Utah Jazz: 3 Jordan Clarkson gifts scream ‘Sixth Man of the Year’

Why the Utah Jazz guard deserves Sixth Man of the Year: Breakthrough

Compliments aside for a second, Jordan Clarkson is certainly far from being a premier bench defender in the NBA. And as noted here earlier, there are still times when the Florida native tries to do way too much on his own in the scoring department, thereby ignoring wide-open teammates.

However, there has been improvement almost across the board from the 42 regular-season games he played in for the 2019-20 Jazz bunch (in what was his debut year with the franchise). Those increases include the following:

• Points per 36 minutes: 22.7 to 23.9
• Rebounds per 36: 4.1 to 5.4
• Assists per 36: 2.3 to 3.2
• Steals per 36: 1.0 to 1.2
• Fouls per 36: 2.6 down to 2.1
• Free throw percentage: 78.5 to 92.2

He’s in his prime. He’s fine-tuning his complete repertoire. He’s durable, appearing in all but four of Utah’s 64 games thus far. In essence, he’s routinely doing exactly what is expected of him and more. He’s doing so, of course, for a legit title contender, which ought to count for something when it comes to major awards.

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And even though Clarkson’s shooting percentages aren’t exactly off the charts, there is something to be said for his consistency when it comes to knocking down at least one 3-pointer per game. After all, his 86 consecutive outings with at least one 3-point make represent the longest such active streak in the league, ranking No. 7 in NBA history.

In summary, the Utah Jazz can always count on Clarkson for something.

Sixth Man of the Year material, indeed.