Utah Jazz guard Jordan Clarkson has impressed in his short time as a Jazzman. What grade does he get midway through the season?
When the Utah Jazz bench was floundering in comparison to the rest of the league, the front office decided they needed to change something before the playoffs.
Through the first 30 games of the season, the Jazz had the worst offensive rating in the league when playing in second quarters. Their bench during that stretch played the third least amount of minutes in the league, meaning the starters were getting overworked.
When it takes 35+ minutes a night from Rudy Gobert and Donovan Mitchell just to squeak by mediocre and bad teams, that’s a bad sign.
On the evening of December 23rd, Utah traded away Dante Exum and a couple future picks in exchange for Jordan Clarkson. At the time it was obvious Dante wasn’t ever going to leave Quin Snyder’s dog house and get meaningful minutes.
Since Clarkson has joined the Wasatch Front, here’s how the Jazz have been different:
- they own the 10th best offensive rating in the second quarter among NBA teams
- their bench ranks 17th in points per game
- their bench has the ninth best net rating in the league
Sure, it’s only a 14 game sample size and against a bunch of mediocre teams, but for what it’s worth the Jazz have a 14-1 record since they acquired Clarkson. I think it’s safe to say the Jazz are the early winners of this trade from Cleveland, although with time the scale could be tipped even.
How has Clarkson been so good for the Jazz?
Offense
Known as a scoring guard, Clarkson hasn’t disappointed in that department since being traded to the Jazz.
Last season he averaged 16.8 points per game coming off the bench for the Cleveland Cavaliers, and previous to being traded he gave them 14.6 points per game in just a quick 23 minutes.
The part that worried me is that he had never contributed to a playoff team in his short career. He was part of the dumpster fire the Lakers had with Kobe Bryant‘s exit and all the shenanigans of rebuilding. He was part of the Cavaliers NBA finals run with LeBron James in 2018, but got benched during the significant portion of the playoffs.
And the Cavaliers since LeBron left have been dreadful. I knew Clarkson would be able to get buckets as a Jazzman, but I worried if his efficiency would be above average or if we were getting another Trey Burke.
He averages 14.4 points per game on 45 percent shooting from the field as a Jazzman, good enough for fourth best among his teammates. Although his three point shooting could stand to improve (33 percent), the Jazz offense hums like a bee when he is on the court (seven points per 100 possessions better than when he sits).
An underrated part of Clarkson’s game that I wasn’t aware of is his passing instincts. No, he’s not John Stockton or anywhere close, but he’s able to be a helper in the Jazz’s blender offense and find open teammates.
He was praised by Cavs coach John Beilein for remodeling his shot selection, and that has carried over to Utah. He used to take over 20 percent of his shots from 10 feet to the three point line back in his Laker days. Now he takes 77 percent of his shots either from the three point line or at the rim.
His confidence and poise is something the Jazz bench desperately needed, and was on display in his very first minutes as a Jazzman. When the shot clock is winding down he’s willing to create a shot out of isolation thanks to his underrated ball handling skills.
Grade: B+
Defense
This was another area I was worried about when the Jazz acquired Clarkson. Playing for bad teams with bad defenses while being known as a scoring guard doesn’t bode well for defensive chops.
Jabari Parker is an example of an NBA player that nearly got washed out of the league for over-relying on his scoring and not playing defense. In an interview on the radio when he first got to Chicago, he said “they don’t pay players to play defense”.
On the other hand, Lou Williams and Kemba Walker are undersized guards that are known for their scoring. They’ve been able to hide their defensive deficiencies by playing on good teams and putting forth the effort.
Since joining the Jazz, Clarkson has fit the mold of the latter two players. He’s deceptively long and quick, standing at 6-foot-5 with a 6-foot-10 wingspan. In a lot of ways, he’s just as good as Exum was as far as physical tools go.
When Jordan sits, the Jazz defense is six points per 100 possessions better as opposed to when he plays, and the team gets more steals, blocks, and stops with him on the bench.
I would be a little worried about Clarkson playing extended minutes if he had to fill in for an injured Donovan Mitchell due to the defensive drop-off, but as a spark plug off the bench Clarkson gets a pass.
Grade: C+
Overall
As mentioned in the first slide of this article, Clarkson has been a big help of the Jazz’s turnaround. Previous to the trade, nobody off the Jazz bench could create their own shot with confidence. Since Clarkson has come on board, we’ve seen him do it multiple times.
Emmanuel Mudiay has had more space to create in the mid-range, and Georges Niang and Tony Bradley have also benefited from the additional offensive threat on the court.
Some were worried that losing the second longest tenured Jazzman (Exum) would disrupt the chemistry in the locker room. But Clarkson has been a team-first guy and seems to love his new band of brothers.
In the one game where Mitchell had to sit (illness), Clarkson filled in 23 points; the problem was it took him 22 shots to get there. In the most common five man lineup that features Jordan Clarkson (Gobert-Royce O’Neale–Bojan Bogdanovic-Clarkson-Mudiay), that group gets beaten by an average of 11 points per 100 possessions.
Clarkson isn’t the best sixth man out there to have, but overall he’s good enough to get the job done. It will be interesting to see what him and the Jazz do this summer when Jordan is an unrestricted free agent.
Will 52 games with the Jazz plus a playoff run convince Clarkson to stick around the Wasatch Front? Will the Jazz want to financially commit to someone like JC with the looming pay-days of Gobert and Mitchell approaching?
Whatever happens, Jordan Clarkson is another case of how players can develop and transform their game under Quin Snyder’s development. He’s been a godsend to the Jazz bench this season, but still has his limitations.