The Official Jaylen Clark Thread

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Jaylen has similar knack for steals. Hopefully he can improve as slasher and passer as well

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I feel like one big swing factor for Jaylen Clark isn’t just his 40% three-point shooting, but also his passing ability. It’s often underrated because he plays off-ball, but if you watch closely, he routinely makes the right pass under pressure.

IMO, there are several reasons to believe he can evolve into a potent facilitator:

- High IQ + elite off-ball timing: Clark is great at cutting to the rim and relocating for open threes — effectively moving defenses. In that sense, his rim pressure in off-ball sequences makes him comparable to someone like Tyus Jones. Not as a handler, but as a connector. Given his size and instincts, I even wonder if Clark could eventually become a better short-roll passer than Tyus.

- Elite hand-eye coordination: His defensive anticipation and timing are well-known. Those same traits allow for accurate, fast passes. His developing floater game shows his touch is improving — a floater is, in a way, the closest thing to an alley-oop pass, which bodes well for his feel as a playmaker.

- Among our young core, Clark seems the most focused in game prep. He studies opponents and adjusts during game flow. That’s the difference between a high-energy role player and someone who can genuinely orchestrate.

- Clark has a rarely mentioned but crucial ability: setting really good screens. While not flashy, effective screening is the foundation of off-ball movement and offensive flow — especially in small-ball lineups. Guard/wing lineups need screeners to generate space, and Clark’s timing, technique, and willingness to set screens are huge. See NAW offball screen as example here

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To sum up: the traditional 3&D role is evolving. Clark is generally categorized as a spot shooter, but even if his 3PT shooting normalizes around league average — his passing, cutting, screen-setting, and IQ give him the potential to impact the game off-ball as much as any on-ball player on our team.

Watch this Randle pass — he’s made that same look to Conley more than once. I wonder if Clark (and others) can create even more of those opportunities simply by cutting hard and adding screens.

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P.S. My absolute dream would be if Clark as rebounder can make that outlet passes. Since Kevin Love MIN dont have such passer. But I would be absolutely happy if Clark can fill Kyle Anderson role as connector. A huge role.

[Klomp]

P.S. My absolute dream would be if Clark as rebounder can make that outlet passes. Since Kevin Love MIN dont have such passer. But I would be absolutely happy if Clark can fill Kyle Anderson role as connector. A huge role.

If there's any reason to point to for why the defense fell off from two years ago to last year, it should be Kyle Anderson. Losing a key defensive piece and an offensive connector is so much of what this team was missing last year.

And more than anyone else on the team, Jaylen Clark might be the guy who is best positioned to fill that role. Take away size and positions, Jaylen Clark fully realized is probably playing a Kyle Anderson role, but as a defensive playmaker instead of an offensive playmaker like Kyle could be.

And more than anything Kyle was a safety blanket for Finch. If something started to go haywire, put in Kyle. I could easily see that be the case for Jaylen.

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[winforlose]

P.S. My absolute dream would be if Clark as rebounder can make that outlet passes. Since Kevin Love MIN dont have such passer. But I would be absolutely happy if Clark can fill Kyle Anderson role as connector. A huge role.

If there's any reason to point to for why the defense fell off from two years ago to last year, it should be Kyle Anderson. Losing a key defensive piece and an offensive connector is so much of what this team was missing last year.

And more than anyone else on the team, Jaylen Clark might be the guy who is best positioned to fill that role. Take away size and positions, Jaylen Clark fully realized is probably playing a Kyle Anderson role, but as a defensive playmaker instead of an offensive playmaker like Kyle could be.

And more than anything Kyle was a safety blanket for Finch. If something started to go haywire, put in Kyle. I could easily see that be the case for Jaylen.

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Karl was a much better defender than people want to admit, and he held up even without Rudy. That is why the drop off happened.

[Klomp]

Karl was a much better defender than people want to admit, and he held up even without Rudy. That is why the drop off happened.

That's part of it too, certainly. So you'd attribute the second unit defense in 2023-24 more to Towns than to Anderson?

[winforlose]

Karl was a much better defender than people want to admit, and he held up even without Rudy. That is why the drop off happened.

That's part of it too, certainly. So you'd attribute the second unit defense in 2023-24 more to Towns than to Anderson?

A lot of it. Towns was able to rebound and allow us to stay big. Kyle was part of staying big, but JR and Naz could not make up the size and that is why the numbers were so stark with Rudy off the floor.

[Klomp]

Karl was a much better defender than people want to admit, and he held up even without Rudy. That is why the drop off happened.

That's part of it too, certainly. So you'd attribute the second unit defense in 2023-24 more to Towns than to Anderson?

A lot of it. Towns was able to rebound and allow us to stay big. Kyle was part of staying big, but JR and Naz could not make up the size and that is why the numbers were so stark with Rudy off the floor.

See, and I look at all of the evidence of Towns "anchoring" a defense for his entire career, and it's not good. So I have a hard time giving him a lot of the credit for it. He deserves some absolutely, because he certainly played better, I just don't know if he was the true root cause of that second unit defense playing well.

[winforlose]

That's part of it too, certainly. So you'd attribute the second unit defense in 2023-24 more to Towns than to Anderson?

A lot of it. Towns was able to rebound and allow us to stay big. Kyle was part of staying big, but JR and Naz could not make up the size and that is why the numbers were so stark with Rudy off the floor.

See, and I look at all of the evidence of Towns "anchoring" a defense for his entire career, and it's not good. So I have a hard time giving him a lot of the credit for it. He deserves some absolutely, because he certainly played better, I just don't know if he was the true root cause of that second unit defense playing well.

The thing about Karl is he is scheme guy. He was bad at drop but did well with high wall. When Rudy came in Karl had that unusual illness which made him miss a lot of the lead in to the season and report very underweight. 29 games later (Based on memory, did not check,) he was injured and did not return at full strength. We not got one real year of mostly healthy Karl playing with Rudy. The on off numbers for Karl and Rudy when playing without the other plus the playoff defense tells the story.

[Klomp]

The thing about Karl is he is scheme guy. He was bad at drop but did well with high wall. When Rudy came in Karl had that unusual illness which made him miss a lot of the lead in to the season and report very underweight. 29 games later (Based on memory, did not check,) he was injured and did not return at full strength. We not got one real year of mostly healthy Karl playing with Rudy. The on off numbers for Karl and Rudy when playing without the other plus the playoff defense tells the story.

He did better, but anchoring a defense in his preferred high wall scheme, they were a pretty average 13th-ranked defense in 2021-22.

[winforlose]

The thing about Karl is he is scheme guy. He was bad at drop but did well with high wall. When Rudy came in Karl had that unusual illness which made him miss a lot of the lead in to the season and report very underweight. 29 games later (Based on memory, did not check,) he was injured and did not return at full strength. We not got one real year of mostly healthy Karl playing with Rudy. The on off numbers for Karl and Rudy when playing without the other plus the playoff defense tells the story.

He did better, but anchoring a defense in his preferred high wall scheme, they were a pretty average 13th-ranked defense in 2021-22.

Fair. Plus I am not arguing that KAT single handily was responsible. I am saying having a competent big with real size improves the situation for everyone else. It was the absence of a legit backup C that highlighted the importance of KAT in the old scheme. Randle and Naz just cannot give the same things. That is why I am so hopeful that Joan can have a big impact without much actual skill (yet, he will get better over time.) Just 8-9 minutes a game with a tall, rebounding inclined, defensive big should be like mana from heaven.

[KGdaBom]

The thing about Karl is he is scheme guy. He was bad at drop but did well with high wall. When Rudy came in Karl had that unusual illness which made him miss a lot of the lead in to the season and report very underweight. 29 games later (Based on memory, did not check,) he was injured and did not return at full strength. We not got one real year of mostly healthy Karl playing with Rudy. The on off numbers for Karl and Rudy when playing without the other plus the playoff defense tells the story.

He did better, but anchoring a defense in his preferred high wall scheme, they were a pretty average 13th-ranked defense in 2021-22.

Fair. Plus I am not arguing that KAT single handily was responsible. I am saying having a competent big with real size improves the situation for everyone else. It was the absence of a legit backup C that highlighted the importance of KAT in the old scheme. Randle and Naz just cannot give the same things. That is why I am so hopeful that Joan can have a big impact without much actual skill (yet, he will get better over time.) Just 8-9 minutes a game with a tall, rebounding inclined, defensive big should be like mana from heaven.

I gave you a +1 but almost couldn't with the mana from heaven line.

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If Jaylen can replicate NAWs ability to go through screens, I can see Jaylen being a more versatile defender. He is definitely stronger and bigger than Nickeil who sometimes struggled to guard opponents who rely on strength.

[KGdaBom]

If Jaylen can replicate NAWs ability to go through screens, I can see Jaylen being a more versatile defender. He is definitely stronger and bigger than Nickeil who sometimes struggled to guard opponents who rely on strength.

Jaylen is freaking buff.

[minimus]

His strength is one of the reasons he can take all the minutes that Minott had last year. Overall I think Clark and TJ can add toughness and athleticism that this team needs.

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This team needs more off ball cutters.

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His strength is one of the reasons he can take all the minutes that Minott had last year. Overall I think Clark and TJ can add toughness and athleticism that this team needs.

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Told ya!