Brandon Clarke Is a Positional Enigma—and Gonzaga’s Best Hope for a TitleThe bouncy junior is a center in a small forward’s body. But that isn’t an indictment, it’s high praise. He’s had a historic season, and maximizing his talents will be the key to both a Bulldogs championship run and figuring out his place in the NBA Gonzaga has never had a big man like Brandon Clarke before. The mid-major school has gone from David to literal Goliath in recent years by churning out NBA-bound big men, including three lottery picks (Kelly Olynyk, Domantas Sabonis, and Zach Collins). None had Clarke’s freakish athleticism, which allows the 6-foot-8, 215-pound junior to play far bigger than his size. Clarke is an elite defensive player coming off a breakout offensive performance (36 points on 15-of-18 shooting) in a second-round win over Baylor.
Clarke is having a historically great season. The records at Sports-Reference.com go back to the 1992-93 season, and
no player in that time has matched his all-around production: 17.0 points on 69.9 percent shooting, 8.4 rebounds, 1.8 assists, 3.1 blocks, and 1.2 steals per game. He’s a hyper-efficient offensive machine who protects the rim better than most future NBA centers.
Clarke has a rare combination of athleticism, motor, and basketball IQ. He doesn’t need to tower over everyone else on the floor: He makes up the difference by jumping really high and really fast. He has incredible timing when contesting shots, rarely fouling even though he spends so much time hanging in the air. Clarke plays hard but never out of control, and he’s almost always in the right position. Like all great defenders, he anticipates rather than reacts to the offense. He roams all over the court, and he is as comfortable defending the 3-point line as the rim. His ability to switch screens and stay in front of guards on the perimeter gives a new element to the Zags defense, which has traditionally been built around funneling penetration into less-mobile interior defenders.
His offensive success is built on the same foundation. Clarke plays to his strengths. He’s still not a great shooter. He just doesn’t take shots that he can’t make.
In this position-less era of the NBA, Clarke might be the closest thing there is to a tweener. He can play spot minutes as a small-ball 5 at the next level, but it’s hard to see him being able to match up with guys like Joel Embiid and Karl-Anthony Towns over the course of an entire game. The problem for Clarke is that he doesn’t have the shooting ability to play on the perimeter on offense, which has become almost a requirement for every position but center.
The only path for him to start early in his NBA career will be if he plays next to a stretch big man who can shoot 3s and defend 5s.Clarke is a different twist on undersize bigs like Sabonis and Julius Randle, elite scorers who don’t have the length to protect the rim or the shooting ability to space the floor. He should be able to do so many different things well that he will be worth fitting into a starting lineup on the next level. There are not many players in the NBA with as much defensive upside as Clarke:
He has the potential to be an elite perimeter stopper who can switch screens across four positions and wreak havoc as a weak-side shot-blocker. Clarke could have the defensive impact of guys like Andre Roberson or Draymond Green while being a far more explosive offensive player. There is an opportunity cost to playing a non-shooter like Clarke. It’s hard to find room to play more than one player like that at a time in the NBA.
