot-9 wingspan, strong frame, and relentless pursuit to disrupt the Thunder’s offense. In his 18 minutes of play prior to injury, Clark played a large part in Gilgeous-Alexander’s five turnovers, notching four steals himself. 

On the offensive end, though, Clark was even more impressive. He missed just one of his seven field goal attempts, including converting both of his three-point looks, en route to 14 points. His impact has always been slanted towards his defense, with his shaky shooting being a consistent question mark in Clark’s NBA potential. But with this near-perfect shooting performance, the 23-year-old displayed that he has what it takes to develop into a capable offensive piece.

With Julius Randle and Donte DiVincenzo suffering injuries, Clark has seized his opportunity, establishing himself as a rotation mainstay for Minnesota. His defensive proficiency has not only earned him his first real NBA burn, but has also earned him a pair of nods in the starting lineup. In his 12 games of rotation play, he has averaged 19.1 minutes per game, posting 6.6 points, 2.0 rebounds, 0.7 assists, and 1.3 steals on average, while shooting 66% from two-point range, 44% from three, and 71% from the free throw line for 59.7 TS%.

Given that, prior to this run, Clark had only appeared in just ten total minutes of NBA action, he has had an impressive start to his career. If he can continue to build on his offensive repertoire while solidifying his strong defensive impact, Clark can grow into a valuable two-way piece for the Timberwolves.